The Home Office pre-licence priority service gives employers the ability to request a fast-tracked decision on their sponsor licence application when recruiting workers under certain sponsored work visas.
With standard processing for sponsor licence applications taking an average of 8 weeks, the ability to expedite a decision can be invaluable for employers looking to move quickly to recruit and onboard sponsored visa workers.
In this guide, we look at how the priority licence application service works in practice, from who is eligible to how to make a fast-tracked application.
What is the pre-licence priority service?
The priority service helps expedites the processing time of sponsor licence applications from UK employers looking to sponsor migrant workers.
The Home Office’s sponsor licence pre-licence priority service offers employers the option to pay for faster consideration of their licence application, to speed up end-to-end processing and help reduce the time between applying for a sponsor licence and a migrant worker being granted permission to enter or stay in the UK for the purpose of work. In this way, employers can minimise any disruption to their business where vacant positions need to be filled, but they do not already hold Home Office approval.
The service is designed for businesses applying to join the register of licensed sponsors. The sponsor register is the list of organisations licensed to sponsor workers on either the new Worker and Temporary Worker routes.
How long does the pre-licence priority service take?
Under standard sponsor licence processing times, you can expect to wait up to 8 weeks for a decision on your application. Only then can you issue a Certificate of Sponsorship to enable your new overseas recruit to make a valid application for a work visa.
Under the pre-licence priority service, eligible requests where payment has been successfully made, will usually be considered within 10 working days. The 10-working day period will begin from the date that UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) receives your signed submission sheet and copies of all required documentation, together with payment. This means that the end-to-end processing period from applying to UKVI for a sponsor licence and a migrant worker being approved for a visa will potentially be reduced by up to 6 weeks.
If your application is complex or extra checks are required, you may not receive an outcome within the target turnaround time, although UKVI should email the authorising officer named in your application within this timeframe, notifying you of what next steps need to be taken.
Who can use the pre-licence priority service?
The pre-licence priority service allows first-time sponsors to expedite their sponsor licence application by submitting a priority request to UKVI.
Note that the pre-licence priority service is not available for certain routes, including the Global Business Mobility Expansion Worker, Service Supplier and Secondment Worker visas, the Scale Up visa, and the Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement and Seasonal Worker visas.
To be eligible for the priority licence application service your organisation must have first submitted a valid application for a sponsor licence.
To submit a valid application you must register your details online by completing UKVI’s ‘Online sponsor application registration’. Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to log into the ‘Sponsor Application log in’ page. You must then complete the online form and submit a number of specified documents by email within 5 working days to validate your application. You must also send the submission sheet, signed and dated by your authorising officer.
Provided you submit a valid application for a sponsor licence, together with your submission sheet and all supporting documents to prove your eligibility and suitability for a licence, you should then be able to submit a priority request where a fast-tracked decision is required.
How do you use the priority licence application service?
After submitting the sponsor licence application, the applicant organisation should email UKVI at SponsorLicensingReplies@homeoffice.gov.uk to confirm submission of the complete application and all required supporting documentation as per Appendix A.
Provided the application is not already in progress and has not been assigned to a caseworker, the organisation should email a completed Pre-Licence priority service application to: PreLicencePriorityService@homeoffice.gov.uk.
Your priority request must be sent during the priority service operating times. This service is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. You’ll also need to submit your request promptly, as you’ll not be eligible for a faster decision if your underlying application is already in progress or has been passed to a caseworker for consideration.
If your priority request is successful, you’ll receive an email from the priority service team notifying you of this decision, along with further instructions. You’ll also receive a second email containing a payment link. You’ll then be given a timeframe of 72 hours, including weekends, from when you receive the second email to pay the appropriate fee. If payment is not received within that time, your priority request will expire and you’ll need to apply again to be considered for this service.
If you do not receive a response, you can assume that your request has not been successful. The pre-licence priority service does not guarantee that your request for faster consideration will be approved. There are several reasons why your priority request may be unsuccessful, for example, your request is ineligible for the service because it’s already under consideration, you’ve submitted a request outside the services’ operating times or the daily allocation limit has been reached.
How many pre-licence priority slots are available?
As of 1 August, the number of Sponsorship pre-licence priority service slots has been increased to 30 slots per working day. This is an increase from 10 that had previously been available.
How much does the priority licence application service cost?
The cost of the pre-licence priority service is £500. This is in addition to your application fee for a sponsor licence. The amount you pay for your licence application will depend on the type of licence sought, and the size or status of your organisation.
You’ll be eligible to pay the ‘small’ fee if:
- you’re applying to sponsor workers under the Temporary Worker routes only
- you have charitable status
- you’re subject to the small companies regime
- you’re an individual, not a company, and you employ fewer than 50 people.
In all other cases, you will be liable to pay the ‘large’ fee.
The fee for small or charitable sponsors, or to sponsor only Temporary Workers, is £536. The fee for medium or large sponsors is £1476.
The licence application fee will not be refundable if your application is either refused or withdrawn after consideration of it has begun. You’ll also not be eligible for a refund of your pre-licence priority service fee if your underlying application is unsuccessful, or if you fail to provide any additional information that you’re asked to submit following a priority request. If consideration of your licence application is delayed for other reasons outside of normal case working processes, for example, because of a technical error, you may be eligible for a refund.
How to avoid processing delays
The pre-licence priority service provides no guarantee that an application will be dealt with quickly. Acceptance for the priority service is also no guarantee of a successful outcome to your licence application. However, there are still steps that you can take to maximise your prospects of being accepted for priority clearance, or to otherwise ensure that your licence application has the best chance of succeeding without lengthy delays:
- Submit a valid licence application: to have any prospect of gaining access to the priority service, you must have submitted your online application form and supporting documents, including the signed submission sheet produced by the online application portal. Employers are often under the impression that they‘ve successfully submitted their application, but the submission sheet and supporting documents have not yet been sent to UKVI.
- Have your supporting documents ready in advance: before submitting your sponsor licence application, you must ensure that you have your supporting documents ready to be emailed. By submitting the documents quickly, ideally when you submit your online application, this will shorten the time between submission and any offer to apply for a fast-tracked decision.
- Submit a fully completed request to the priority service team: upon receipt of any offer to apply for the priority licence application service, you must submit a fully completed application using the specific priority service email address. This should include the priority request form, together with copies of the original signed submission sheet and supporting documents, even though these have already been submitted with your original application.
- Make your priority request during operating times only: any request for a faster decision made outside of the priority service opening hours will not be considered. You must also ensure that your request is made as soon as possible once the offer to use this service has been made to avoid your case being passed to a caseworker.
- Be prepared to make multiple priority requests: unfortunately, there’s no way of tracking the status of your underlying application, and whether you still remain eligible for a fast-tracked decision, but this doesn’t prevent you from making multiple requests. Demand for the priority service is high and, given the daily allocation limit, several requests will usually be needed to have any prospect of being accepted for this service.
- Make payment for the priority service promptly: if your priority request is successful and you receive an email from the priority service team, you must follow all instructions quickly and carefully, including making payment within the 72-hour timeframe. Both you and your authorising offer should check your spam or junk folder if your second email with the payment link doesn’t arrive to avoid missing out and your priority service offer expiring.
- Provide any additional information within allocated timeframes:where further information is requested by the priority service team but you fail to provide this information, your priority request may be rejected. This may also result in your underlying application being treated as invalid. For this reason, you must again make sure that your authorising officer regularly checks their email, including their spam or junk folder for UKVI notifications.
- Ensure that your sponsor licence application is accurate: even if you’re unable to secure a priority slot, you can avoid unnecessary delays by providing correct and up-to-date information first time round. If UKVI needs to request further details from you, this can often cause significant delays, and can even result in a refusal to grant you a licence.
Pre-Licence Priority Service FAQs
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Legal disclaimer
The matters contained in this article are intended to be for general information purposes only. This article does not constitute legal advice, nor is it a complete or authoritative statement of the law, and should not be treated as such. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information is correct, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and no liability is accepted for any error or omission. Before acting on any of the information contained herein, expert legal advice should be sought.
Author
Gill Laing is a qualified Legal Researcher & Analyst with niche specialisms in Law, Tax, Human Resources, Immigration & Employment Law.
Gill is a Multiple Business Owner and the Managing Director of Prof Services - a Marketing & Content Agency for the Professional Services Sector.
