In This Guide
Self-sponsorship is when you own a UK limited company, that company gets a Home Office sponsor licence, and it sponsors you on the Skilled Worker visa to run it. There is no separate “self-sponsorship visa” — it is the standard Skilled Worker visa, with the difference that your own company is the sponsoring employer instead of someone else’s.
This works because a Skilled Worker visa holder can register a private limited company at Companies House, be a director, and own shares. In care, the route runs through a CQC-registered company, with you managed under SOC code 1232 — an occupation that sits on the Home Office Immigration Salary List until 31 December 2026.
What Is Self-Sponsorship?
Self-sponsorship means your own UK company becomes your sponsor. You own the company, the company holds the sponsor licence, and the company issues you a Certificate of Sponsorship for an eligible role. You then apply for the Skilled Worker visa on the basis of that sponsorship — sponsoring yourself, through a business you control.
A Skilled Worker visa holder can register a private limited company at Companies House, be a company director, and own shares right now. What they cannot do is be self-employed or run that company as their main job — which is exactly the gap self-sponsorship fills. The company sponsors you so you can legally run it as your main role.
Key fact
For carers, self-sponsorship is the move from the worker code (6135 care workers, or 6136 senior care workers) to the owner-manager code 1232. You stop being employed by someone else’s care company and start owning your own.
Is There a “Self-Sponsorship Visa”?
No. The UK does not have a visa category called the self-sponsorship visa. The term describes a route, not a product. The actual visa you apply for is the Skilled Worker visa — the same route used by every sponsored worker in the country.
What makes it “self” sponsorship is who holds the licence. Instead of applying to a third-party care home that sponsors you, you build a company that sponsors you. The Home Office assesses your company exactly like any other employer applying for a sponsor licence: it must be a genuine, trading business with a real, eligible role.
Because it is the Skilled Worker route, it carries the route’s benefits: a path to settlement, the ability to bring dependants, and the right to build a permanent life in the UK. See our dependents & ILR guide.
Self-Sponsorship Visa UK Requirements
There are four things your self-sponsorship route needs to stand up. Each one maps to a Home Office requirement for the Skilled Worker route:
| Requirement | What It Means |
|---|---|
| A genuine business | A real UK company trading in a real sector — for care, a CQC-registered service with actual clients, contracts and income. |
| A sponsor licence | Your company must hold a Home Office sponsor licence on the Skilled Worker route so it can issue a Certificate of Sponsorship. |
| An eligible role | The job you fill must be an eligible occupation. For care owners this is SOC 1232 — care managers and proprietors. |
| The going rate | The salary must meet the going rate for that occupation. Because 1232 is on the Immigration Salary List, the threshold is lower — check gov.uk for current figures. |
Salary thresholds and going rates are set by the Home Office and updated periodically. Always confirm the current figure for SOC 1232 on the official Immigration Salary List before you commit.
SOC Code 1232: The Owner’s Code
SOC occupation code 1232 is “Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors – all jobs.” It is the occupation a care business owner is sponsored under, and it is the engine of self-sponsorship in the care sector.
1232 is currently on the Home Office Immigration Salary List for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — and it stays on that list until 31 December 2026. Being on the list lowers the salary threshold for the role, which is a genuine reason to start now rather than later.
Worker codes: 6135 & 6136
Where carers are today. SOC 6135 is care workers and home carers; SOC 6136 is senior care workers. You are employed by someone else’s service.
Owner code: 1232
Where you are going. SOC 1232 is care managers and proprietors. You own and run your own CQC-registered service — on the Immigration Salary List until 31 Dec 2026.
Going from carer to owner is simply moving from the worker code (6135/6136) to the owner-manager code (1232). Read more in our care manager visa sponsorship guide.
The Self-Sponsorship Process, Step by Step
The care self-sponsorship pathway is a clear, repeatable sequence. Here is exactly how it runs:
Register the care company — ready to trade
A care company is registered at Companies House with the full CQC policy and procedure pack prepared, so it is ready to be assessed and ready to operate.
Register with the CQC and start caring for clients
The company registers with the Care Quality Commission and begins delivering care to real clients. This is the point the business becomes a genuine, trading service.
Build a track record over 6–8 months
Over roughly six to eight months the company builds a real track record — real clients, real contracts, real income. This is the evidence the Home Office wants to see.
Your company sponsors you
That track record lets your own company obtain its sponsor licence and assign you a Certificate of Sponsorship under SOC 1232, so you apply for the Skilled Worker visa.
You own and run your own service
You are now sponsored by your own business to run it — an owner, not an employee. From here you build, grow, and head toward settlement.
What Does Self-Sponsorship Cost?
The cost of self-sponsorship has two halves: the official fees, and the investment in building a genuine business. The fees are made up of several distinct charges:
- Company formation — registering the limited company at Companies House.
- Sponsor licence application fee — paid by the company to the Home Office.
- Certificate of Sponsorship fee — for the CoS your company assigns to you.
- Immigration Skills Charge — payable by the sponsoring company.
- Visa application fee + Immigration Health Surcharge — paid by you as the applicant.
Government fees change regularly, so we link to the current figures rather than hard-coding numbers that go stale. Get the live totals on the Skilled Worker visa pages. For a worked breakdown built around the care route, see our self-sponsorship visa cost guide.
The larger investment is not the fees — it is the time and capital that go into building a real, trading care business that justifies the sponsor licence. That track record is the asset; the visa follows it.
How We Compress the Route
The slowest, riskiest parts of self-sponsorship are getting the company genuinely CQC-ready and building a track record that satisfies the Home Office. We compress both. You start with a care company already registered at Companies House with the full CQC policy and procedure pack prepared — so you skip months of paperwork and go straight to registering with the CQC and caring for clients.
From there it is a guided run: register with the CQC, take on real clients, build six to eight months of genuine income and contracts, then let your own company sponsor you under SOC 1232. You move from carer to owner on a route that is already mapped, with the salary threshold held down by the Immigration Salary List until 31 December 2026.
Want the full picture for carers specifically? Read carer to own business and how to start a care business in the UK.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a self sponsorship visa in the UK?
Self-sponsorship is when you own a UK limited company, that company holds a Home Office sponsor licence, and it sponsors you on the Skilled Worker visa to run it. There is no separate self-sponsorship visa category — it is the standard Skilled Worker visa, with your own company acting as the sponsoring employer.
Does the UK have a self sponsorship visa?
The UK does not have a visa officially called a self-sponsorship visa. It is a route built on the existing Skilled Worker visa. You set up a UK company, the company gets a sponsor licence, and it issues you a Certificate of Sponsorship for an eligible role so you can run your own business under the Skilled Worker route.
Can I self sponsor my own UK visa?
Yes. A Skilled Worker visa holder can register a private limited company at Companies House, be a director, and own shares. Your company then applies for a sponsor licence and sponsors you on the Skilled Worker route to run it — the move from employed worker to business owner.
What are the self sponsorship visa UK requirements?
You need a genuine trading UK company, a Home Office sponsor licence for it, an eligible occupation for your role, and a salary at or above the going rate. For care, SOC 1232 (care managers and proprietors) is on the Immigration Salary List, which lowers the salary threshold.
How do I self sponsor a Skilled Worker visa?
Register a UK limited company, prepare it to trade, build a genuine track record of clients and income, get a sponsor licence, assign yourself a Certificate of Sponsorship for an eligible role, then apply for the Skilled Worker visa. In care, this runs through a CQC-registered company under SOC 1232.
How much does a self sponsorship visa cost?
The cost includes company formation, the sponsor licence fee, the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, the Immigration Skills Charge, the visa fee, and the Immigration Health Surcharge. Government fees change, so check gov.uk for current figures. The bigger investment is building a genuine, trading business.
Why does SOC code 1232 matter?
SOC 1232 covers residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors. It is on the Immigration Salary List for all four UK nations until 31 December 2026, which lowers the salary threshold. Moving from a care worker code (6135 or 6136) to 1232 is exactly how a carer becomes an owner.