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O3 Outreach line, stop 3 of 4

Make the business case for sponsoring you

Send the hiring manager one email on what sponsoring you involves, before anyone guesses at the cost.

Checked against gov.uk, 7 October 2026

Fill these in once. Every script fills in as you type.

Your name, course and role are kept on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere.

The business case

Subject: Sponsoring me for [target role]: what it involves

Hi [contact name],

Before you decide on sponsorship for the [target role] role, here is what it involves. [employer] would assign me a Certificate of Sponsorship from its licence. The Immigration Skills Charge is paid by the employer; it is not payable when someone switches to Skilled Worker from a Student visa. I'm finishing [your course] and can start on the timetable you need.

Could we talk it through?
[your name]

When to send
After an interview, once they want you.
If they say no
Ask what would change their mind, and whether another team or office sponsors.

Bring the one cost point that applies to you

Immigration Skills Charge, paid by the employer One worker, by sponsor size. The employer pays it when it assigns the certificate.

The scale in words

  • Small or charitable sponsor: £480 for the first year, then £240 for each further half year.
  • Medium or large sponsor: £1,320 for the first year, then £660 for each further half year.
  • Not payable when the worker switches to Skilled Worker from a visa that allows study, such as a Student visa.
  • Who pays it. The employer, never the worker.

gov.uk sets out who counts as a small or charitable sponsor on its Immigration Skills Charge page (opens gov.uk). Checked 7 October 2026.

Switching from a Student visa? Lead with that. gov.uk says the charge is not payable when someone switches to Skilled Worker from a visa that allows study.

Read that exemption as written. If you hold a Graduate visa, do not cite it: give the figure for the employer's size instead.

Never offer to pay it

The employer must pay the charge itself. An employer that asks you to pay it can lose its licence. The cost-clause check shows which costs may fall on you.

Argue from the role first, the cost second

A hiring manager sponsors a person they already want. So make the case after an interview has gone well, and open with the work, not the visa.

Keep the email short enough to forward. It will often travel from the manager to HR, and HR decides on the licence side.

Four lines, in this order

  1. The role, and what you would do in it.
  2. When you can start, and on which visa.
  3. The cost point that applies, from gov.uk.
  4. A request for a conversation, not a yes.

Send it with your visa explained

Pair this card with the Graduate visa message, so the manager reads the dates and the cost together. If the employer has no licence yet, ask whether it will apply for one before you put more time into the role.

If the answer is no, thank them and ask whether another team sponsors. The Plan B branches show where to go next, and the script library holds the reply.

Checkpoint

Flip each switch when it is done. They stay set on this device only.

Before you ask

Why do some employers not sponsor at all?

Many hold no licence, and a licence brings its own costs and duties. Others sponsor only named programmes. Ask whether this team has sponsored before, then argue from the role.

Is the charge the only cost of sponsoring me?

No. Sponsoring has other costs, such as the licence itself. This page shows only the charge your argument turns on; the employer's HR team will know its own costs.

How do I know which size the employer is?

gov.uk sets the tests for a small or charitable sponsor on its Immigration Skills Charge page. From outside you rarely know them, so give both figures and let the employer read its own line.

Should I offer to cover some of the cost?

No. The employer must pay the charge itself, and asking a worker to pay it puts the employer's licence at risk. A good case never needs that offer.

When is the case too early?

Before anyone has interviewed you. Until then, ask the recruiter the plain sponsorship question with the recruiter script instead.

A curved blue glass wall sweeps towards a lit passage where a few travellers walk with luggage.
Southwark station, concourse towards the passage, London.Bryn Holmes, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped and colour-graded.

Sources

  1. gov.uk guidance, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge (opens gov.uk)
    " First 12 months £480 £1,320"
    Checked 7 October 2026
  2. gov.uk guidance, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge (opens gov.uk)
    " Each additional 6 months £240 £660"
    Checked 7 October 2026
  3. gov.uk guidance, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge (opens gov.uk)
    " First 12 months £480 £1,320"
    Checked 7 October 2026
  4. gov.uk guidance, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge (opens gov.uk)
    " Each additional 6 months £240 £660"
    Checked 7 October 2026
  5. gov.uk guidance, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge (opens gov.uk)
    "You will not have to pay the charge if they switch to either a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa and then extend their stay on the new visa."
    Checked 7 October 2026
  6. gov.uk guidance, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge (opens gov.uk)
    "You must pay the immigration skills charge yourself. Your licence may be revoked if you ask the sponsored worker to pay the fee or any costs linked to your application."
    Checked 7 October 2026
  7. UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge (how to tell if you're a small or charitable sponsor) (opens gov.uk)
    "You’re usually a small sponsor if at least 2 of the following apply:"
    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.