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UK Skilled Worker Sponsorship Cost Calculator

Sponsoring a worker can involve several separate government charges rather than one single fee. This free calculator estimates sponsor-side costs such as the sponsor licence fee, Certificate of Sponsorship fee, and Immigration Skills Charge, then separates them from visa application fees, Immigration Health Surcharge charges, and dependant costs.

Jump to calculator See sponsor software

Government charges onlyFree public estimateNo login or email required

Combined estimated government charges

The combined estimate is not necessarily the amount the employer is legally required to pay. Sponsor-side charges and applicant-side charges are shown separately so your team can see how the case cost is split before deciding whether the employer will cover any applicant or family costs.

Sponsor costs

Sponsor-side government charges can include the sponsor licence application fee where a licence is needed, the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, and the Immigration Skills Charge.

Applicant and family costs

Applicant-side charges can include visa application fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge, and dependant application and healthcare charges.

Estimate only

This tool estimates government charges from the options you select. It does not assess visa eligibility, dependant eligibility, or sponsor status, and it does not collect personal worker details, login details, or email addresses.

Calculator inputs

Enter organisation, route, duration, and dependant assumptions to estimate sponsor licence, CoS, ISC, visa-fee, and IHS charges.

Sponsor setup

Does the organisation already hold the required Worker sponsor licence?

YesNo

Sponsor size

Route

Application location

Duration

Workers and dependants

Number of sponsored workers

Adult dependants per worker

Child dependants per worker

Occupation code (optional)

This calculator does not assess whether dependants are allowed in a specific case. Some routes and circumstances have restrictions.

If the occupation code matches one of the currently listed ISC-exempt codes in the fee schedule, the calculator applies that exemption automatically.

Exemptions and employer view

Confirmed additional ISC exemptionUse this only when you have separately confirmed that another ISC exemption applies.Employer intends to cover applicant chargesThis does not change the government-charge estimate. It adds a separate employer-budget view.

Applicant charges are still shown separately even when this toggle is selected.

Estimate results

Government-charge estimate only. Advisers, recruitment, travel, payroll, and other non-government costs are shown separately below as excluded items.

Run the calculator to see the estimate.

Results appear here after you calculate the estimate. No login or email is required.

Excluded costs

This calculator covers selected government charges only. It does not include:

Advisers, solicitors, and managed immigration support
Recruitment, travel, relocation, accommodation, and onboarding
Priority processing, biometrics add-ons, and courier or document services
English-language tests, TB tests, or other route-specific evidence costs
Salary, payroll, pension, employer National Insurance, or other employment costs
Any other non-government charges not included in the current fee schedule

Who provides this calculator?

Soteriaa provides this calculator as independent software. Soteriaa is not the Home Office and not an immigration adviser. The tool estimates government charges from the assumptions you select. It does not determine visa eligibility, occupation eligibility, dependant eligibility, sponsor licence eligibility, or a guaranteed final cost.

How much does it cost?

How much does it cost to sponsor a Skilled Worker?

There is no single universal price. The total varies according to the licence position, sponsor size, route, application location, duration, worker count, dependants, and whether an Immigration Skills Charge exemption applies.

Existing sponsor licence

The estimate changes depending on whether the organisation already holds the required Worker sponsor licence.

Sponsor size

Small or charitable sponsors use a different sponsor licence fee and Immigration Skills Charge rate from medium or large sponsors.

Visa route

The Standard Skilled Worker, Immigration Salary List, and Health and Care Worker routes use different application-fee and IHS rules.

Application location

Inside-UK and outside-UK applications can use different fee bands, especially for the standard Skilled Worker route and short-duration IHS treatment.

Duration

The model works in six-month steps from 6 to 60 months because the ISC and IHS both change with the permission length.

Workers and dependants

Adding more sponsored workers, adult dependants, or child dependants increases the government charges that apply to the case.

Employer costs

Which costs must the employer pay?

Sponsor-side charges normally include the sponsor licence application fee where a licence is needed, the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, and the Immigration Skills Charge unless an exemption applies.

This page is about estimating government charges, not providing detailed legal advice. The calculator keeps sponsor-side charges separate because those are the costs most employers need to budget for directly.

Sponsor licence application fee, where the organisation still needs the required Worker sponsor licence.
Certificate of Sponsorship fee for each sponsored worker.
Immigration Skills Charge unless a valid exemption applies.

Sponsor-side charges should not be passed on to the sponsored worker. If you need legal advice on a particular arrangement, confirm it against current official guidance or with a qualified adviser.

Certificate of Sponsorship

What is the Certificate of Sponsorship fee?

The current Skilled Worker Certificate of Sponsorship fee used in this calculator is £525.00 per sponsored worker.

A Certificate of Sponsorship fee is charged per sponsored worker. The calculator adds that fee for each worker entered in the form.

Soteriaa and other third-party software do not replace the official Sponsor Management System used to assign a Certificate of Sponsorship. If you want help after the cost model, see UK Sponsor Compliance or sponsor pricing.

Source: UK visa sponsorship for employers: Certificates of sponsorship - GOV.UK.

Immigration Skills Charge

How is the Immigration Skills Charge calculated?

The calculator uses the published first-year amount for any chargeable period up to 12 months, then adds one extra six-month charge for each six-month period after month 12. It applies the charge per worker unless an exemption is selected or recognised from the limited automatic occupation-code list built into the tool.

Chargeable period	Small or charitable sponsor	Medium or large sponsor
First 12 months	£480.00	£1,320.00
Each additional 6 months after month 12	£240.00	£660.00

The calculator defaults to charging the Immigration Skills Charge because many cases do attract it. It will stop charging the ISC only when a listed automatic occupation-code exemption is recognised or when you confirm a manual exemption.

Exemptions are limited in this tool. Users should still confirm any claimed exemption directly against current GOV.UK guidance before relying on the estimate.

Source: UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge - GOV.UK.

Applicant charges

What does the worker normally pay?

Applicant-side charges may include the Skilled Worker visa application fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge, and dependant charges for each accompanying family member.

Visa application fee for the main applicant.
Visa application fee for each adult dependant and each child dependant.
Immigration Health Surcharge where it applies.

Employers sometimes choose to cover some or all applicant-side charges. The calculator can show an employer budget where that toggle is selected, but the classification here does not determine the contractual arrangement between employer and applicant.

Dependants

How are dependants included?

The calculator supports adult dependants and child dependants under 18 for each worker. It applies visa application fees to each dependant and then applies the adult or child IHS rate where relevant.

Dependant eligibility is not assessed by the tool. Restrictions can apply in some visa and occupation circumstances, so the calculator only estimates charges for the dependant counts you enter.

Health and Care Worker route

Do Health and Care Worker applicants pay the IHS?

Eligible Health and Care Worker applicants and eligible dependants are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge, so the calculator sets IHS to zero when that route is selected.

That does not mean every healthcare or care-sector role qualifies for the route. Route eligibility must still be confirmed separately, and the calculator does not attempt to make that decision.

Excluded costs

What costs are excluded?

This page estimates government charges only. It does not assign values to other costs that can matter in a real sponsorship budget.

Professional and recruitment costs

Immigration adviser or solicitor fees, recruitment fees, relocation support, and sponsor compliance software costs are excluded.

Travel, checks, and faster processing

Travel, English-language tests, qualification recognition, identity and document checks, and priority or super-priority processing are excluded.

Employment and repeat-case costs

Salary, payroll, maintenance funds, repeat applications, refusals, refund calculations, and other non-government case costs are excluded.

Current government fee table

Fees effective from 8 April 2026. Last reviewed 15 July 2026. Confirm current fees before making a payment.

Government charge	Current amount	Official source
Small or charitable sponsor licence	£611.00	UK visa sponsorship for employers: Apply for your licence - GOV.UK
Medium or large sponsor licence	£1,682.00	UK visa sponsorship for employers: Apply for your licence - GOV.UK
Certificate of Sponsorship	£525.00 per worker	UK visa sponsorship for employers: Certificates of sponsorship - GOV.UK
ISC first 12 months: small or charitable sponsor	£480.00	UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge - GOV.UK
ISC each additional 6 months: small or charitable sponsor	£240.00	UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge - GOV.UK
ISC first 12 months: medium or large sponsor	£1,320.00	UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge - GOV.UK
ISC each additional 6 months: medium or large sponsor	£660.00	UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration skills charge - GOV.UK
Standard Skilled Worker: outside UK up to 3 years	£819.00	Skilled Worker visa: How much it costs - GOV.UK
Standard Skilled Worker: outside UK over 3 years	£1,618.00	Skilled Worker visa: How much it costs - GOV.UK
Standard Skilled Worker: inside UK up to 3 years	£943.00	Skilled Worker visa: How much it costs - GOV.UK
Standard Skilled Worker: inside UK over 3 years	£1,865.00	Skilled Worker visa: How much it costs - GOV.UK
Immigration Salary List: up to 3 years	£628.00	Skilled Worker visa: How much it costs - GOV.UK
Immigration Salary List: over 3 years	£1,235.00	Skilled Worker visa: How much it costs - GOV.UK
Health and Care Worker: up to 3 years	£324.00	Health and Care Worker visa: How much it costs - GOV.UK
Health and Care Worker: over 3 years	£628.00	Health and Care Worker visa: How much it costs - GOV.UK
Immigration Health Surcharge: adult annual rate	£1,035.00	Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application: How much you have to pay - GOV.UK
Immigration Health Surcharge: child annual rate	£776.00	Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application: How much you have to pay - GOV.UK

The page table is derived from the active Soteriaa fee schedule rather than a separate set of page-only constants.

Worked examples

Worked examples generated from the live calculation engine

These examples are not hand-calculated copy. They are generated through the same tested calculation module used by the public calculator, so they update with the active fee schedule.

Example 1

Small sponsor, already licensed, one standard Skilled Worker, applying outside the UK for 36 months, no dependants, no ISC exemption.

Sponsor total: £1,965.00. Applicant total: £3,924.00. Combined total: £5,889.00.

Example 2

Medium or large sponsor, already licensed, one standard Skilled Worker, applying outside the UK for 60 months, no dependants, no ISC exemption.

Sponsor total: £7,125.00. Applicant total: £6,793.00. Combined total: £13,918.00.

Example 3

Small sponsor, already licensed, one Health and Care Worker, applying outside the UK for 36 months, no dependants, no ISC exemption.

Sponsor total: £1,965.00. Applicant total: £324.00. Combined total: £2,289.00.

Methodology and official sources

Fee data is manually maintained from official GOV.UK guidance. The calculator does not scrape government pages at runtime.

Calculations use the assumptions selected in the form rather than attempting to judge eligibility.
Visa permission can extend beyond the entered employment period, so the official IHS result can differ from the estimate.
Fees change over time, so users should confirm the current official amount before making a payment.

Official guidance used for the active schedule and this page:

The broader sponsor workflow that follows the cost calculation lives in Soteriaa's UK sponsor compliance workspace. The pricing for that software is separate from the government charges shown here and is published at /uk-sponsor-compliance/pricing.

FAQ

Common questions about Skilled Worker sponsorship costs

Short answers about what this calculator includes, what it does not decide, and where the fee data comes from.

How much does a Certificate of Sponsorship cost?

The current Skilled Worker Certificate of Sponsorship fee in this calculator is £525.00 per worker.

How much is the Immigration Skills Charge?

The Immigration Skills Charge depends on sponsor size and duration. The calculator uses £480.00 for a small or charitable sponsor's first 12 months and £1,320.00 for a medium or large sponsor's first 12 months, plus an added six-month charge after month 12.

Does the employer have to pay the worker's visa fee?

Not automatically. This calculator separates sponsor-side charges from applicant and family charges because employers make different contractual decisions about whether to cover those applicant-side costs.

Can the employer pass the Immigration Skills Charge to the worker?

No. The Immigration Skills Charge is a sponsor-side government charge and should not be passed on to the sponsored worker. If you need advice on a specific arrangement, confirm it against current GOV.UK guidance or with a qualified adviser.

Is the sponsor licence fee included?

Yes. The estimate includes the sponsor licence application fee when you say the organisation does not already hold the required Worker sponsor licence.

Does a Health and Care Worker pay the Immigration Health Surcharge?

Eligible Health and Care Worker applicants and eligible dependants are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge. This calculator applies that exemption when the Health and Care Worker route is selected, but it does not decide whether a role qualifies for that route.

Are dependant costs included?

Yes. The calculator includes visa application fees and Immigration Health Surcharge costs for adult dependants and child dependants when you enter them.

Does this calculator include solicitor fees?

No. It estimates government charges only. Adviser fees, recruitment costs, travel, relocation, tests, salary, payroll, and other non-government costs are excluded.

Is this an official Home Office calculator?

No. Soteriaa provides this calculator as an independent software company. It is not a Home Office tool, it is not immigration advice, and it does not replace current official guidance.

Does the calculator determine visa eligibility?

No. It does not determine visa eligibility, occupation eligibility, dependant eligibility, sponsor licence eligibility, or whether an exemption applies outside the limited rules built into the calculator.

Why might the official IHS amount differ from this estimate?

The official Immigration Health Surcharge charge is based on the visa permission actually granted. If that period differs from the employment length entered here, the official result can differ from the estimate.

See UK sponsor software See sponsor pricing

Calculating sponsorship costs is only one part of managing sponsored workers.

Soteriaa helps employers organise worker records, visa and right-to-work dates, evidence and follow-up tasks.

See UK sponsor compliance