Shortlist employers that sponsor in your field
To find companies that sponsor visas in your field, check each name before you apply: its register row, its own words and its pay.
Your shortlist worksheet
| Employer | Licence | Their words | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
One Stop on a row and the employer goes to your Plan B list.
Find each employer on the register
The Home Office publishes every licensed sponsor as a file on gov.uk, updated most working days. Search it for the employer's legal name, not its brand: the employing company is often a "Limited" or "LLP" you have not heard of.
The register file of 5 October 2026 lists 121,996 employers with a Skilled Worker licence. A licence means an employer can sponsor; it does not mean it sponsors graduates. That is why the worksheet has three lamps, not one.
Check an employer's licence
Or search the file yourself on gov.uk's register page (opens gov.uk).
Checking every employer by hand takes time. The Visavi app does that check for every job it shows: each comes from a licensed sponsor or an advert that says it sponsors. Read how on Visavi (opens visavi.uk).
Read a register row in four columns
- Organisation name. The legal employer. Match it to the company on your offer.
- Town. Where the licence is held, not where you would work.
- Type and rating. Worker with an A rating is what you want: the sponsor must be A-rated on the register.
- Route. Look for Skilled Worker. Other routes, such as Graduate Trainee, are different visas.
- Organisation name
- Deloitte LLP
- Town
- London
- Type and rating
- Worker (A rating)
- Route
- Skilled Worker
Then read its own words in its graduate scheme tracker row.
Read their words, then the pay
Open the employer's own early-careers pages and FAQ. Search for "sponsor", "visa" and "right to work". Copy the exact sentence with the date you read it. No sentence at all reads as Ask, not as no.
Then check the published salary against the two lines with the salary threshold check. The graduate scheme tracker has done all three checks for the main schemes, and the sector shortlists group them by field.
Checkpoint
Flip each switch when it is done. They stay set on this device only.
Before you ask
Why five employers, not fifty?
Five checked names beat fifty guesses. Each check takes a few minutes; once the five are done, add the next five.
The employer is not on the register. Is that final?
Search its legal name and any group company first. If it is still missing, it cannot sponsor you today: move it to your Plan B list.
Can a recruitment agency sponsor me?
Only the employer named on the Certificate of Sponsorship sponsors you, and it must hold the licence. Check that employer, not the agency.
Sources
- Immigration Rules, Appendix Skilled Worker, SW 5.3 (opens gov.uk)
"SW 5.3. The sponsor must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors, unless the applicant was last granted permission as a Skilled Worker and is applying to continue working for the same sponsor as in their last permission."
Checked 7 October 2026 - UK Visas and Immigration, Register of licensed sponsors: workers (gov.uk publication) (opens gov.uk)
"This document lists Worker and Temporary Worker sponsors. It includes information about the category of workers they’re licensed to sponsor and their sponsorship rating."
Checked 7 October 2026 - Home Office register of licensed sponsors, file of 5 October 2026 (opens gov.uk)
"This document lists Worker and Temporary Worker sponsors."
Checked 7 October 2026 - Deloitte, Graduate programmes, UK (opens deloitte.com)
"For some of our graduate opportunities, we can apply for visa sponsorship on your behalf if you meet the Skilled Worker (new entrant) visa criteria, [...]"
Checked 7 October 2026
Updated Checked against gov.uk on
What changed
- 7 October 2026: First published.
This is a playbook, not immigration advice. Before you act, check the rule on gov.uk or ask a regulated immigration adviser or a solicitor.