The International Sportsperson visa runs on an endorsement from your sport's governing body, not on salary. It replaced the old Sportsperson route and the sporting half of the creative and sporting route, and it prices in two tiers: £340 for twelve months or less, £819 or £943 for longer. The longer grant is also the only one that requires English.
UK Work Visas
International Sportsperson Visa UK 2026: Endorsement, Fees and Settlement
What the Route Is
A sponsored route for elite sportspeople and qualified coaches, requiring a certificate of sponsorship from an employer and an endorsement from the sport's recognised governing body. Permission runs up to three years at a time and can be extended. The fee is £340 for twelve months or less, or £819 from outside the UK and £943 inside for longer. Settlement is possible after five years, but only if at least one grant exceeded twelve months.
The endorsement is the heart of it. Your governing body must confirm three things: that you are an elite sportsperson or qualified coach, that you are internationally established, and that your employment will develop your sport in the UK at the highest level. The Home Office does not second-guess that sporting judgement — it checks that the endorsement exists, is valid, and matches the job.
This route absorbed the old Sportsperson route and the sporting element of the creative and sporting route, which now covers creative work only. Applicants who find themselves reading about a combined route are reading something out of date.
Eligibility
Seventy points are needed and none can be traded: fifty for a valid governing body endorsement, ten for English where it applies, and ten for the financial requirement. On top sit the ordinary suitability checks and, where relevant, a tuberculosis certificate.
- Endorsement: a valid endorsement from your sport's governing body, listed in the Immigration Rules.
- Certificate of sponsorship: from your employer, used once and within three months of issue.
- Money: £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days, day 28 within 31 days of applying — unless your sponsor certifies maintenance or you have been in the UK on a valid visa for 12 months.
- English: required only where you are applying for more than 12 months.
- Travel history: evidence of your travel over the last five years.
- Lawful employment: the job must meet the minimum wage and working time rules, or the application is refused.
The Twelve-Month English Rule
The caseworker guidance restricts the English requirement to applicants seeking permission for more than twelve months. A short-form contract at £340 therefore needs no test at all. Where it does apply, you can prove it with a UK degree, an overseas degree taught in English confirmed by Ecctis, or an approved test — and you may not need to prove it again if you did so in an earlier successful application. The cross-route detail is in our English requirements guide.
The Certificate of Sponsorship
The certificate is an electronic record rather than a document, and you receive only its reference number. Two limits matter: it can be used once, and it must be used within three months of being issued. A certificate that expires unused has to be reassigned by the sponsor, which costs them the fee again — a reason to line up endorsement, certificate and any English test in that order rather than in parallel.
The Governing Body Endorsement
The endorsement travels with the certificate of sponsorship and is worth fifty of the seventy points, so it decides most applications on its own. It must be valid at the point of decision: the guidance directs caseworkers to check it has not been withdrawn by the sponsor or cancelled by the Home Office since it was issued.
The same is true of the certificate itself. A certificate that has been withdrawn means refusal unless the sponsor assigns another, and one already recorded as used cannot be relied on again. Where a sponsor's licence is suspended, the case is held rather than decided while the position is resolved — the sponsor-side framework is in our sponsorship guide.
Fees and Money
The route is unusual in pricing by length rather than by location alone. Under twelve months it sits at the temporary-work rate; over twelve months it moves to the sponsored-worker rates, and the certificate fee your employer pays moves with it.
What the Route Costs
| Item | 12 months or less | More than 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee, outside the UK | £340 | £819 |
| Application fee, inside the UK | £340 | £943 |
| Health surcharge, adult | £1,035 a year | £1,035 a year |
| Money you must show | £1,270 | £1,270 |
| Certificate of sponsorship, paid by the employer | £55 | £525 |
Source: GOV.UK International Sportsperson visa and UK visa sponsorship for employers, 8 April 2026 fee schedule. Verified 22 August 2026.
Dependants pay the same application fee and their own surcharge — the levy is explained in our health surcharge guide.
Money and the 28-Day Rule
You need £1,270 held for 28 days in a row, with day 28 falling within 31 days of the application. Two exemptions remove the evidence: twelve months in the UK on a valid visa, or your employer completing the sponsor certifies maintenance section on the certificate, which covers your first month up to £1,270. Dependants have to show their own funds separately.
How to Apply
You can apply up to three months before the start date on your certificate. Decisions usually take about three weeks from outside the UK and eight weeks inside it, with paid faster options available. Documents not in English or Welsh need a certified translation — the guidance treats Welsh and bilingual documents as acceptable without one.
What You Can and Cannot Do
You work for your sponsor in the job on your certificate. Beyond that the route is more permissive than most: you can play for your national team in the UK, work as a sports broadcaster, do voluntary work, and study as long as it does not interfere with the sponsored job.
A second job is allowed for up to twenty hours a week, either in the same profession as your main job or in a profession on the immigration salary list. Anything else needs a new visa with a new sponsor and a new certificate. You cannot claim public funds, start or run a business, or apply for a second job before you have started working for your sponsor.
Study Alongside the Job
Study is permitted so long as it does not interfere with the sponsored role, which makes the route workable for players taking coaching qualifications or a degree around a playing schedule. It is a permission rather than an entitlement to reduce sporting commitments, and a sponsor reporting that the job is not being done as described creates a problem no course enrolment fixes.
Partners and Children
A partner and children under 18 can apply as dependants, each paying the same application fee and their own health surcharge, and each needing to show they can support themselves. The mechanics match the other sponsored routes and are set out in our dependant visa guide.
Settlement
The route leads to settlement after five years — with one condition that catches short-contract athletes. GOV.UK states that you may be able to settle after five years if you have had at least one visa that lasted longer than twelve months. A career built entirely from £340 short-form grants does not reach settlement, however many of them there are.
The usual settlement requirements otherwise apply: absences within the 180-day limit, the Life in the UK test, and the framework in our settlement guide. Sportsperson time also counts towards settlement on other sponsored routes, including Skilled Worker, and naturalisation follows on the timetable in our citizenship guide.
Where Applications Fail
Fifty of the seventy points rest on an endorsement that the governing body can withdraw and the Home Office can cancel after it is issued. Caseworkers check the position at decision, not at application, so a change of club, a disciplinary matter or a sponsor's decision to pull the certificate between submission and decision can take the application with it. The certificate is equally fragile: withdrawn means refusal unless another is assigned, and a certificate already marked used cannot support a second application.
The other failure points are ordinary. Money held for the wrong 28 days, an employer that does not meet the minimum wage or working time rules, untranslated documents, or a second job started before the sponsored one. A refusal on suitability grounds has consequences well beyond the application — see our re-entry ban guide.
Sources: GOV.UK International Sportsperson route page on GOV.UK; Appendix Sports Governing Bodies; and the Home Office International Sportsperson caseworker guidance version 8.0. Figures verified 22 August 2026.
Frequently Asked
Questions about the International Sportsperson Visa
£340 per person for permission of twelve months or less. For longer, £819 from outside the UK or £943 inside it. Every applicant also pays the health surcharge at £1,035 a year and must show £1,270 in savings. On the employer side the certificate of sponsorship costs £55 for twelve months or less and £525 for longer.
Only if you are applying for more than twelve months. Shorter applications have no English requirement. Where it applies, a UK degree, an overseas degree taught in English with an Ecctis confirmation, or an approved test all satisfy it, and you may not need to prove it again if you did so in an earlier successful application.
Three things: that you are an elite sportsperson or qualified coach, that you are internationally established, and that your employment will develop your sport in the UK at the highest level. It is worth fifty of the seventy points. Caseworkers check it has not been withdrawn by the sponsor or cancelled by the Home Office before deciding.
Yes, up to twenty hours a week, in the same profession as your sponsored job or in a profession on the immigration salary list. Voluntary work is also allowed. Anything outside that needs a fresh application with a second sponsor and a new certificate, and you cannot apply for a second job until you have started working for your main sponsor.
Yes, after five years — provided at least one of your grants of permission lasted longer than twelve months. Athletes who have only ever held short-form permission of twelve months or less do not reach settlement on that basis, which makes the length of each contract a longer-term decision than it looks at the time.
Up to three years at a time, and it can be extended as long as you remain eligible. The length you can apply for is governed by the certificate of sponsorship, which must be used once and within three months of being assigned. Applications can be made up to three months before the start date shown on it.
Yes. Playing for your national team in the UK is expressly permitted, as is working as a sports broadcaster and doing voluntary work. You can also study, provided it does not interfere with the job you are sponsored for. What you cannot do is claim public funds or start or run a business.
No. This route replaced both the Sportsperson route and the sporting element of the temporary creative and sporting route, which now covers creative work alone. Guides describing a single combined creative-and-sporting category are out of date, and applying under the wrong one wastes the certificate of sponsorship as well as the fee.