UK Hospitality Work Visa Options for Employers in Hospitality Sector

Last updated: 10 April 2024

The UK Hospitality work visa (part of the Skilled Worker visa route) enables hospitality businesses such as hotels and restaurants to bring overseas workers to the UK on either a temporary or long-term basis. Only certain hospitality worker jobs are eligible under the UK Hospitality work visa route, and prospective sponsors (employers) must meet the sponsor licence requirements. In this article, we will explain the Hospitality worker visa sponsorship requirements for UK businesses, the visa requirements for overseas workers, how to apply for a Hospitality worker visa, and the alternative routes available.

Hospitality worker visa sponsorship requirements for UK businesses

As a UK hospitality business planning to hire overseas hospitality workers, you will first need to apply for and secure a sponsor licence from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). To make a successful sponsor licence application, you must meet the eligibility requirements. Specifically, you will need to satisfy UKVI that:

• Your business is genuine, operating, and trading lawfully in the UK
• Your business has the necessary HR system in place to manage the sponsorship process and meet the sponsor licence duties
• You have a genuine need to sponsor overseas workers for eligible roles
• You will pay a salary that meets the minimum requirements of the route
• You have no unspent criminal convictions for previous immigration offences
• You do not represent a threat to immigration control, and
• You have key personnel who are “honest and dependable”

Please see our sponsor licence guide for more details on the eligibility requirements and application process.

Once you have a sponsor licence, you can then recruit overseas workers for eligible roles and issue them with a Certificate of Sponsorship (UK CoS). The CoS will then enable the overseas worker to apply for a UK Hospitality worker visa.

UK Hospitality worker visa requirements for the applicant

To qualify for a UK Hospitality Worker visa, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Have a hospitality job in the list of eligible roles¹ (see list below)
• Meet the salary requirements for their role (whichever is the higher of £38,700 per year or the ‘going rate’ for the role). If the applicant qualifies as a ‘new entrant’, they will require a salary of at least £23,200 per annum based on a 37.5 hour work week. They may be classed as a new entrant if they are under the age of 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training.
• Have a Certificate of Sponsorship from a licenced sponsor
• Meet the English language requirements

Eligible hospitality roles

There are several eligible hospitality visa roles, these include:

How to apply for a UK Hospitality worker visa

You will first need to secure a sponsor licence for your hospitality business in order to bring overseas workers to the UK. To make a successful application for a sponsor licence, you will need to complete the following steps:

• Put in place an HR system to manage your sponsored workers
• Appoint your ‘key personnel’ (authorising officer, key contact, and level 1 & 2 users)
• Complete the online sponsor licence application form
• Pay the sponsor licence application fee (£536 for small businesses or £1,476 for large businesses), and
• Submit any documents requested by the Home Office

Once your application has been submitted, UKVI may arrange a pre-compliance visit to ensure that you have everything in place and that you meet all of the requirements to become a sponsor.

You should receive a decision within 8 weeks of submission. If you need a faster decision on your sponsor licence application, you may be able to pay an additional fee of £500 for a decision within 10 working days.

Alternative worker visa options

Depending on your needs, it may be possible to recruit overseas workers for your hospitality business by using other immigration schemes, including the following:

• Dependant visa: spouses of existing visa holders (e.g. UK work visas and business visas) with a dependant visa can work freely in any role within the UK and for any employer (i.e. no sponsorship is needed)
• Graduate visa: international students who have recently graduated in the UK can work in the UK for up to 2 years
• Youth mobility scheme visa: young people living in the UK on this scheme can work in the UK in any role and for any employer
• Student visa: international students studying for a full-time degree level qualification can normally work for up to 20 hours per week during term time

For assistance with applying for a sponsor licence and work visas for your sponsored hospitality workers, please speak to our business immigration team for a free telephone consultation at 020 3744 2797 or complete our enquiry form.

References

¹ GOV.UK: Eligible occupations for Skilled worker visa