# UK Visa Sponsor Register - Licensed Employers (`j0401/uk-visa-sponsors`) Actor

The UK Home Office register of licensed Worker and Temporary Worker sponsors (143k registrations, OGL v3): organisation, town, county, type and rating (A/B), and sponsored route. Search by name, town, county or route; aggregate; or get the latest daily change feed.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/j0401/uk-visa-sponsors.md
- **Developed by:** [Wenhao Yang](https://apify.com/j0401) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.03 / 1,000 uk visa sponsor registrations

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UK Visa Sponsor Register - Licensed Employers

Every employer licensed by the UK Home Office to sponsor **Worker** and
**Temporary Worker** visas, from the government's official open register:
**143,211 registrations** covering **127,427 distinct organisations** as of
**16 October 2026**. The register is republished on every working day.

Each record carries the organisation name, town, county, the raw type and
rating (`Worker (A rating)`, `Temporary Worker (A rating)`, ...), the sponsored
route (Skilled Worker, Creative Worker, Charity Worker, ...), and the derived
worker type and A/B rating.

### Low cost

**From $0.00005 per record, down to $0.00003 at Gold.** Pay only for the
records you receive - the whole register stays searchable, you are never
billed for the scan behind it.

### What you get per registration

| field | meaning |
|---|---|
| `organisationName` | licensed sponsor name |
| `town`, `county` | location as published (county is blank on 95,018 rows - the register does not fill it for most London and urban addresses) |
| `typeRating` | raw register value, e.g. `Worker (A rating)`, `Worker (B rating)`, `Worker (UK Expansion Worker: Provisional )` |
| `route` | sponsored route, e.g. `Skilled Worker`, `Creative Worker`, `Charity Worker` |
| `workerType` | `Worker` or `Temporary Worker` |
| `rating` | `A` or `B` (blank for the 97 provisional licences that carry no A/B rating) |
| `refreshedDate` | publication date of the register snapshot |
| `sourceUrl` | the exact government CSV behind the snapshot |

### Search it

- **Name** - `name="NHS"` (substring, case-insensitive).
- **Town or county** - `town="London"` (43,884 registrations),
  `county="Surrey"` (2,368).
- **Route** - `route="Skilled Worker"` (123,185 of the 143,211 rows),
  `"Creative Worker"`, `"Charity Worker"`, `"Global Business Mobility:
  Senior or Specialist Worker"`.
- **Rating** - `rating="A"` or `"B"`.
- **Worker type** - `workerType="Worker"` or `"Temporary Worker"`.

### Example inputs

**Sponsors by name** - the visa-verification starting point.

```json
{ "name": "NHS", "route": "Skilled Worker", "maxResults": 25 }
```

**One town** - every licensed sponsor in London.

```json
{ "town": "London", "maxResults": 50 }
```

**B-rated sponsors** - the register's compliance watch-list.

```json
{ "rating": "B" }
```

**Charity Worker route**

```json
{ "route": "Charity Worker", "rating": "A", "maxResults": 25 }
```

**Counts by route** - `mode=aggregate`.

```json
{ "mode": "aggregate", "groupBy": "route" }
```

**What changed since the previous working day**

```json
{ "mode": "changes" }
```

### Or roll it up

`mode=aggregate` returns one count row per group - **route**, **rating**,
**workerType**, **typeRating** or **county**. The default (empty) run answers
the whole-register route summary from a small precomputed record.

`mode=changes` returns new registrations, removed registrations and rating
changes (A to B or B to A) compared with the previous daily snapshot, one row
per change. The diff appears once a second daily snapshot exists (the first
warm has nothing to compare against).

### Example output

```json
{
 "organisationName": "Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust",
 "town": "London",
 "county": "",
 "typeRating": "Worker (A rating)",
 "route": "Skilled Worker",
 "workerType": "Worker",
 "rating": "A",
 "refreshedDate": "2026-10-16",
 "sourceUrl": "https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ad1d58449ba86d6c953ca9d/SP_-_Worker_and_Temporary_Worker_Web_Register_-_2026-10-16.csv"
}
```

### Notes on the data, from the source

- **One row = one sponsor registration**, not one employer. An employer that
  holds several routes appears once per route; 127,427 distinct organisation
  names produce 143,211 rows.
- **No identifier.** The register publishes no sponsor licence number, so
  name + town + county + route is the natural key. 662 rows duplicate that
  full key inside the published file itself.
- **Daily refresh.** The Home Office replaces the CSV on each working day;
  every record carries `refreshedDate` so you can see which snapshot it came
  from.
- **Worker and Temporary Worker routes only.** The separate register of
  licensed student sponsors is a different publication and is not included.
- **Organisational data only.** The register carries no personal data.
- **Licence.** Open Government Licence v3 - commercial reuse is expressly
  permitted, with attribution to the Home Office.

Data source: `gov.uk` - register of licensed sponsors: workers (Home Office).

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

search = filter the register. aggregate = one row per group. changes = new, removed and rating-changed registrations vs the previous daily snapshot. Leave blank to auto-route: filters -> search, no filters -> aggregate.

## `name` (type: `string`):

Organisation name substring, case-insensitive (e.g. "TESCO" or "NHS").

## `town` (type: `string`):

Exact town or city, case-insensitive (e.g. "London", "Manchester").

## `county` (type: `string`):

Exact county, case-insensitive (e.g. "Surrey", "West Midlands"). Use "(not stated)" for rows with no county.

## `route` (type: `string`):

Exact route, e.g. "Skilled Worker", "Creative Worker", "Charity Worker", "Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker".

## `rating` (type: `string`):

Exact rating: A (full licence) or B (sponsor action plan). Leave blank for all.

## `workerType` (type: `string`):

Exact worker type, e.g. "Worker" or "Temporary Worker".

## `typeRating` (type: `string`):

Exact raw value, e.g. "Worker (A rating)" or "Worker (UK Expansion Worker: Provisional )".

## `groupBy` (type: `string`):

route -> Skilled Worker vs other routes; rating -> A vs B; workerType -> Worker vs Temporary Worker; typeRating -> raw type and rating; county -> sponsor county. Blank defaults to route.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Cap the number of search records pushed (0 = the default ceiling of 50, maximum 5000). Aggregate and changes return every row.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `recordsUrl` (type: `string`):

UK visa sponsor registrations or aggregate/change rows - as JSON

## `datasetUrl` (type: `string`):

No description

## `runUrl` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("j0401/uk-visa-sponsors").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("j0401/uk-visa-sponsors").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call j0401/uk-visa-sponsors --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,j0401/uk-visa-sponsors"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/8t7SHNKa0Vf7fdg0J/builds/zg4JCmwodJiDTvSLn/openapi.json