Immigration lawyers in Luton for sponsor licences
A Luton business doesn't need to meet an immigration lawyer face to face to instruct one on its sponsor licence, since applications and supporting documents go to the Home Office online and by email. Write to us using the form on this page, and a firm of immigration solicitors handling sponsor licence cases will get back to you.
- Luton's licensed sponsors708organisations in all, which is 0.6% of the UK's 127,744
- Holding a Skilled Worker route licence688Luton sponsors out of the 708
- Senior or Specialist staff transfers20sponsors bringing staff over from a branch abroad
- Sponsor licence fee£611 or £1,682small or charity / medium or large, paid to the Home Office
Figures are taken from the Home Office licensed sponsor register, 22 October 2026 edition.
Sponsor licence help from immigration solicitors in Luton
When Luton employers look for an immigration solicitor, they usually want help with one of these:
- getting a licence on a first application
- weighing up their choices after a refusal
- staying on top of their sponsor duties
- replying to a suspension letter, or handling a revocation
- sponsoring one particular worker under a licence they already have
Each one comes with its own papers and deadlines. One regulated immigration solicitor firm receives your question and then works with you directly. What that involves is set out in our general guide to immigration solicitors.
| Skilled Worker | 688 |
|---|---|
| Senior or Specialist Worker | 20 |
| Religious Worker | 13 |
| Minister of Religion (old Tier 2) | 11 |
| Charity Worker | 10 |
| Creative Worker | 3 |
| International Sportsperson | 3 |
| Graduate Trainee | 2 |
Does the immigration lawyer you use have to be in Luton?
No, not for the licence. You submit the form online, then email the supporting documents so the Home Office has them within 5 working days of submission (Appendix A, 1.3 and 1.5). If a caseworker has a question, they email your key contact, the person named on the licence as the Home Office's main contact. That means a firm anywhere in the UK can handle your Luton application by email and video.
Visits are the exception. Compliance visits from the Home Office happen at your premises, or at any place your sponsored staff work, and there may be no warning (sponsor guidance Part 3).
Luton employers that hold a sponsor licence
708 organisations name Luton as their town on the Home Office register, 22 October 2026 edition (GOV.UK register). It comes to about 0.6% of the 127,744 total licensed sponsors across the UK. Of the register's 5,763 towns, Luton sits between Liverpool (739) and Sheffield (693). A Skilled Worker licence is held by 688 of the Luton sponsors. To look up an employer by name, try our register search.
Keeping a Luton licence compliant
Once you hold a licence, you have 20 working days to report most changes in your organisation. You report them through the sponsorship management system (SMS), which is the Home Office's account for sponsors online (Part 3, section C2). There's also a 20-working-day window to reply in writing to a suspension letter (Part 3, section C9). Employers usually bring in a solicitor during that short window. The day-to-day duties are set out in our sponsor duties guide.
Lawyer fees and papers to have ready
Solicitors each set their own fees. Two firms out of those publishing their prices charge from £3,000 up to £4,500 plus VAT for a sponsor licence application. The firm that answers you will quote its own fee. It helps to have these ready before you make contact (Appendix A):
- your latest annual accounts, or a Companies House link if they are online free of charge
- a recent bank statement for the business
- proof from HMRC of PAYE registration, with your employer reference shown
- a list of staff with their job titles, if you employ 50 people or fewer
- who will serve as authorising officer, the key contact, and the level 1 user; these are the three licence management roles (GOV.UK)
Questions Luton employers ask about immigration lawyers
How do I check whether a Luton immigration lawyer is regulated?
Because Luton sits in England, the Solicitors Regulation Authority regulates solicitors there, and you can find each one on the SRA register. There is also a Find a Solicitor directory run by the Law Society of England and Wales. If your adviser isn't a solicitor, try the Immigration Advice Authority adviser finder; it sets out each adviser's permitted level of work. If the adviser isn't regulated, you won't get your money back, GOV.UK warns (GOV.UK).
What if our Luton licence application was refused?
If you applied and failed within the last 6 months, you will not usually be granted a licence (GOV.UK). A review is open to you only if the caseworker got something wrong or overlooked your documents; disagreeing alone is not enough (GOV.UK). Which of these applies is something a solicitor can work out from your refusal letter. Our refused licence guide has more.
Ask an immigration solicitor about your Luton business
Tell the firm what you are trying to do and it will answer by email.