Certificates of Sponsorship ('work permits')
Almost all entertainers who come to tour, record or perform in the UK need what are called Certificates of Sponsorship (which I'll shorten to CoS from hereon). There are a few exceptions, but I'll come to them at the bottom of the page.
Entertainment CoS are almost all done under Tier 5 of the UK government's Points Based System (PBS for short). They have to be issued in the UK by a registered sponsor, which is usually the organiser of the trip. They are issued before the act travels to the UK and in most cases they are used as an entry document - the exceptions to this are where the act is coming here for over 3 months, or they are "visa nationals" (holding a passport which the UK government wants to put through a screening process before they travel here), or they have a serious criminal record. The vast majority of bands we deal with are from the States, Canada and Australia - they just show their CoS when they enter (it's like an E-ticket). The CoS gets activated on the computer system by an Immigration Officer and the band are given stamps in their passports.
The sponsor company has to provide the UK Border Agency with a fair bit of legal paperwork in order to get its licence, and from then on it is trusted to assign CoS appropriately. The UKBA come and check sponsors on a random basis to ensure they're not abusing the system. Sponsors are obliged to keep records of the people they issue CoS to, to show the UKBA that they are issuing appropriately and making sure the acts enter and leave the UK when they are supposed to. We assist our clients to comply with these rules. Acts must be of international status to warrant being issued CoS, and their work here must pose no threat to the resident labour force. There are Codes of Practice for some fields of entertainment; in these the UKBA prescribes what checks a sponsor has to make before it can issue a CoS. It is not always possible to issue a CoS - criteria must be met first.
T&S is also now a licensed sponsor, able to issue Tier 5 CoS to non-EU acts where they have no other licensed sponsor. For instance, where an act has no UK booking agent, promoter or record label which could act as sponsor. We have an "A" rating with the UK Border Agency for our licence. We have already used this licence to facilitate UK shows by stars including Prince and Michael Bolton. If you have an act with no UK-based record label, booking agency or UKBA-registered promoter then we may be able to help - call us on (44) (0)1557 339123.
Examples of where CoS might NOT be required;
There are some "permit-free" festivals, such as Glastonbury, Leeds, Reading and so on. If an act is just doing a permit-free festival they can enter on a letter from the festival. The UKBA reviews the permit-free festival list annually. Shows where the act is donating the income to a registered charity and waiving its fee can be done without CoS. Interviews, photo-shoots etc can be done without a CoS. Film crews working on location shoots and employed by non-EU companies (studio work is not covered by this) can generally come in without CoS. And amateur entertianment acts (such as school choirs, church groups, pipe bands etc) can usually enter using the "entertainer visitor" route, without the need for CoS.
Entertainment CoS are almost all done under Tier 5 of the UK government's Points Based System (PBS for short). They have to be issued in the UK by a registered sponsor, which is usually the organiser of the trip. They are issued before the act travels to the UK and in most cases they are used as an entry document - the exceptions to this are where the act is coming here for over 3 months, or they are "visa nationals" (holding a passport which the UK government wants to put through a screening process before they travel here), or they have a serious criminal record. The vast majority of bands we deal with are from the States, Canada and Australia - they just show their CoS when they enter (it's like an E-ticket). The CoS gets activated on the computer system by an Immigration Officer and the band are given stamps in their passports.
The sponsor company has to provide the UK Border Agency with a fair bit of legal paperwork in order to get its licence, and from then on it is trusted to assign CoS appropriately. The UKBA come and check sponsors on a random basis to ensure they're not abusing the system. Sponsors are obliged to keep records of the people they issue CoS to, to show the UKBA that they are issuing appropriately and making sure the acts enter and leave the UK when they are supposed to. We assist our clients to comply with these rules. Acts must be of international status to warrant being issued CoS, and their work here must pose no threat to the resident labour force. There are Codes of Practice for some fields of entertainment; in these the UKBA prescribes what checks a sponsor has to make before it can issue a CoS. It is not always possible to issue a CoS - criteria must be met first.
T&S is also now a licensed sponsor, able to issue Tier 5 CoS to non-EU acts where they have no other licensed sponsor. For instance, where an act has no UK booking agent, promoter or record label which could act as sponsor. We have an "A" rating with the UK Border Agency for our licence. We have already used this licence to facilitate UK shows by stars including Prince and Michael Bolton. If you have an act with no UK-based record label, booking agency or UKBA-registered promoter then we may be able to help - call us on (44) (0)1557 339123.
Examples of where CoS might NOT be required;
There are some "permit-free" festivals, such as Glastonbury, Leeds, Reading and so on. If an act is just doing a permit-free festival they can enter on a letter from the festival. The UKBA reviews the permit-free festival list annually. Shows where the act is donating the income to a registered charity and waiving its fee can be done without CoS. Interviews, photo-shoots etc can be done without a CoS. Film crews working on location shoots and employed by non-EU companies (studio work is not covered by this) can generally come in without CoS. And amateur entertianment acts (such as school choirs, church groups, pipe bands etc) can usually enter using the "entertainer visitor" route, without the need for CoS.
