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Founder sponsorship

UK self-sponsorship for founders

Self-sponsorship is not a visa category. It is a structure that succeeds only where a genuine UK business can lawfully hold a sponsor licence and employ the founder in a real, eligible role.

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Scope of advice

  • Route comparison and structure
  • UK company substance
  • Sponsor licence applications
  • Founder ownership and governance
  • Genuine-vacancy evidence
  • Occupation code and salary
  • Key personnel and sponsor control
  • Long-term business and settlement planning

01 / The approach

Separate the company, licence, role and worker tests.

Each proposition has its own legal and evidential requirements. Investment does not make a vacancy genuine; incorporation does not establish sponsor capability; and a licence does not guarantee the founder’s visa application.

02 / The approach

Show why the business needs this role now.

Duties, seniority, salary, hours, reporting arrangements and commercial need must fit the actual stage of the company. Generic executive descriptions are particularly vulnerable where the founder owns or controls the sponsor.

03 / The approach

Build governance that can withstand scrutiny.

Ownership is not by itself a prohibition, but sponsor decisions, key-personnel suitability and compliance responsibility must be real. The structure should work operationally after the application is approved.

Questions before proceeding.

Is there a self-sponsorship visa?

No. The expression usually describes a UK company sponsoring its founder or owner under an existing sponsored work route, commonly Skilled Worker.

Can I own all of the sponsoring company?

Ownership is not an automatic bar, but the company, role, salary, governance and sponsor arrangements must all satisfy the current rules and guidance.

Does the company have to be trading?

The precise evidence depends on the organisation and licence route. Early-stage businesses need a particularly credible account of UK activity, funding, operations, the proposed role and compliance capability.

Is self-sponsorship better than Innovator Founder?

Not universally. The routes should be compared against the founder’s business, evidence, desired control, timing, flexibility and settlement objectives.

Primary material

Rules and official guidance.

Sponsor guidance Part 1Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker

Continue your reading.

Choosing Skilled Worker and building the sponsor strategyCan an overseas founder be Authorising Officer?Self sponsorship: company, licence, role and workerWhat founders must actually proveImmigration Navigator

Continue within this subject

Compare the founder, company and route before fixing the structure.

Innovator Founder and sponsored work answer different legal and commercial questions. The venture, ownership, UK role and intended settlement position should be considered together.

Urgent sponsor governance review

Restore eligible control and preserve the true chronology.

Quastels can assess the successor, SMS access, reporting route and any period without effective oversight before the vacancy becomes a wider licence issue.

Request a key-personnel review ↗︎