Practical job-search playbooks

Your UK job search, done in the right order

Step-by-step job-search playbooks for international candidates targeting UK employers that can sponsor visas.

5steps in the search method
126,248organisations on the sponsor register
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Welcome to Visa Ready UK

Quick answer

A reliable way to find UK roles that could be sponsored is to work backwards: start from employers that hold a sponsor licence, then look at their open roles. A licence is permission to sponsor, not a promise. So the second step is reading each job ad carefully — salary, sponsorship wording, and whether the advertiser is an agency — before you spend time on an application.

What this site covers

Visa Ready UK is a practical playbook for international candidates. We do not reproduce visa rules; we point to GOV.UK for those. We focus on the part that is yours to control: how you search, how you read ads, and how you research employers.

Who publishes this site

Visa Ready UK is published by an independent editorial team. We write step-by-step guides using official sources: GOV.UK, Home Office statistics, and the register of licensed sponsors. We do not sell a product, and we do not accept payment for coverage. The register is free on GOV.UK, and our guides show you how to use it.

The order that works

  1. Shortlist employers that hold a licence.
  2. Find their open roles on job boards and career pages.
  3. Read each ad for salary, wording, and agency signs.
  4. Check anything unclear before applying.
  5. Apply, and track what you learn as you go.

The guides below walk through each step with examples and sources.

Latest guides

Job search

How to Find UK Jobs That Sponsor Visas: A 2026 Step-by-Step Guide

A step-by-step 2026 guide to finding UK jobs that can sponsor visas: build a shortlist from the sponsor register, then check every ad.

Job ads

We Cannot Sponsor: What Sponsorship Wording in Job Ads Means

What 'we cannot sponsor', 'must have the right to work', and other sponsorship phrases in UK job ads mean — and how to read the ads that say nothing at all.

Job ads

Recruitment Agency vs Direct Employer: How to Tell

How to spot recruitment agency job ads, why an agency's licence says nothing about the end employer, and who you'd actually work for.

Check an employer against the UK sponsor register — free

Check the official register

The register is free, official, and public — every tool uses the same data. This site is information only, not immigration advice.