A Skilled Worker sponsorship licence is permission from the Home Office for an organisation to employ workers from outside the UK. For dental practices, it is what allows you to hire an overseas-qualified dentist on a Skilled Worker visa. It used to be called the Tier 2 licence, and many people still know it by that name. It is also commonly referred to simply as a sponsorship licence.
Without it, an overseas dentist cannot be sponsored, and the visa route is closed. With it, a practice can recruit from a far wider pool. Holding the licence also carries ongoing duties: record-keeping, reporting changes and being ready for Home Office checks. Dentello carries all of it.
Whether you need a Skilled Worker sponsorship licence depends on the dentist's right to work, not their nationality alone. A licence is needed to sponsor a dentist who does not already have permission to work in the UK. A dentist who already has that right can be employed without one. We check this for you before anything else.
A right to work check is still required for every dentist before they start, including those who do not need sponsorship. Source: gov.uk, UK visa sponsorship for employers.
The sponsor licence is the part of hiring overseas that practice owners dread most. With Dentello, it is simply handled. We carry the application and the ongoing compliance burden, so you can focus on running your practice.
Without a valid sponsor licence your practice cannot employ an overseas dentist at all. Handled well it protects:
Remain the licensed sponsor with ultimate Home Office responsibility, and approve the candidate.
Supports the application, document collation, sponsor-management administration and compliance tracking, and coordinates with authorised advisers where regulated immigration advice is required.
Yes. The Skilled Worker sponsorship licence is what was previously called the Tier 2 licence. The name changed when the immigration system was reformed, but it is the same permission to employ workers from outside the UK. You may see it written as a sponsor licence or a sponsorship licence; they mean the same thing.
Not at all. Most practice owners have never held a sponsor licence. We handle the whole process for you, from checking eligibility through to approval and the duties that come afterwards.
A licence holder has to keep certain records, report relevant changes to the Home Office and be ready for compliance checks. Dentello manages these duties on your behalf so nothing is missed.
Dentello coordinates and manages the sponsor licence process for you. Where regulated immigration advice is required, it is provided by appropriately authorised advisers.
The sponsor licence comes first, then the Certificate of Sponsorship and Skilled Worker visa, alongside GDC and NHS registration and indemnity. Dentello runs these in parallel so the dentist is ready to treat patients sooner.
Talk to Dentello about employing an overseas dentist. We will manage the sponsor licence and everything that follows. No commitment, no upfront fee.
No commitment required · Response within 24 hours · No upfront fee under any model