Verify a UK Sponsor Licence From Nigeria (Free gov.uk Check)

You verify a UK sponsor before you pay by doing two free checks on gov.uk: find the employer on the Register of licensed sponsors: workers, and confirm the licence covers your route — Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker. A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is a Home Office reference number your employer assigns you, not a paper you buy. Both checks cost ₦0 from Nigeria. Here is how to verify a UK sponsor licence, confirm a CoS is genuine, and dodge the pay-for-CoS scams that have cost Nigerians ₦2–8 million.

How to check a UK employer on the gov.uk register of licensed sponsors

In short: from Nigeria this costs ₦0. Search the employer’s exact name on the gov.uk “Register of licensed sponsors: workers.” An A-rating for Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker means they can legally sponsor you. No listing means no genuine CoS. Source: gov.uk, “Register of licensed sponsors: workers.”

1. Open gov.uk and search “Register of licensed sponsors: workers” — a free official list, updated most working days.
2. Search the employer’s exact legal name (a care home often trades under a different name than its licence).
3. Check the Route column shows Worker, then Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker.
4. Check the Rating column reads A-rating; a missing or revoked entry means no valid licence.
5. Cross-check the same company on Companies House to confirm it is a real, active business.

Verify a UK sponsor licence before you pay

The Home Office publishes every licensed sponsor by name, so this lookup settles it. On the Nairaland Health and Care thread the repeated worry is “Who is giving COS with maintenance?” — people trusting a stranger’s word. To verify UK sponsor licence status, you swap that trust for a fact: an employer missing from the register cannot issue a genuine CoS. Research your route from the UK visa from Nigeria guide.

How to confirm a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is real before you pay

In short: a genuine CoS is a Home Office reference number issued through the sponsor’s online account — never a certificate sold to you. Your employer assigns it and pays the fee, so from Nigeria you pay ₦0 for the CoS itself. Source: gov.uk, “Certificate of Sponsorship.”

A CoS is not a document you hold or buy. It is an electronic record with a unique reference number your licensed employer assigns through their Home Office account. You receive only the reference, then enter it in your visa application within its 3-month validity. Three things confirm it is genuine. The employer appears on the register above. The reference ties to a job, salary and start date that match your written offer. And the employer — not you — pays the assignment fee (£239 for a Skilled Worker CoS in 2026). Since 9 April 2025, sponsors cannot pass the sponsor-licence or CoS cost to a Skilled Worker. You still pay your own visa fee and health surcharge, and paying those from Nigeria is a separate, legitimate step.

Fake-CoS and 'CoS with maintenance' scams targeting Nigerians

In short: the “CoS with maintenance” pitch — an agent selling a certificate plus fake bank funds — is a scam. No licensed sponsor advertises spare CoS to strangers, and maintenance money must genuinely be yours. Source: gov.uk sponsor duties; UKVI sponsorship guidance.

The question itself — “Who is giving COS with maintenance?” — is the tell. A licensed employer issues a CoS only after recruiting you for a real vacancy. It holds no loose certificates, and it cannot lend you the funds the Home Office wants to see. Nairaland already named the fake CoS pattern: “the leader was selling fake COS cashing out until he was called out.” Care work is the main target — another thread warns of an “agent scamming people with fake Canada work visa packages, collecting large sums.” When the CoS is fake, the visa is refused and the money is gone. That is the immigration fraud behind most japa scams, and the same logic applies to a Canadian LMIA.

Red flags: pay-for-CoS, unlicensed 'sponsors', upfront maintenance money

In short: the defining red flag is being asked to pay for the sponsorship itself — a CoS, a “slot,” or maintenance money — upfront in ₦. A real job costs you the visa fee, never the sponsorship. Source: gov.uk, “UK sponsorship fees.”

• Pay-for-CoS: any request for ₦2–8 million (or £10,000–£20,000) “for the CoS” or a “sponsorship slot.” That is the upfront-fee red flag — the employer pays that fee, not you.
• Not on the register: the “employer” is missing from the gov.uk list, or trades under a name that is not there.
• CoS with maintenance: an offer to supply both the certificate and the bank balance. Borrowed funds are a refusal risk.
• WhatsApp-only, pay-first: money before any contract, no company email, pressure to beat a “closing window.” Too-good-to-be-true is the pattern, not the exception.
• Biometrics booked ≠ legit: one applicant paid a “₦1 million down payment… did biometrics at VFS Lagos,” then silence. A booked appointment proves the appointment, not the sponsor — a classic visa agent scam. See how a fake job offer visa scam is built.

When to use a verification service vs do it yourself

In short: the register check is free and takes about 15 minutes, so do it yourself first. A legitimate verification service confirms public facts and reads your paperwork — it never sells you a CoS or promises a job. Source: gov.uk, “Find an immigration adviser.”

For one clearly-named employer, DIY wins — the register and Companies House answer it for ₦0. Use a paid check when the picture is muddy: a shifting trading name, a mismatched CoS reference, or a large payment before you wire it. A legitimate service does a narrow, clerical job — it confirms the licence and rating, runs the agent verification, and flags mismatches. It must not give regulated immigration advice unless it holds an OISC/RCIC check-able registration, or “sell” you sponsorship. Our sponsor-licence verification service is a clerical check, not representation. To answer “is this agent legit?” about the person, not just the licence, use the verify a visa agent in Nigeria walkthrough. Already paid a fake travel agent? Report the fraud to the Home Office and, in Nigeria, the EFCC.

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