Sponsor Licence & Self-Sponsorship: Could Your Company Sponsor You?

From Graduate visa to Skilled Worker visa through your own business? Explore how a genuine UK company could obtain a sponsor licence and sponsor its founder for an eligible job. KBA helps you prepare the business plan, finances and company setup.

Subject to eligibility and Home Office approval. “Self-sponsorship” is not a separate visa route. Individual immigration advice and applications require an appropriately authorised provider; company formation or a sponsor licence does not guarantee a visa.

Find a regulated immigration adviser for a personal eligibility assessment.

Your business, sponsor licence and visa: the four stages

These are separate stages, not automatic approvals. Read the Home Office sponsor-licence overview and Skilled Worker switching guidance. Forming a company or submitting its licence application does not extend your personal immigration permission.

Business setup and planning support from KBA

Our service is for Graduate visa holders who want to build a genuine UK business and understand the business preparation that a possible sponsorship strategy would require. We agree a scope around your idea, budget, evidence and timetable.

• Business planning: define your service, customers, pricing, delivery capacity and realistic operating costs.
• Company setup: support incorporation and relevant accounting, tax and payroll registrations within the agreed engagement.
• Financial preparation: develop sales, cost and cash-flow forecasts, including the cost of employing staff and a slower-sales scenario.
• Ongoing accounting: agree bookkeeping, payroll, accounts, reporting and review support as the business develops.
• Documents and handover: organise the agreed business plan, financial model and company records so you can understand the assumptions and discuss them with your authorised immigration adviser.

Immigration advice is a separate service. If you need individual immigration advice or representation, use an appropriately authorised provider. KBA’s business engagement does not include a visa, a sponsor licence approval or a guaranteed outcome.

How to start and what you receive

1. Request a business consultation: share your business idea, approximate budget, current permission expiry and target timetable.
2. Agree the scope and quote: we identify the business work, required information, deliverables, fees and responsibilities before work begins. Immigration and third-party costs are considered separately.
3. Prepare and review: work through the commercial assumptions and records, then review the agreed plan and forecasts with you.
4. Receive a clear handover: take away the agreed documents, an explanation of the assumptions and a list of outstanding business actions. Ongoing support is agreed separately.

Request your business setup consultation. Please select the closest relevant business service and mention “Graduate visa business setup” in your summary. KBA will confirm availability and the next step.

Start with your skills, not complicated paperwork

Perhaps you build websites, provide technical support, create designs or have another service customers need. Before paying to set up a company, work out who would buy from you, what you can deliver and how much cash you need while sales develop.

KBA can help you answer the questions that matter:

• Could my idea work? Turn your skills into a clear service, identify likely customers and work through sensible pricing and costs.
• How much money will I need? Prepare a month-by-month plan for sales, bills, tax and pay, including a slower-sales scenario.
• How do I get started? Support with company formation, accounting records and relevant tax and payroll registrations.
• How do I keep the business running properly? Ongoing bookkeeping, payroll, accounts and tax support, with an agreed scope and fee.

Can a Graduate visa holder start a business?

The Graduate visa permits self-employment. If you are still on a Student visa, different conditions apply: Student visa holders generally cannot be self-employed. Confirm your current permission and its expiry date before starting work or committing money.

The eligibility checks behind self-sponsorship

You may have heard this called “self-sponsorship”. It is not a separate visa. In some circumstances, a company owned by a founder may be able to obtain a sponsor licence and employ that founder under the Skilled Worker route.

This depends on a real business, a genuine eligible job, the applicable salary, suitable sponsorship management and the applicant meeting the immigration requirements. A company registration certificate or a director job title is not enough. Read the official Skilled Worker rules.

If staying in the UK through sponsorship is part of your plan, obtain a personal assessment from an appropriately regulated immigration adviser before you spend on that strategy. The adviser should assess the proposed job, funding, salary and timing. KBA can prepare and explain the business figures within an agreed accounting engagement.

A simple example: from a skill to a business plan

Illustrative example, not a client case. A graduate wants to sell website design and maintenance. Instead of treating every enquiry as a sale, they separate confirmed projects from possible work, estimate delivery hours and check when customers will pay.

If projected monthly customer receipts are £3,000 and business bills are £1,200, the £1,800 difference is before the owner’s pay, employer costs, tax and other commitments. It does not demonstrate that the business can afford a sponsored role. A realistic cash plan makes that gap visible early.

Start with our free Excel tools, or get help preparing a clear sales, costs and cash-flow forecast.

Bring these five things to your first business discussion

1. A short explanation of your skill and the service you want to sell.
2. Who your likely customers are and any genuine enquiries or work already agreed.
3. Your approximate startup budget and expected monthly living costs.
4. Your target start date and the broad time available on your current visa.
5. What business or accounting help you need and whether you already have a regulated immigration adviser.

For an initial website enquiry, share only a brief summary. Do not upload passport copies, immigration reference numbers, bank statements or other sensitive documents. We can agree an appropriate way to receive documents if they are needed later.

Take the next step with a clear plan

Tell us your business idea and what is holding you back. We will explain the business and accounting work we can help with, agree the scope and quote before work starts. Immigration advice and applications require a separate authorised provider; no visa outcome or completion date is guaranteed.

UK guidance checked on 10 September 2026. General information and business-planning support; individual immigration eligibility must be assessed by an authorised adviser.