- in United Kingdom
- with readers working within the Construction & Engineering industries
- within Law Practice Management topic(s)
The Home Office has increased the fees and updated processing times for sponsor licence priority services, with changes taking effect from 21 October 2025.
Priority Sponsor Licence Application Requests
The fee for making a priority request when submitting a new sponsor licence application has risen from £500 to £750.
- Standard processing time: up to 8 weeks
- Priority processing time: approximately 10 working days
This service allows new sponsors to receive a faster decision, subject to availability (places are released daily at 9 a.m. and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis).
Post-Licence Priority Service (Sponsor Management System Requests)
The fee for using the Post-Licence Priority Service, used by existing sponsors to expedite certain changes and requests via the Sponsor Management System (SMS) has increased from £200 to £350.
- Standard processing time: up to 18 weeks for some requests
- Priority service processing time: around 5 working days
This service is commonly relied upon for in-year CoS allocation increases, annual CoS renewals, and changes to key personnel or business details.
It is particularly useful when deadlines are tight, such as where a current employee's visa is approaching expiry and a new CoS allocation is urgently required.
These fee increases represent a notable rise in the cost of sponsor licence priority services. Sponsors should take these changes into account when planning recruitment timelines and budgeting for immigration-related costs, especially in time-sensitive situations.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
