For routes other than UK Expansion Worker, a sponsor licence will be rated either ‘A’ or ‘B’.
An A rating will be awarded when you are granted a licence, provided you have adequate systems in place to meet your sponsor duties and are trusted to act in a way appropriate to those licensed by UKVI. You will not be granted a licence if you are not able to achieve an A rating. Further, after your licence has been approved, UKVI may downgrade you to a B rating if you fail to discharge your sponsor duties or UKVI has other concerns about you.
For sponsors on the UK Expansion Worker route, where the Authorising Officer (AO) is an employee of the overseas business and will be assigning their own Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to apply for entry clearance to the UK, you will initially be given a Provisional rating and allocated just one CoS to be assigned in the AO’s name. Your AO can upgrade to an A rating, and request additional CoS using the Sponsorship Management System (SMS), once they have been granted a visa and updated their details via the SMS.
