How to Spot UK Visa Job Scams

Job scams are the biggest danger in the UK visa-sponsorship search. They target people who want sponsorship badly enough to stop asking questions — so this guide gives you the questions to ask, and exactly how to check the answers. Read it before you pay anyone anything, or send anyone your documents.

The red flags

• You are asked to pay for a CoS, "sponsorship processing", a job offer, or your visa fee upfront to the recruiter or employer. Official visa fees are paid by you, yourself, on the official Home Office website — never to an agent's personal account.
• No real interview, instant offer. You get "hired" after one chat or email exchange, with no proper interview process. Real sponsors interview properly — they are taking legal responsibility for you.
• Gmail / WhatsApp / Telegram-only recruiters. No verifiable company website, no office address, no landline, no listing on the employer's official careers page. Legitimate businesses are findable.
• Pressure tactics. "Pay today or the CoS goes to someone else", "this offer expires in 24 hours". Pressure exists to stop you checking — which is exactly what you should do.
• Salary far above market for the role. A warehouse job advertised at £60,000 is bait, not generosity. If the pay looks impossible, the job is too.
• Salary below the legal threshold. Under £41,700 general Skilled Worker floor since 22 July 2025 (or the occupation's going rate, whichever is higher) — the role couldn't be sponsored anyway.
• Passport scans or personal documents requested before any real interview. Identity documents come after a genuine offer and contract, never at first contact.
• Fake CoS numbers and "visa approval letters". You are sent a CoS reference or approval document before any interview, written contract or job details. A real CoS is assigned by a licensed sponsor for one specific, eligible role — and it costs you nothing.
• "Pay us now, we'll get the licence later." A company that isn't on the Home Office Register of Licensed Sponsors today cannot sponsor you today. Promises of a future licence are not sponsorship.
• Payment by bank transfer to a personal account, crypto or gift cards. Legitimate employers never collect fees from workers this way.
• Salary top-up schemes. You are told to "pay back" part of your salary, or that bonuses or equity count toward the threshold. The salary floor must be met by genuine salary — these schemes don't meet the rules.

How to verify before you pay or share documents

1. Check the employer on this site first. Search LegitSponsors for the company name. Every employer page is built from the Home Office Register of Licensed Sponsors and shows the licence rating, which visa routes it covers, and the last-verified date. If the employer isn't on the register, they cannot sponsor you — full stop.
2. Match the legal name. The register lists legal entity names, which don't always match the brand on a job advert. If the advert says "ABC Healthcare" but the register has no such entity, ask which legal entity holds the licence — and check that entity.
3. Go to the employer's official careers page. If the job is real, it's usually advertised there too. Apply through official channels, not through a stranger's WhatsApp.
4. Call the company on its public number. Ask whether the role exists and whether the recruiter works for them. Five minutes on the phone kills most scams.
5. Remember what a real CoS is. A Certificate of Sponsorship is an electronic record the licensed sponsor assigns to you for a specific eligible role. You receive a reference number, which you use in your own visa application on the official Home Office website. It is never sold, never emailed as a PDF "approval" before you've even been interviewed, and never costs you a fee.

What a real sponsor does vs what scammers do

• Real sponsor: advertises on its own careers page, runs real interviews, issues a written employment contract, assigns the CoS at no cost to you, and never asks for payment — not for the CoS, not for the "guarantee", not for "processing".
• Scammer: contacts you out of the blue, skips interviews, demands upfront fees, sends official-looking documents to create urgency, operates only on messaging apps, and disappears the moment you ask for proof.

One sentence decides almost every case: if anyone asks you for money in exchange for sponsorship, walk away.

If you've already been scammed

1. Stop sending money and documents immediately. Do not pay any "release fee" or "refund deposit" — that's a follow-up scam.
2. Report it to Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud reporting centre: call 0300 123 2040 or report online at actionfraud.police.uk. You'll get a police crime reference number.
3. Report the immigration crime to the Home Office via the "Report an immigration crime" service on GOV.UK (Immigration Enforcement hotline: 0300 123 7000).
4. Contact your bank immediately if you transferred money — fast reporting gives the best chance of recovery.
5. Ignore "recovery" offers. Anyone who contacts you claiming they can get your lost money back for a fee is running a second scam. Action Fraud and the police never charge victims for recovery.

We are not immigration advisers and this guide isn't legal advice. Always confirm current requirements in the official Skilled Worker visa guidance on GOV.UK.

Maintained by LegitSponsors · sponsor data: Home Office Register of Licensed Sponsors, verified 29 September 2026.