Buyer & Commercial

Sponsoring an immigrant worker lets a UK employer fill a role they cannot fill from the settled workforce. The main advantages are access to global talent and stronger retention.

You've been told your business needs a Home Office sponsor licence to bring in overseas staff. But the system feels like it's built to trip you up.

The five UK immigration consultants covered in this guide are Fragomen, Davidson Morris, Immtell, Kingsley Napley and First Migration.

Corporations get their immigration support from two kinds of specialist: Immigration law firms, which are solicitors regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and regulated immigration advisers on the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA, formerly OISC) register.

To choose the right UK immigration consultancy for your business, check that the adviser is registered with the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA, formerly OISC) or is an SRA regulated solicitor, then weigh their business immigration experience, their fee transparency, and how.

UK business immigration consultants usually charge either a fixed fee for each service or an hourly rate, and the total cost depends on the type of firm, the level of service, and the volume of cases.

For most employers, external regulated immigration support works out more cost-effective than building the same capability in-house, because it removes salary and training overheads and the legal risk of unregulated advice.