Sponsor Licence Checker

---

1. Page SEO Copy

Intro copy (publish as-is):

Type a company name and find out — from the official Home Office register, refreshed daily — whether that company can legally sponsor a UK work visa. You will see its licence routes and rating, whether it has ever been removed from the register, and the sponsorship jobs it is actually advertising right now. A licence alone never guarantees you a job; but no licence guarantees you nothing, and checking takes less than a minute. The register was last synced here on 06 November 2026.

Section copy — "How to read your result":

Licensed (A rating): the company is on the register today and fully compliant — it can assign a Certificate of Sponsorship. Licensed (B rating): it can sponsor, but it has been downgraded and is on a Home Office action plan; proceed with your eyes open. Removed from register: it was licensed once and is not now — it cannot sponsor you, whatever it says. Not found: usually a name mismatch (the register uses legal entity names) — try the name on the contract or Companies House record before concluding anything. Full method: How to Check If a UK Company Has a Sponsor Licence.

Section copy — "A licence is permission, not a promise":

Being licensed means a company may sponsor. Sponsorship happens when it chooses you for an eligible role and assigns a CoS. That is why every result here shows the company's live jobs alongside its licence: a licensed company with no suitable live role cannot help you today, and an unlicensed company with a beautiful job advert never could.

2. User Inputs (exact)

| # | Input | Type | Required | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Company name | Free text with autocomplete over register names (+ mapped brand/trading names) | Yes | Minimum 3 characters. Autocomplete shows legal name + town to disambiguate same-name companies. | | 2 | Town (optional narrow) | Select built from the matched names' towns | No | Appears only when the name matches companies in more than one town. |

No other inputs. Never ask for a "sponsor licence number" — it is not public data and the register does not publish it; the page copy says so explicitly (kills a whole scam pattern).

3. User Outputs (exact)

For a matched company, display in this order:

1. Verdict banner: Licensed (with rating) / Removed from register (with removal date) / Not currently licensed.
2. Register record: legal name, town, county, route(s), rating, "register as of 06 November 2026", link to the company's profile.
3. Live jobs module: the company's current sponsorship jobs on this site (title, town, closing date, link), or the honest empty state: "No live sponsorship jobs from this company right now" + links to its sector and town facets.
4. Next-step links: profile · Salary Threshold Checker · sector facet · town directory page.

For no match: the name-mismatch guidance (legal name, trading name, parent/group company) + a browse link to the register hub. Never show a "probably licensed" guess.

4. Data Source and Update Method

Only source: the GOV.UK Register of Licensed Sponsors CSV, fetched daily by the engine; the checker queries the same snapshot as the directory (one pipeline, one sync date shown everywhere). The removed verdict comes from our own snapshot archive (a name is "removed" only after two consecutive snapshots confirm absence — same rule as the revoked list page). Brand/trading-name mapping is an editorial overlay table; a mapping may only ever point a search at a legal entity, never create a licence that the register does not show.

5. Empty / Edge Behaviour

• Register fetch failed / snapshot stale >48h: the tool shows a visible staleness warning with the last good sync date — never silent stale answers.
• Same name, multiple towns: disambiguation list (name + town + rating), no auto-pick.
• Company licensed for a different route only (e.g. Seasonal, not Skilled Worker): the verdict names the routes it actually holds — "licensed" is never route-blind.

6. Internal Links (by slug)

Outbound: Sponsor Licence List · Companies That Sponsor Visas UK · Salary Threshold Checker · Eligibility Checker · guide 05 · guide 06. Inbound required from: every facet page, every profile page, directory hubs, guides 05/06/10, homepage tools band.

7. Acceptance Tests

• [ ] A known A-rated sponsor returns Licensed + correct route/rating/town, with the current sync date displayed.
• [ ] A company removed in the latest diff returns Removed + correct removal date, and its live jobs module is empty with the honest state.
• [ ] A brand name mapped to a legal entity resolves to the legal entity, labelled as such.
• [ ] A nonsense name returns the not-found guidance, never a fuzzy "probable" verdict.
• [ ] A route-limited sponsor (Seasonal only) never renders as "can sponsor Skilled Worker".
• [ ] With the snapshot artificially aged >48h, the staleness warning renders on results.
• [ ] No licence number is requested or displayed anywhere in the flow.
• [ ] Checker verdict for a sample company matches the raw GOV.UK CSV row exactly (name, town, route, rating).