UK Sponsor License Rules Tightened in 2026 New Home Office Duties, ETA Changes & Visa Fee Increases. The Home Office is making sponsorship rules stricter and raising fees. Here’s what employers need to do now.
The UK Home Office made a big change on April 10. They added a new sponsor duty: employers must now show that every sponsored worker has been told about their legal rights at work, including the minimum wage and the ability to join a trade union. You must keep a record of this briefing so that it may be checked, and this rule applies to staff members who were hired after March 6, 2026. Morgan Lewis immigration lawyers said that not keeping proof, including signed introduction packs or training logs, could result in a licence being lowered or taken away. The reform is part of a larger effort to make sure that all firms follow the rules after some people said that some employers utilised the Skilled Worker and Global Business Mobility routes to pay foreign workers less than they should have.
The same notification makes it clear what the restrictions are for dual British/EU citizens entering the UK during the ETA era. People who got UK citizenship under the EU Settlement Scheme may be able to board aircraft for a short period with their non-UK passport and proof of an ETA-eligible nationality. This is useful for people who are still waiting for their first British passport. Carriers may accept an expired UK passport as proof of identity, but the Home Office says this is only a temporary measure. Finally, on April 8, a new set of fee hikes went into effect. The price of a six-month visit visa has gone up from £127 to £135. The price of an ETA has gone up from £16 to £20, while the price of an indefinite leave to remain has gone up to £3,200. Applications for large sponsor licenses go up to £1,682. HR and mobility teams need to change their budgets and policies right away. Next actions that make sense: examine HR files for proof of rights briefings, send dual citizens information on how to check their carriers, and recalculate project expenses if visa budgets were set before April.