Certificate of Sponsorship scams: how they work and how to protect yourself

What a Certificate of Sponsorship is

A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is an electronic document with a unique reference number. A UK employer or organisation that holds a Home Office sponsor licence issues it to a worker through the Home Office’s online sponsorship system. It confirms the details of the job, and the worker must have a valid one before they can successfully apply for a visa.^[1]

Two things follow from that:

• A CoS is not a visa, and it does not guarantee one. The Home Office still decides the visa application.
• Only a licensed sponsor can issue one, and only for the routes its licence covers. Every licensed sponsor is listed on the Home Office’s public register.^[5]

The rule: sponsors pay, workers don’t

Home Office guidance says sponsors are responsible for paying their own sponsorship fees.^[2] In 2024 and 2025 the rules were tightened:

• The Home Office will normally revoke the licence of a sponsor that recoups, or tries to recoup, its sponsor licence fee or associated administrative costs from a worker it sponsors. This has applied to Skilled Worker since 31 December 2024 and to every other work route since 9 April 2025.^{[2, 3]}
• The same applies to the CoS fee for Skilled Workers, and, since 9 April 2025, for Ministers of Religion, Global Business Mobility workers, International Sportspeople, and Scale-up and Seasonal Workers.^{[2, 3]}
• The Home Office will revoke a licence if it has reasonable grounds to believe a sponsored job is not genuine: for example, it does not exist, or it was created mainly so the worker can get a visa. It will do the same if it suspects an organisation exists mainly to get people permission to work in the UK.^[3]

Other UK laws point the same way. Employment agencies are generally not allowed to charge you a fee for finding you work.^[6] And it is a criminal offence to give immigration advice or provide immigration services, such as “visa processing”, without being regulated.^[7]

The bottom line: if anyone asks you to pay for a CoS, or for its “processing”, “admin” or “release”, do not pay.

How the scam works

The people and the places change, but the script is remarkably consistent:

1. The offer. A job or a church role in the UK, with a Certificate of Sponsorship, offered through WhatsApp, Facebook, a church, a community group or a friend of a friend.
2. The fee. You are told to pay for the CoS, or for “processing”, “admin” or a “placement”. The sums can run to thousands of pounds, sometimes in instalments.
3. The guarantee. To settle your doubts, you are promised a full refund if your visa is refused.
4. The delay. The visa is refused, the CoS is withdrawn or turns out to be worthless, or the job does not exist. Excuses follow, and sometimes requests for more money.
5. The silence. The refund never comes. Messages go unanswered and victims are blocked, pressured or told to keep quiet.

Common variations

• A fake CoS. A reference number or letter that does not exist on the Home Office system. The visa application is refused, or never made.
• A real CoS for a job that isn’t real. A licensed sponsor issues a genuine certificate, but the job does not exist or is not what was promised. The visa may even be granted. The Home Office treats a role that is not genuine as grounds to revoke the licence, and when it does, it normally cancels or shortens the permission of the workers that sponsor is responsible for.^[3]
• Trust networks. Approaches through churches, community groups, friends and family, where people are less likely to ask questions. Some offers use the religious routes (Minister of Religion and Religious Worker) rather than the Skilled Worker route.
• The refund guarantee. The single most persuasive line in the script. It costs nothing to promise.

Warning signs

Stop and check if:

• you are asked to pay for the CoS, or for “processing”, “admin” or “release” fees;
• you are promised a full refund if your visa is refused;
• you are asked to pay into a personal account, in cash, or through an “agent”;
• there is no proper interview, job description or written contract;
• the person helping you is not a regulated immigration adviser or solicitor;
• you are rushed: “limited places”, “pay today”;
• you are told to keep the payment secret, or not to mention it in your visa application;
• the organisation is not on the register of licensed sponsors, or not for the route you have been offered.

How to check before you pay

1. Search the Home Office register of licensed sponsors. Check the exact name, the town and the route. Being on the register shows that an organisation holds a licence. It does not make a request for money acceptable.
2. Look the organisation up on Companies House and, for charities and churches, the Register of Charities.
3. Check that any adviser is regulated, using the Immigration Advice Authority’s Adviser Finder or the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor.
4. Contact the employer directly, using contact details you have found yourself, not ones the agent gave you.
5. Check the names and phone numbers in our investigations.
6. Never pay for a Certificate of Sponsorship.

If you have already paid

Act quickly: call your bank, report it to the police, and keep every message and receipt. If you paid by bank transfer from a UK account, you may be able to get your money back. Our step-by-step guide explains what to do.