The Certificate of Sponsorship — What It Is, What It Must Say, and What to Check

The Certificate of Sponsorship is not a document you receive in the post. It is a digital record that your employer creates in the Home Office sponsorship management system. What you receive is a reference number — a string of letters and numbers — that you enter into your online visa application.

That reference number is the starting point for everything the Home Office checks. The caseworker assigned to your application will pull the CoS record and cross-reference it against your passport, your application form, and the Register of Licensed Sponsors. Any discrepancy — however minor — results in a request for further information at best, a refusal at worst.

Most applicants do not verify their CoS before submitting. They receive the reference number, enter it, and assume everything is in order. That assumption is the source of a large proportion of avoidable Skilled Worker complications.

What the CoS contains#

When your employer assigns a Certificate of Sponsorship, they confirm the following in the Home Office system:

• Your full name (must match your passport exactly)
• Your date of birth
• Your nationality
• The job title
• The SOC code
• The annual salary
• The employment start date
• Whether they are certifying maintenance (the £1,270 savings requirement)
• The employer name, address, and sponsor licence number

None of these fields are advisory. They are commitments. If your actual job offer differs from any of them, that is a problem.

Ask your employer for a copy#

Many employers assume applicants do not need to see the CoS details — they just need the reference number. This is incorrect. You should ask your employer, or their HR team, to confirm every field before the CoS is submitted to the Home Office.

In practice, this means asking:

• What SOC code are you using for my role?
• What salary figure is on the CoS?
• What start date have you entered?
• Does the name on the CoS match my passport exactly?
• Are you certifying maintenance?

If your employer used a third-party immigration firm to manage the sponsorship, the firm may have the CoS details. Either way, get them in writing before you submit your application.

The name problem#

The most frequent CoS discrepancy is a name mismatch. Applicants who go by a shortened version of their name — or whose full legal name includes multiple given names — often find that the employer entered a different version than what appears on the passport.

The Home Office requires an exact match. If your passport says OLUMIDE ADEBAYO and your CoS says OLUMIDE, that is a discrepancy. Your employer will need to cancel the CoS and issue a new one.

This process takes time. Cancelling and reissuing a CoS requires your employer to make a new assignment in the sponsorship management system, which depletes their CoS allocation. Some employers are not aware of this until it happens. Catching it early — before you submit — avoids the problem entirely.

The SOC code problem#

Your employer selects the SOC code that matches your role. They may do this themselves, or their HR team or immigration advisers may handle it.

The SOC code determines the going rate that applies to your application. If the code is wrong — if your employer selected a code that does not accurately reflect your duties — two things can go wrong.

First, the going rate for the selected code may be higher than the going rate for the correct code, meaning your salary appears insufficient even if it would have been fine under the right code.

Second, and more seriously, if the Home Office determines that the SOC code misrepresents your actual role, this can be treated as misrepresentation — a serious finding with long-term consequences.

Verify the SOC code. Look up the job description associated with that code on the eligible occupations list. Confirm it matches what you will actually be doing. If it does not, ask your employer to correct it before the CoS is submitted.

The salary consistency problem#

The salary stated on your CoS, the salary in your job offer letter, and the salary in your employment contract must all be consistent. If they differ — even by a small amount — the caseworker will flag it.

Common causes of inconsistency:

• The offer letter states an annual salary and the CoS states the same figure but calculated differently (e.g. monthly rate × 12 does not equal the annual figure due to rounding)
• The offer includes a probationary period at a lower rate, and the CoS reflects the post-probation salary
• The employer updated the salary between the offer and the CoS assignment
• The CoS was created for a different candidate and the salary field was carried over

Ask your employer to confirm that the salary figure on the CoS is the gross annual salary that will appear in your employment contract from day one of employment. If there is any ambiguity, resolve it before submitting.

The CoS age problem#

A Certificate of Sponsorship expires. You must submit your visa application within three months of the CoS being assigned. If the CoS is older than three months when you apply, it is no longer valid.

This matters more than it might seem. Sometimes employers assign a CoS before a candidate has finished their current role, before they have sorted their documentation, or simply because they processed the paperwork early. If the application is delayed for any reason — waiting for a TB test result, waiting for bank statements to complete the 28-day window, gathering overseas criminal record certificates — the CoS may expire before the application is submitted.

If your CoS is about to expire and you are not ready to apply, contact your employer immediately. They will need to cancel the expired CoS and assign a new one. This restarts the three-month window.

Maintenance certification#

One of the fields on the CoS is whether the employer is certifying maintenance. If they certify it, you are exempt from the requirement to show £1,270 in a personal bank account for 28 days.

Many applicants do not know to ask about this. Some employers are not aware it is an option. If your employer will certify maintenance on the CoS, you do not need to prepare the bank statement evidence. If they will not, you do need 28 consecutive days of statements showing a balance of £1,270 or above, ending no more than 31 days before you apply.

Ask your employer directly: are you certifying maintenance on the CoS?

What to do if you find an error#

If you identify a discrepancy after the CoS has been submitted to the Home Office but before you have submitted your visa application, contact your employer immediately. They can, in most cases, withdraw and reissue the CoS to correct the error.

If the CoS has already been used in a submitted application, and an error is found during processing, the Home Office will typically send a Request for Further Information. This extends processing time. Resolving it usually requires a new CoS, which means your employer must withdraw the original and reissue — a process that requires them to have available CoS allocation.

The simpler path — much simpler — is to check the CoS before you submit.

This article provides general information only and does not constitute immigration or legal advice. The Certificate of Sponsorship process, fields, and requirements are subject to change by the Home Office. Always verify the current requirements on gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa and consult a regulated immigration adviser (OISC) or solicitor if you are unsure.