Your Skilled Worker Is Applying for ILR: What the Sponsor Must Confirm, Prove and Report

Key Takeaways

• The sponsor gives one confirmation, and the Home Office has no form or template for it. Under SW 24.2 of Appendix Skilled Worker you confirm that you still require the worker for the foreseeable future and that they are paid, and will be paid, at least the settlement salary. The caseworker guidance says an email or letter is enough if the Home Office can verify it with you, and that you must not assign a new CoS for it, so "sponsor letter for ILR" is shorthand, not a legal term.
• Earned settlement is decided policy, not law, so today's five-year rules still apply. CP 1707 was published on 2 November 2026, but no Statement of Changes has been laid (HC 584 of 3 September 2026 is still the latest) and there is no start date, so the confirmation you give today is the one described in this guide.
• Your licence must still be in place on the day the application is decided, not just the day it is made. SW 24.1 requires the sponsor in the worker's most recent permission to be approved to sponsor Skilled Workers on the date of decision. If your licence is suspended, the Home Office holds the application until the suspension is resolved; if it is revoked first, the application is refused (sponsor guidance Part 2, S9.22 and S9.23).
• The usual settlement salary is £41,700 and the full going rate, whichever is higher. SW 24.3 sets lower general thresholds of £33,400, £31,300 and £25,000 for Immigration Salary List, pre-4 April 2024 and health and education workers, but there is no new entrant or PhD discount at settlement and the going rate is never reduced. The salary on the original CoS proves none of this.
• Only guaranteed basic pay counts, and only the first 48 hours a week count towards the general threshold. Other guaranteed payments count only if treated exactly like basic pay for tax, pension and National Insurance (SW 14.1); overtime, shift pay, bonuses, allowances, benefits in kind and employer pension contributions are excluded (SW 14.2). Former Tier 2 (General) workers staying with the same sponsor can count guaranteed allowances only if they apply before 1 December 2026 (SW 14.5(a)).
• Leave, absences and pay changes alter what you can truthfully confirm. If the worker is on, or returned in the month before applying from, a permitted absence such as maternity, adoption or sick leave, the caseworker uses the salary on return as you state it (SW 24.4(b)). A salary reduction must be reported within 10 working days, and paying less than the CoS without reporting it is a mandatory revocation ground (Part 3, Annex C1(aa)).
• An inflated or false confirmation can cost you the licence and the worker the application. The Home Office will revoke where it reasonably suspects you artificially inflated a salary for settlement (Annex C1(bb)), it verifies pay with HMRC, and SUI 10.1 lets a caseworker refuse where a third party gave false information, whether or not the worker knew.
• Assemble the payroll file before anyone signs. Hold the contract and variations, payslips, bank transfer evidence, P60s and RTI submissions, hours and absence records and the SMS reporting history, because the caseworker may check 12 months of PAYE records and contact you if the pay evidence does not support your confirmation.
• Plan each worker's dates now, and leave the application advice to a regulated adviser. A worker can apply up to 28 days before completing five years, allowances stop counting for former Tier 2 (General) workers from 1 December 2026, and B2 English applies to settlement applications made on or after 26 March 2027 (SW 22A.1). Part 2, S6.36 bars an unregulated sponsor from advising on a settlement application.
• Report the grant within 10 working days of finding out, then treat the worker as settled. An ILR grant is a "stop sponsoring" event under Part 3, C1.26, reported through Report migrant activity in the SMS. Run a fresh online right to work check on the new status and keep the sponsored worker file for one year after sponsorship ends (Appendix D).
• WPC HR holds the records this confirmation rests on and audits them before you sign. Our HR compliance software keeps Appendix D worker files, right to work records and visa expiry reminders in one place, and our sponsor licence compliance audit checks each worker's salary, SMS reports and file against the current rules.

Introduction

Sooner or later a sponsored worker who is close to five years in the UK asks HR for "the ILR letter". This guide settles what that request means for you as the sponsor: the confirmation the Immigration Rules require, the salary and records that must stand behind it, the ways it goes wrong (signing too readily and refusing too readily), and what HR must do once indefinite leave to remain is granted.

Everything here is confirmed law on 12 November 2026. The settlement rules sit in Appendix Skilled Worker, last changed on 8 October 2026, and the sponsor's side is set out in sponsor guidance Part 2: sponsor a worker (version 10/26, valid from 8 October 2026) and Part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (version 08/26, valid from 28 August 2026). Earned settlement is different: it is decided policy, not law. The government response, CP 1707, was published on 2 November 2026, but the Rules have not changed and no start date has been given.

That gap is why so many eligible workers are now being told to apply while the current rules apply, and why HR teams are receiving confirmation requests in batches. The confirmation is your statement to the Home Office, not the worker's. The Home Office checks it against HMRC data, may verify it with you directly, and treats an artificially inflated salary as a reason to revoke your licence. Your licence status on the day the application is decided also matters, and that is something only you control.

The worker's own eligibility, the absences calculation, fees, the Life in the UK Test, English tests and dependants belong to the applicant, and our sister firm WorkPermitCloud covers them for individuals. Refusals, administrative review and appeals sit with WPC Lawyers. This guide stays with what your HR team must check, sign, report and keep.

Where the Settlement Rules Stand on 12 November 2026

On 12 November 2026 the Statement of Changes collection on GOV.UK still shows HC 584 of 3 September 2026 as the latest Statement, and the only change to the earned settlement consultation page since 2 November is an accessible version of the response document, added on 12 November 2026. So the five-year Skilled Worker settlement route in paragraphs SW 19.1 to SW 25.2 is the route a worker applies under today, with the sponsor requirements in SW 24.

CP 1707 says that, unless transitional provisions are made, applications are ordinarily considered under the Rules in force on the date of the settlement decision, while the GOV.UK news story of 2 November 2026 refers to the rules at the point of application. We set out that conflict, the cohorts and the ten-year cost per worker in our guide to what earned settlement means for sponsors, worker by worker. The practical advice is the same under both readings: an eligible worker should apply on their earliest valid date, and the sponsor should be ready to confirm within days, not weeks.

Two dates are already fixed in the Rules. Former Tier 2 (General) workers lose the allowances concession for applications made on or after 1 December 2026 (SW 14.5(a)), and settlement applications made on or after 26 March 2027 need B2 English unless an exemption applies (SW 22A.1, introduced by HC 1691).

What the Sponsor Has to Confirm

Two paragraphs of Appendix Skilled Worker bring the sponsor into a settlement application, and the sponsor guidance adds two duties around them. The table sets out what each requires and what sits in HR's hands.

"Sponsor letter" is shorthand, not a legal term

The phrase "sponsor letter" does not appear in the Rules or the sponsor guidance. The Rules say the sponsor must "confirm", Part 2 says "certify", and the GOV.UK page on ILR for Skilled Workers tells applicants they will need "a document from your employer (sponsor)". The clearest statement is in paragraph 22.4 of the Skilled Worker caseworker guidance (version 20.0, published 3 August 2026): the sponsor should not assign a new CoS for this purpose, and an email or letter is sufficient, as long as it can be verified with the sponsor if necessary.

So there is no Home Office form, no template, and no rule that the confirmation must be on letterhead or quote your licence number. Templates that present those items as requirements are describing good practice, not law. What matters is that the statement covers SW 24.2 in full, that each fact in it matches your records, and that a caseworker who contacts you reaches someone who can stand behind it.

One point catches employers out. The confirmation must come from the sponsor in the worker's most recent permission. If a worker changed employer last year, the new sponsor confirms, even though the old one employed them for four years. A former employer has no confirmation duty, although its payslips and P60s may still form part of the worker's evidence.

What the confirmation should contain

The list below is our suggestion, built from SW 24.2, SW 24.4(b) and the facts a caseworker needs to match the statement to your records:

• the worker's full name, date of birth and the CoS reference number used for their most recent permission
• your organisation's registered name and sponsor licence number
• the job title, the SOC 2020 occupation code, the start date in that job and the normal place of work
• contracted weekly hours and the current guaranteed basic gross annual salary
• the SW 24.2 statement, in words that track the rule
• whether the worker is currently absent for a reason listed in SUI 36.1, or returned from one in the last month, with the dates and the salary on return
• the name, job title, telephone number and email address of the person who signs, so the Home Office can verify it

Our suggested wording, which is not a Home Office template:

"[Organisation] (sponsor licence number [ ]) sponsors [full name], born [date], under CoS reference [ ], as a [job title], SOC 2020 code [ ], working [ ] hours a week at [location]. [Name] is paid a guaranteed basic gross salary of £[ ] a year. We confirm that we still require [name] to work for us for the foreseeable future, and that [name] is paid, and will be paid for the foreseeable future, at least £[ ] a year, the salary required under paragraph SW 24.3 of Appendix Skilled Worker. [Name] is not currently absent from work. This confirmation can be verified with [name, job title, telephone, email]."

Where the worker is on a permitted absence, replace the absence sentence with the reason, the start date, the expected return date and the salary they will receive on return. Keep a signed copy in the worker's file with the payroll extract you checked it against.

Who should sign it

Neither the Rules nor the guidance names a signatory. We recommend the Authorising Officer, or a senior HR or payroll lead whose confirmation the Authorising Officer has approved, because the Authorising Officer answers for the licence and for what your organisation tells the Home Office. Our guide to the Authorising Officer role explains that responsibility. Whoever signs must be reachable if a caseworker calls.

The Salary Behind the Confirmation

A confirmation is only as good as the salary figure in it. SW 24.3 sets two tests and the worker must pass both: a general salary threshold and the going rate for the occupation. The row depends on the worker's history, not on today's CoS.

The general threshold is a flat figure and is not reduced for part-time work. The going rate is pro-rated to the weekly hours you state, using a 37.5-hour week for Tables 1 to 2a. Paragraph 22.4 of the caseworker guidance adds that at settlement there is no reduction to £41,700 or £31,300 for a relevant PhD or for new entrants, and no reduction to the going rate for any reason. Row A rose from £38,700 to £41,700 for settlement applications made from 22 July 2025 (HC 997). Our guide to SOC codes and going rates explains how to find the right going rate table.

What counts as salary and what does not

SW 24.4(a) applies the ordinary salary rules in SW 14.1 to SW 14.5 to settlement. In short, only guaranteed basic pay counts.

The Rules give their own example of the 48-hour cap: a worker on 60 hours a week at £15 an hour is treated as earning £37,440 a year (£15 x 48 x 52), not £46,800, so that worker would fail the £41,700 threshold despite a payslip that looks comfortable.

The 1 December 2026 cut-off for former Tier 2 (General) workers

SW 14.5 protects workers first granted Tier 2 (General) permission who have held Skilled Worker permission continuously ever since. For an application made before 1 December 2026, their salary may include allowances if they stay with the same sponsor, the allowances are guaranteed, will be paid for the whole permission, and would be paid to a local settled worker in similar circumstances (London weighting is the Home Office example). SW 14.5(c) also keeps lower going rates for five PhD-level occupations on applications made before that date.

This cohort is now small, because Tier 2 (General) closed when the Skilled Worker route opened on 1 December 2020, but it exists: workers whose clock reset after long absences, for example. Find them this week. If one of them relies on allowances to reach the threshold and is eligible to apply, the application needs to go in before 1 December 2026. If they cannot apply in time, any change to their pay must be a genuine, permanent change to the contract, run through payroll, not a temporary uplift for the application.

Why the salary on the CoS is not automatically enough

HR teams often assume that a worker who was compliant when the CoS was assigned is compliant at settlement. Five things break that assumption:

• The test is applied at the date of decision against the thresholds and going rates in force then, not those on the CoS date.
• Discounts used when the CoS was assigned (new entrant, PhD, or 70%, 80% or 90% of the going rate) do not apply at settlement.
• The CoS figure may have included allowances or other pay that never counted, or that counted only under the Tier 2 concession.
• The going rate is pro-rated to the hours actually contracted, so a worker whose hours went up needs a higher salary to keep pace.
• The salary paid may now be lower than the CoS. The caseworker guidance tells caseworkers to discuss that with a manager and consider whether there have been previous breaches of conditions.

An illustration, using an invented figure: a worker first sponsored in 2022 as a new entrant on 70% of the going rate, now in row C, must be paid at least £31,300 and the full Table 2 going rate. If that going rate were £34,000 for 37.5 hours and the worker is contracted for 40 hours, the going rate test becomes £34,000 ÷ 37.5 x 40 = £36,267. Check the real figure for the worker's code before you sign.

"Paid, and will be paid, for the foreseeable future"

The Rules do not define "foreseeable future", and we have found no GOV.UK guidance that does. Our reading is that you have no current plan to end the job or to cut the pay below the settlement row, and that the salary you state is the salary in payroll. It is not a promise of employment for life. If redundancy consultation has started, notice has been given, or a fixed-term contract is ending with no intention to renew, you cannot give the statement honestly.

A pay rise just before the application is where most risk sits. Where payslips and bank statements do not support the salary you say the worker will be paid, the caseworker guidance tells caseworkers to ask you why, and to weigh the size of the increase, whether it has already been paid and for how long, any evidence of promotion or new responsibilities, and whether your business can support it. Generic explanations without evidence are not accepted. Part 2, S9.21 adds that the Home Office verifies with HMRC, and Annex C1(bb) of Part 3 makes a reasonable suspicion of an artificially inflated settlement salary a mandatory revocation ground.

A genuine pay rise is fine. Make it permanent, put it in writing, and run at least one full month through payroll before the worker applies, because the worker is asked to send a payslip and bank statement for their most recent month's pay, dated no earlier than 31 days before the application.

Pay cuts, reduced hours, unpaid leave and family leave

Changes during the sponsored period affect both what you can confirm and what you should already have reported. Our sponsor duties checklist covers the wider reporting regime.

The Evidence HR Should Assemble Before Signing

The caseworker relies first on the worker's payslip and bank statement for their most recent month, may look back over 12 months of PAYE records, and may contact you. Your answer will come from the file that Appendix D (version 10/26, valid from 8 October 2026) already requires you to keep, which is also what a compliance officer would examine. Build it before anyone signs.

If the file has gaps, close them before the worker applies, not after a caseworker asks. Our guide to getting Appendix D records audit-ready sets out the full list.

Why the worker's continuous period depends on your records

The worker must show a continuous five years in the UK on qualifying routes (SW 21.1 and SW 21.2), with no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period (Appendix Continuous Residence, CR 3.1). The calculation is the worker's, and our sister firm WorkPermitCloud explains what counts towards the five-year qualifying period. In practice, though, your leave and travel records are often the only independent record of when the worker was away, including business trips you sent them on.

Many employers add a list of work-related absences at the worker's request. The Rules do not require it. If you provide one, take it from your records and do not estimate. The same applies to start dates: confirm the date the worker started in the sponsored job, not the date on an offer letter, and remember that a salary below the CoS, or work outside the sponsored role, may prompt the caseworker to ask about earlier breaches of conditions.

Timing: When the Worker Can Apply and Your Calendar for Each Worker

GOV.UK says the earliest a worker can apply is 28 days before they complete five years, and that an earlier application may be refused. Appendix Continuous Residence (CR 1.1) supports this by counting the period back from whichever is most beneficial: the date of application, any date up to 28 days after it, or the date of decision. If the worker's current permission ends before their earliest date, they must extend first, which needs a new CoS. Our sister firm WorkPermitCloud explains the five-year settlement window for workers, and its ILR eligibility calculator gives them a first estimate.

GOV.UK says a decision usually takes up to 6 months from the biometrics appointment, or 5 working days with the priority service. Your licence has to survive that whole window, which is why the licence section below matters.

Who to prioritise first

• Former Tier 2 (General) workers who rely on allowances and can apply before 1 December 2026.
• Workers whose earliest application date falls before 26 March 2027 and who may not yet hold B2 English.
• Workers whose current permission ends before, or shortly after, their earliest application date.
• Workers whose basic pay sits close to their settlement row, so that any genuine pay review happens in good time.
• Workers with an absence, a pay reduction or a role change on file that a caseworker may ask about.

English tests are the worker's matter; our sister firm WorkPermitCloud lists the English tests UKVI accepts for ILR after 26 March 2027. You can tell workers the date. You should not advise them on their application: Part 2, S6.36 says a sponsor cannot give immigration advice in connection with a settlement application unless it is registered with the IAA or otherwise qualified or exempt. Point them to a regulated adviser, such as WorkPermitCloud's five-year ILR application service.

Where Sponsors Get This Wrong

Confirming something that is not true

Part 3 puts three grounds in front of a sponsor who signs carelessly. Annex C1(bb) says the Home Office will revoke where it reasonably suspects you artificially inflated a salary so a worker could meet a settlement threshold. Annex C1(aa) covers paying less than the CoS without reporting it. Annex C2(f), a normal revocation ground, covers giving a false statement or false information to the Home Office. Revocation affects every sponsored worker, not just the applicant, and our guide to suspension, downgrade and revocation explains the consequences.

The worker carries the risk too. Under Part Suitability, SUI 10.1 allows refusal where an applicant or a third party made false representations or gave false information in relation to the application, whether or not the applicant knew. Your inaccurate confirmation can sink an honest worker's application.

Refusing or delaying the confirmation

No rule forces a sponsor to give the confirmation, but the worker cannot settle on this route without it, so the decision has to be one you can justify. Legitimate reasons are factual: you do not require the worker for the foreseeable future (redundancy consultation, notice given or received, a contract genuinely ending), or the pay is below the settlement row and you are not going to change it. In each case, tell the worker plainly and act on your reporting duties when sponsorship ends.

Reasons that are not legitimate create risks of their own:

• Discrimination. Refusing or slowing a confirmation because of nationality, or because a worker is pregnant or on maternity leave, is exposure under the Equality Act 2010, where race includes nationality. Part 3 makes compliance with wider UK law a sponsor duty (C1.53) and lists discrimination as conduct that is not conducive to the public good (C1.54).
• Genuine vacancy. If you tell a caseworker you do not require a worker while still sponsoring them in the same job, expect questions about whether the role is genuine (Annex C1(z)).
• Recouping costs. Asking the worker to repay CoS fees, the Immigration Skills Charge or licence fees in return for the confirmation is prohibited (Part 2, S2.13 and S5.7) and is a normal revocation ground (Annex C2(q), (cc) and (dd)).
• Delay. A worker with a 1 December 2026, 26 March 2027 or permission end date cannot wait. We suggest a written turnaround of five working days for every request.

Your licence status on the date of decision

SW 24.1 is tested on the date of decision. If your licence is suspended while a settlement application is pending, the Home Office will not decide it until the suspension is resolved, unless it falls for refusal on other grounds (Part 3, C9.20 and C10.14; Part 2, S9.22). If the licence is revoked before the decision, the application is refused (Part 2, S9.23). The caseworker guidance tells caseworkers to inform the applicant promptly that the sponsor no longer has a licence, but not why.

Neither SW 24.1 nor paragraph 22.4 of the caseworker guidance mentions the licence rating, so as written a B-rated sponsor still meets SW 24.1; we have found no guidance saying otherwise. The practical rules are simpler. Do not surrender the licence, remove the Skilled Worker route or restructure the business while any settlement application is pending, and keep your compliance in order so a suspension never arises. A worker whose sponsor loses its licence near the five-year mark has limited options, which our sister firm WorkPermitCloud covers in whether a worker can still get ILR after a revocation at five years.

After ILR Is Granted

Report the grant and close the sponsorship

Part 3, C1.26 lists becoming aware that the worker has been granted settlement as a reason you stop sponsoring them, and C1.15 sets the deadline: no later than 10 working days after the event, which here is the day you become aware. Part 2, S9.24 confirms you can keep employing the worker without sponsoring them, but you must notify the Home Office through the SMS. Our sister firm WorkPermitCloud explains why the ILR grant must still be reported from the worker's side.

The right to work position for an ILR or eVisa holder

Your original check gave you a time-limited statutory excuse, tied to the worker's old permission. The employer's guide says that where a check confirms settled status, no follow-up check is needed. So run one fresh online check on the ILR status as soon as you know of the grant, rather than waiting for the old permission end date, and retain the result for the duration of employment and two years afterwards. Our step-by-step guide to share code checks covers the process. If you also employ the worker's partner or adult child on a dependant visa, their permission is their own: GOV.UK says dependants can keep extending as dependants after the main worker settles, so their follow-up checks continue.

Record retention after sponsorship ends

Appendix D sets the sponsor retention period at one year after sponsorship ends, unless a compliance officer examines and approves the documents sooner. It also reminds sponsors that other laws can require longer. Right to work evidence follows its own two-year rule, and minimum wage records must be kept for six years, as our guide to what HR must be able to prove on modern slavery explains. In practice, keep payroll records on their longest clock, and diarise the date the sponsor file can be reviewed for deletion.

What changes for HR once the worker is settled

Once you have reported the end of sponsorship, salary, role, location and absence changes for that worker stop being sponsor reporting events, and the going rate and settlement thresholds no longer apply to them. Ordinary employment law, minimum wage and right to work rules still do. Do not change pay or role between the application and the decision, because you confirmed that the worker "will be paid" at least the settlement salary.

What Not to Do

• Do not promise a settlement date or an outcome. Eligibility, absences, English and the Life in the UK Test are the worker's, and CP 1707 may still affect applications decided after the Rules change, as our guide to earned settlement for sponsors explains.
• Do not make pay or hours decisions that quietly drop a worker below their settlement row just before they apply, or while the application is pending.
• Do not sign a confirmation your payroll record does not support, and do not let a manager sign one without HR checking it.
• Do not raise a salary for the application and reverse it afterwards. That is the pattern Annex C1(bb) describes.
• Do not hold the confirmation back as leverage, or ask the worker to repay sponsorship costs in return for it.
• Do not surrender the licence, remove the Skilled Worker route or let compliance slip while an application is pending.
• Do not advise the worker on their application unless you are regulated to do so (Part 2, S6.36).
• Do not forget the SMS report and the fresh right to work check after the grant.

How Can WPC HR Help?

WPC HR, the HR-tech arm of WorkPermitCloud Ltd, provides HR compliance software and sponsor licence compliance audits that help UK sponsors check and evidence the salary, records and licence position behind a Skilled Worker's ILR confirmation. Our HR compliance software keeps each sponsored worker's file organised around the Appendix D list, holds right to work check records (including eVisa share code checks, with the date of each check and a follow-up reminder), sends visa expiry reminders at 90, 60 and 30 days, and brings sponsored and non-sponsored staff onto one compliance dashboard. It does not calculate settlement dates, so record each worker's five-year and earliest application dates in their file alongside the visa expiry date.

Before you sign a batch of confirmations, our sponsor licence compliance audit reviews every sponsored worker against the current salary and going rate rules, including transitional arrangements, finds unreported salary, absence and role changes that should have gone through the SMS, and checks each file against Appendix D, so the statement you give the Home Office is one you can prove.

Conclusion

The "ILR letter" is a short statement with a long tail. It tells the Home Office that you still need the worker and that you pay, and will keep paying, the right salary, and the Home Office can test every word of it against HMRC data, your Appendix D file and your SMS history. Check the settlement row and the basic pay before you sign, keep the licence safe until the decision, and report the grant within 10 working days once it comes. Until a Statement of Changes says otherwise, that is the whole of the sponsor's job at settlement, and doing it well is the best protection for both the worker and your licence.

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