The immigration skills charge, explained for care providers

Sponsoring a worker from overseas carries a cost that catches providers out more often than any other. The immigration skills charge is paid by you, not the worker, it is paid in full before the visa is even granted, and it rises with every year you sponsor someone for. Budget for it wrongly and the figure lands as an unwelcome surprise part way through a hiring round.

Here is what it costs, who pays it, when it falls due and the handful of cases where it does not apply at all.

What the charge is and why it exists

The immigration skills charge is a fee the government takes from employers who sponsor workers from outside the UK. The stated purpose is to fund skills training for the domestic workforce, on the reasoning that an employer recruiting from overseas should contribute to building the home-grown alternative.

For a care provider the reasoning matters less than the arithmetic. It is a fixed cost of sponsorship, it scales with the length of sponsorship, and it sits alongside the licence fee and the certificate fee rather than replacing either.

What it costs

The rate depends on the size of your organisation and on how long you sponsor the worker for.

You count as a small or charitable sponsor if your organisation is a registered charity, or if it meets two of these three tests: annual turnover of £15 million or less, total assets of £7.5 million or less, or 50 employees or fewer. A good many independent care providers fall inside that definition and pay the lower rate, so it is worth checking rather than assuming the higher figure applies.

Anything longer than six months counts as a full twelve months. There is no part-year rate below the first year.

Who has to pay

You do. The charge falls on the sponsor, and the rules are explicit that it cannot be recovered from the worker. Asking a sponsored worker to pay the charge, or to cover any cost tied to your sponsor licence application, puts your licence at risk of revocation.

This matters in care more than in most sectors, because recruitment agencies operating overseas have been known to pass sponsorship costs down the chain to candidates. If you use an agency, check what the worker is being charged and by whom. The liability for that arrangement sits with your licence, not the agency's.

When it falls due

You pay the full amount at the point you assign the certificate of sponsorship, before the worker submits their visa application. The payment covers the entire period you are sponsoring the person for, paid in one go rather than yearly.

If the Home Office finds you have not paid, or have paid the wrong amount, you get ten working days to put it right. Miss that window and the worker's visa application is refused, which means starting the process again and paying the application costs a second time.

Who does not pay

The exemptions are narrower than most providers expect, and none of them covers adult social care. A care worker, senior care worker or nurse sponsored on a health and care route attracts the charge in the normal way.

The charge does not apply when you are:

• Sponsoring someone in one of nine research, science or higher education occupation codes. None relates to care.
• Sponsoring the worker's dependants, such as a partner or child.
• Sponsoring someone who switches from a student visa to a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa, and any later extension on that visa.
• Sponsoring someone assigned a certificate before 6 April 2017.
• Making a short Global Business Mobility transfer from an EU business, under conditions that rarely apply in care.

The student switching exemption is the one worth knowing. If you recruit someone already in the UK on a student visa, moving them onto a Skilled Worker visa carries no skills charge, and nor does the extension that follows. For a provider hiring locally from a nursing or health and social care course, that removes the single largest sponsorship cost.

Getting money back

A refund is due in full where the visa application is refused or withdrawn, or where it succeeds but the worker never starts with you.

A partial refund is due where the worker is granted less time than you sponsored them for, moves to another sponsor after starting, or leaves before the certificate end date. You also get the difference back if you paid the medium or large rate while already registered with the Home Office as a small or charitable sponsor.

Refunds are normally paid within ninety days of whatever triggered them. They are not automatic in practice, so keep a record of leavers and check the money has landed rather than assuming it has.

Where it sits in the total cost of sponsorship

The skills charge is one of three costs, and it is usually the largest. The licence application comes first and covers your organisation. The certificate of sponsorship is charged per worker. The skills charge is charged per worker and per year of sponsorship, which is why it dominates the total on any sponsorship longer than a year.

A small provider sponsoring one care worker for three years pays £1,440 in skills charge alone. Sponsor five people on the same terms and the figure reaches £7,200 before a single certificate or licence fee is counted. Providers who budget per hire rather than per sponsorship year tend to be the ones caught short.

Frequently asked questions

What is the immigration skills charge?

A fee paid by employers who sponsor workers from outside the UK, intended to fund training for the domestic workforce. It is paid by the sponsor, in full, when the certificate of sponsorship is assigned.

Do I need to pay the immigration skills charge?

Yes, if you are sponsoring a worker on a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa and none of the exemptions applies. The most common exemption in care is where the worker is switching from a student visa.

What is the immigration skills charge for a health and care visa?

The same as any other route. There is no health and care exemption. A small or charitable provider pays £480 for the first twelve months and £240 for each additional six months. A medium or large provider pays £1,320 and £660.

What are the exemptions from paying the immigration skills charge?

Nine research, science and higher education occupation codes, the worker's dependants, workers switching from a student visa, certificates assigned before 6 April 2017, and certain short EU business transfers. None of these covers care roles.

When does the charge apply?

At the point you assign the certificate of sponsorship, covering the full period of sponsorship in one payment. Any period longer than six months is charged as a full twelve months.

Getting the cost right before you commit

The skills charge is predictable, which makes it manageable. The providers who struggle with it are the ones who discover it at the certificate stage rather than at the planning stage, or who pay the medium rate for years without checking whether they qualify as a small sponsor.

Lifted handles sponsorship compliance for care providers, including the cost planning that sits behind it. If you are weighing up whether to sponsor, or want a check on what you are currently paying, we can tell you where you stand.