Appendix D: the records a sponsor must keep for every sponsored worker

In short

Five sections per worker: right to work and date of entry; recruitment; salary; skill level; and additional evidence (NI number, contact history, under-18 consent, DBS, absences).
Keep everything throughout the sponsorship and for a year after it ends, or until a compliance officer has examined and approved it, whichever comes first.
Paper or electronic, your choice; but an officer who asks must be able to see it, and in most cases within 48 hours.
Missing passport copies or right to work checks fail the record-keeping area of a visit outright.

1 · Right to work

Right to work check for every worker you employ or sponsor (1.1)
Date of entry, where relevant (1.2)

2 · Recruitment

Advert: copy, where, how long
Applicants and shortlist counts
One more item showing how you chose (2.2), or how you found them unadvertised

3 · Salary

Payslips with name, NI, tax code, allowances, deductions
Transfers to the named account
The contract: parties, dates, job, hours, pay (3)

4 · Skill level

Detailed job description
Qualifications or evidence of experience
Reasons if a mandatory qualification was waived
Registration or accreditation (4)

5 · Additional

National Insurance number
Contact history, kept up to date
Under-18 consent letter · DBS where required
Absence record · route-specific documents (5)

Sponsorship startsSponsorship ends+ 1 year, or earlier approvalthen destroy

Keep every document throughout the sponsorship and until the earlier of one year after it ended, or a compliance officer examining and approving it (Appendix D, “How long you must retain documents”).

One worker, one file. The five tabs are the five sections of Appendix D v08/26; the bar is the retention rule.

The duty, and why it bites

C1.37. You must keep certain documents for each worker you sponsor. Appendix D of the sponsor guidance lists these documents and how long you must keep them. The documents can be kept in paper or electronic form. If kept electronically, you must make sure that all the relevant parts of the document are visible as described in Appendix D.
Sponsor guidance Part 3 v08/26, C1.37

C1.38. You must give us, when asked, any documents relating to your sponsored workers or the running of your organisation that we consider relevant to assessing your compliance with your duties as a sponsor. … If you fail to provide the documents when asked or within the timeframe we specify, we will take action against you.
Sponsor guidance Part 3 v08/26, C1.38

A compliance officer is told that a sponsor which “does not take copies of passports or immigration documents for sponsored workers, where applicable, and undertake right to work checks for all workers” automatically fails the record-keeping and maintaining-documents section of the visit report. The rest of the list is what the officer then works through.

1. Right to work, and the date of entry

You must retain evidence you have carried out right to work checks on: any worker you employ, whether or not you are sponsoring them; any worker you sponsor, whether or not you are their employer.
Appendix D v08/26, section 1.1

Where a related organisation employs the worker, the sponsor must obtain and retain a copy of that organisation’s check or do its own. Self-employed sponsored workers still get a check. Under-16s cannot use the online service; the sponsor asks to see the live eVisa and keeps a screenshot. Section 1.2 adds a date-of-entry check where relevant: a copy of the page with the entry stamp (and vignette where there is one), and a check that the worker entered during the validity of their visa.

The right to work guidance sets its own, longer retention for the copies themselves: “for the duration of the person’s employment and for a further two years after they stop working for you. The file must then be securely destroyed.”

2. Recruitment

Most Skilled Worker roles have no formal resident labour market test. Section 2.2 still asks for the trail:

If you are sponsoring a worker on a route that does not require a formal resident labour market test, or the role was otherwise exempt from the test, you must still retain evidence of any recruitment activity you have undertaken. If you did not advertise the role, you must be able to explain how you recruited the worker.
Appendix D v08/26, section 2.2

If the role was advertised, keep: a screenshot, printout, copy or record of the text of each advert, where it ran and for how long; the number who applied and the number shortlisted; and at least one more item showing how the successful candidate was identified (interview notes or a summary, the common questions, scoring, brief reasons for the choice and the rejections). “You do not have to retain application forms, CVs, interview notes or any other personal data relating to unsuccessful candidates.” If it was not advertised, be able to explain and where practicable evidence how the worker was found suitable: a milk round, previous legal work for you, or a speculative application you tested by interview, references or qualifications. The compliance-visit guidance also asks sponsors to “be able to show a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) was assigned within 6 months of the first advert for the vacancy being placed, if applicable to the route”.

3. Salary

Item	What it must show	Appendix D
Payslips	Name, NI number, tax code, any allowances paid, deductions made. LLP members: drawings and profit share.	3(a)
Payments	The amount and frequency of every salary payment, showing the transfer into the named worker’s bank account or pre-paid card. Accounts showing only “wages for personnel” are not accepted.	3(b)
Contract	A contract of employment or for services, or a written statement, with the names and signatures of the parties, the start and end dates, the job or piece of work, the hours and an indication of pay.	3(c)
Allowances	Evidence of the value of any allowance in the package, unless shown in the contract or on payslips (for accommodation: the owner’s or agent’s statement of rent, or an independent assessment).	3(d)

Note 2 to section 3 is the one sponsors miss: allowances do not count towards the salary threshold or going rate for Skilled Workers unless an exception applies. And Part 3 C1.15 requires a report within 10 working days if a worker’s salary or pay is reduced from the level on the CoS.

4. Skill level

Section 4 asks for “a detailed and specific job description outlining the duties and responsibilities of the post which must include the skills, qualifications and experience required”, copies of relevant qualifications or other evidence the worker had the skills and experience (a degree certificate, references), and any registration or accreditation the job needs. If the advert said a qualification was mandatory, keep evidence the worker has it, or “detailed reasons as to why you waived the requirement”.

5. Additional evidence

National Insurance number: a copy from the NI letter, the eVisa or decision letter, a payslip, P45, P60, or an RTI submission (5(a)).
Contact history: “a history of the worker’s contact details, including their UK residential address, personal email address, and telephone number … This must always be kept up to date” (5(b)). A visiting officer compares what the sponsor holds with what the worker says at interview.
Under-18s: the parent’s or guardian’s consent letter covering the application, travel, reception and care arrangements (5(c); Part 3 C1.39).
DBS check where the role requires it (5(d)).
Absences: a record, electronic or manual (5(e)). Part 3 C1.15 and C1.19 require a report within 10 working days of the tenth consecutive day of unauthorised absence, and for more than 4 weeks unpaid in a calendar year.
Route-specific documents, ATAS certificates and the Global Business Mobility contracts where they apply (5(f) to 5(i)).

How long to keep it

Unless otherwise stated in this guidance, all documents relating to a worker you sponsor must be kept throughout the period that you sponsor them and until whichever is the earlier of either: one year after the date on which your sponsorship of the worker ended; the date on which a compliance officer has examined and approved them, if this is less than one year after your sponsorship of the worker ended.
Appendix D v08/26, How long you must retain documents

Documents sent with the licence application are kept “for as long as you hold a sponsor licence”. Other legislation can require longer, and the guidance says so; the two-year right to work rule above is the common example. Data protection applies throughout (Part 3 C1.41).

What SponsorGuard does with this list

For employers, the SponsorGuard sponsor file holds each of these sections per worker and shows what is missing or due. For immigration law firms, the Appendix D evidence pack takes the documents a firm already has, reads them with the quote kept, checks them against these sections as fixed written rules, cites the paragraph on every finding, and hands a solicitor a pack to review and sign. A candidate who passed through the Certificate of Sponsorship checks becomes an Appendix D case on hire.

Questions people ask

How long must a sponsor keep Appendix D records?

Throughout the period of sponsorship and until the earlier of one year after the sponsorship ended, or the date a compliance officer has examined and approved the documents (if that is less than a year after the end). Documents provided with the licence application must be kept for as long as the licence is held. Other law can require longer: right to work copies, for example, are kept for the employment plus two years under the right to work guidance.

Do sponsors have to keep records in paper or electronic form?

Either. Part 3 C1.37 says documents can be kept in paper or electronic form; if electronic, all the relevant parts of the document must be visible. The compliance-visit guidance tells officers a sponsor does not have to store documents in any particular format or way, but must allow the officer to look at them.

What recruitment records must a sponsor keep if there was no resident labour market test?

Appendix D section 2.2: if the role was advertised, a copy or record of the advert with where and for how long, the number of applicants and the number shortlisted, and at least one more item showing how the successful candidate was chosen (interview notes, common questions, scoring, reasons). If it was not advertised, the sponsor must be able to explain, and where practicable evidence, how the worker was identified as suitable. CVs of unsuccessful candidates do not have to be kept.

What salary evidence does Appendix D require?

Payslips showing name, NI number, tax code, allowances and deductions; evidence of the amount and frequency of every salary payment into the named worker’s bank account or pre-paid card; a signed contract or written statement showing the parties, start and end dates, the job, the hours and the pay; and evidence of the value of any allowances. Accounts that show only ‘wages for personnel’ are not accepted.

What happens if a sponsor cannot produce the documents at a visit?

The compliance-visit guidance tells officers the documents must be made available but not necessarily at the time of the visit; a sponsor that says it has them is allowed a reasonable time to produce them, in most cases 48 hours. A sponsor that says it does not have them may be marked ‘not met’.

Sources

Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors, Appendix D: keeping records for sponsorshipVersion 08/26, valid from 3 August 2026 · GOV.UK
Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors, Part 3: sponsor duties and complianceVersion 08/26, valid from 3 August 2026 · GOV.UK
Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor compliance visits: caseworker guidanceVersion 17.0, published 19 March 2026 · GOV.UK
Right to work checks: an employer's guide (GOV.UK)As published on GOV.UK; retention wording quoted · GOV.UK
Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors, Part 2: sponsor a workerVersion 08/26, valid from 3 August 2026 · GOV.UK

SponsorGuard provides compliance software and record-keeping tools. It is not a law firm or an immigration adviser and does not give legal or immigration advice, which are regulated activities (Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, section 84). This page describes what the published Home Office guidance and the Immigration Rules say, with the paragraph for each point, so you can read the source yourself. Guidance versions and figures are those in force on the date shown; the Home Office changes them, so check the current version before you rely on any of it.