Frequently Asked Questions

Please see our Sponsor Checklist. In most cases you should be represented by an organisation or individual in the UK working in music. This could be a promoter / purchaser / venue / festival / agent / record label / UK based member of the act / individual running an event etc. We need to also establish that you are an internationally recogised talent

This depends on group size, number of groupings, length of stay, whether you're a visa national or not (see Visas) and whether you need to leave and re-enter the UK more than once during your work period

See fees for full breakdown of our costs. Our basic service rate is £100 and £25 per additional CoS. We can offer an additonal discount for regular or repeat business on a case by case basis. In addition, we do levy a £50 refundable security deposit per act (if you do not abide by UK Immigration Law as clearly explained in our sponsorship agreement you default the security deposit) and the UKVI £21 processing fee per act. We do not charge VAT

No. We do not charge VAT for our services

We can process Creative Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) specialising in the creative sector, especially music. For other areas we can assist on a case to case basis and if we deem it is out of our remit we can refer to other agencies we share referrals with

For group applications, in many cases a group will include individuals that are not themselves considered to be creative individuals (e.g. sounds and video engineers, road managers, photographers, press officers, even personal trainers, medics, hair stylists and beauticians etc) but providing they are a necessary part of the travelling party and can demonstrate their experience in their field and their connection with the group we can issue CoS for them (provided they are included in the group application). This also relates to actors and dancers that may be involved in a music act's video production for example.

Our guaranteed turnaround (once we've agreed to sponsoring the act and have all the information we need to process the CoS) is 5 business days. We can offer a 24 hour service in some cases but expedited rates are up to double our standard rate (see Fees for fees for different turnaround times)

CoS can't be issued to non-visa nationals more than three months before work starts.* Visa applicants can be issued CoS at any time provided they make their visa application within three months of the CoS issuance. Therefore, for non-visa nationals if your work starts August 1st we can't issue you a CoS until May 1st of that year unless you obtain a visa before the CoS applies

*This is assuming a non-visa national is working in the UK for three months or less. More than three months of work in the UK requires a visa regardless of whether a visa or non-visa national

At time of writing this (2018) there is no Home Office published guidance as to what satisfies “international status”. Our agency has verbal communications from UKVI compliance that, as a guideline you should have at least 10,000 YouTube views and/or Soundcloud follows (similarly 10,000+ likes on a Facebook page dedicated to your act). Alternatively, strong presence on reputable Wikipedia entries, listing on Billboard and other online resources that clearly show the act is well-known beyond the country of origin will be accepted

1. You or your UK representation must ensure the sponsor receives copies of your passport entry stamps (passport endorsements) on arrival.

2. Any changes to the act's circumstances must be communicated to us as soon as known (show date change / cancellation / new show added / delayed arrival or departure etc)

You cannot activate your CoS if you enter the UK via the CTA (Common Travel Area of which RI is part) because you will not pass through UK passport control. Therefore we cannot sponsor you if you use this route and you will have to obtain a Permitted Paid Engagement visa instead

Failure to provide copies of the passport endorsement stamps will default your deposit. Failure to produce a visa stamp at all will result in no further sponsorship from CME Artist Services and a report of abuse of the Sponsorship System provided to the Home Office which can result in a five year UK entry ban

If the sponsor is not employing you then you will need UK representation. This could be a venue, promoter, record label or booking agent (or a friend involved in your booking). Regardless, the sponsor needs to have an agreement with a respected organisation or individual in the UK (or EU) who can take on the responsibilities of managing the act and ensuring the terms of the sponsorship are kept and, if any changes to employment occur (cancelled show, additional shows within the sponsorship period for example) that these changes are communicated to the sponsor

We do not charge commission on referrals. We're a firm believer of what goes around comes around. If for whatever reason we cannot handle your case (outside of our Tier 5 remit or we have too many cases to handle to deal with your and meet required turnaround time) we have an excellent referral network of highly competent sponsors with similar number of years of experience as our agency. These are sponsors who cooperate with each other on best practice and help each other out with heavy caseloads as well as policing abusers of the sponsor system. However, almost none of them will take on visa national clients

This is to ensure we receive the documentation needed after the CoS holders have arrived into the UK. These requirements are on our standard agreement and we do not release the CoS until this agreement is dated, signed and returned to us and our fees are paid including the deposit. In addition, for first time visa nationals we may insist on at least one visit to their events so we can monitor the CoS holders in person. These travel costs will need to be met (relatively low as we wiil only ask for costs, not any service fee)

If you’re a non-visa national your application to us can be made at any time before you enter the UK. If you’re a visa national or touring in the UK for more than three months then you will need to make a visa application and send your passport (or in some instances make a visit in person) to the relevant UK consulate or Embassy that you are currently working in

A CoS can be up to 12 months but anything over 3 months you will need to apply for a visa even if you are a non-visa national. The CoS can be renewed for up to another 12 months for a total of 24 months. Anything longer is not considered temporary and will require a different Tier.

However, you cannot have a gap of more than 14 days between consecutive periods of work even if you are on a multiple entry CoS and can demonstrate you are leaving the UK during that time.

That said, we are extremely reluctant to issue CoS for longer than a month (as this will require additional tracking responsibilities) and we absolutely will not issue CoS for more than one month for visa nationals

No more than 14 days in the UK but any length of time if you leave the UK between work dates and within the start and end date on your CoS.

Anyone from outside the EEA (European Economic Area) entering the UK for longer than 3 months needs a visa (some visitors can apply for a 6 month visa waiver but not for work).

Citizens of non-visa national countries do not need a visa if visiting the UK for less than 3months.

If you're from a visa national country you will need a visa to enter the UK unless on a 72 hour transit exemption. If this is beginning to appear confusing we suggest you test your exemption eligibility using the Home Office link: do I need a visa

If you need a visa you need to obtain your Certificate of Sponsorship first (see below) and then (for most countries) apply online from the Home Office Visa Application Now link.

Depending on your nationality, where you are resident and what your current situation is (e.g. on tour and unable to mail in your physical passport) you will either be asked to send in your passport with your application or attend a UK consulate or embassy in person

Note: There is often confusion about what a visa is. It is worth pointing out that a visa a physical stamp in your passport. The kind of stamp you have defines the kind of visit you're undertaking. This is the same internationally. There's no such thing as a virtual visa so your visa can't change or default to a tourist visa without an authorised passport control officer stamping your passport (i.e. don't stay in the UK after your Creative visa expires thinking you will then default to a 3 month visitor visa waiver as you'll actually default to a five or ten year ban instead!)

You get your CoS number before applying for a visa

See visa fees for all current visa costs

Only the British Consulate / Embassy can approve a visa and only they can confirm how long it will take on a country to country, case by case basis. Typically though it will range from a few days to up to three weeks (the UKIV intention is that, in most cases, 90% of visa are turned around within three weeks of the application - we strongly recommend that you do the application at least TWO months before you need it).

If your visa is declined it can take 6-8 weeks to appeal the decision which is why we implore visa national applicants to get their application in at least two months early and preferably three

If you are planning on entering the UK soon we recommend you consult with the UK Embassy nearest you in your country of residence before applying for a CoS. No visa = no entry even if you have a CoS

Non-visa nationals are from those countries that have a visa waiver program with the UK. They do not need to obtain a visa (if their stay is shorter than 3 months) before they arrive but receive an endorsement (comprising two stamps) from passport control on arrival to the UK PROVIDED THEY SHOW THE PASSPORT OFFICIAL THEIR COS NUMBER.

Visa nationals are from countries that don't have this arrangement and will need a visa before they arrive to the UK to work for any length of stay (and in most cases, if they are only visiting without working)

A visa is an entry endorsement that you get before you travel to the UK. On entering the UK with a visa stamp you will receive only one other stamp and that will be the date of entry, the port of entry and the Immigration officer stamping your passport's official number. Travellers not needing a visa will have entry date stamp plus an endorsement stamp that will state the leave to remain date and the name of the sponsor

If you need a visa you need to obtain your Certificate of Sponsorship first then apply online from the Home Office Visa Application Now link

We do not. The artist or artist management should be capable of doing their own visa application online but we are happy to help (within reason), for no fee, on the application process

See "We have an artist currently charged…" (next)

Typically this is a case by case situation. If the artist made a genuine mistake (e.g. thought they didn't need a CoS to perform in the UK and were denied entry) then a CoS application will usually wipe out any previous issue.

If the refusal was for filling in a visa application incorrectly in the past (wrong visa for example) then, again, the artist will probably be let in once the application is made correctly.

If the act thought they automatically reverted to a visitor waiver after overstaying their CoS (it doesn't – a change in immigration status MUST to be stamped in your passport on entry or at a visa issuing office) that too should result in an elimination of the five year statutory UK re-entry ban.

What doesn't work is someone who has been shown to have lied on their visa application. For example, if an honest mistake on the part of a previous failed application or an applicant previously being denied is not mentioned on a new visa application this will almost always result in a refusal on general grounds. I.e. DO NOT LIE ON THE VISA APPLICATION FORM. This will result in a ten year ban with no guarantee that being issued a CoS correctly will remove this.

What doesn't work is if the artist was apparently trying to move to the UK and was refused (or we pick up that their reason for coming is to gain residential entry). Again, unlikely they'll receive clearance even with a valid CoS.

What doesn't work is if the artist is the focus of criminal charges in their country of origin - for example has been arrested (even if not charged), has a pending court date or is on probation for an offense.

Promoters need to be aware that a) they should do thorough due diligence on their artists and save themselves a lot of effort (and money) because b) we will do due diligence anyway and if we find they have a dubious individual on their books we'll file a report for them and the individual for release to the Home Office and our sponsor network

This is a relatively new visa created by the UK Government (April 6th, 2012) that offers an alternative (not a replacement) to a CoS for acts appearing in the UK for less than one month.

As the PPE is a visa it is issued by the UKVI, not sponsors such as us

Our generous perception of this visa is that it was initially introduced by the Home Office as a counterbalance against third party sponsors who were (surprise, surprise) making a living out of the (often challenging) job of providing CoS for the entertainment sector thus saving promoters, record labels, producers, festivals etc from adding these challenges to their already challenging professions.

The attractions of a PPE are that it costs less than half the cost of a Creative visa, requires much less supporting documentation and is completely devoid of any checks and balances after the PPE is issued.

This might sound attractive but the caveat is that for non-visa nationals it will work out more expensive than a CoS (for groups certainly), does not have the guarantee of upfront legal entry to the UK provided by the CoS or the faster turnaround of CoS (PPE is 15 business days turnaround whereas sponsors will usually turnaround a CoS in 24 hours if sufficient information is provided by applicant).

The other caveat is that the PPE applicant has to demonstrate “maintenance” or sufficient funds to cover their travel and their stay in the UK, usually via at least three months of bank statement. Although the finite figure of what “maintenance” actually is has been removed from PPE guidance (it used to be £900) is probably an improvement this means that applicants now have no guarantee that the caseworker processing their visa will actually accept their proof of maintenance.

The end result of PPE is that almost no non-visa nationals use it (for reasons stated above) who are low risk anyway in regards to resident labour market impact (RLMT below) and so it’s visa national acts that tend to use PPE because of its relative low cost and, quite frankly, appallingly low policing.

As most third party sponsors are particularly picky about the visa national acts they sponsor (RLMT impact, absconding risk) it is, in our view, a complete own goal in UK Government Immigration policy.

Note: We acknowledge as third party sponsors that we have an interest to declare regarding the impact PPE might have on our services but our overall negative appraisal of the impact of PPE is atop a more than sufficient client base to support our company and added to the fact that we are VERY selective on the visa national acts we do sponsor too. As such we believe our assessment is impartial and accurate

We currently only book one event, The Lancaster Music Festival (UK). Applications to perform in the subsequent year are open November 1st from the website

Our entry stamp has a later end date than the work period we applied for. What does this mean?

Both the British Embassy and UK Passport control usually (not always) add two weeks to whatever the last date of your CoS was on their visa / entry stamp.

Both the British Embassy and UK Passport control usually (not always) add two weeks to whatever the last date of your CoS was on their visa/entry stamp. It used to be stated that this should be 14 days but that was dropped in 2015. Now it appears to be completely up to the discretion of the endorsement officer. Generally, however, most visas are stamped with a 14 day leave to remain date after the last date of work on the CoS

It means you face an automatic five year ban because the official who stamped/endorsed/issued your passport made a mistake. This is why it is SO important to check your entry stamps on arrival to the UK or your visa stamp before you travel to the UK. This is why we mention this twice in our agreement.

If you find yourself in this situation you should alert the officer or the visa issuing department IMMEDIATELY.

If you have failed to notice this error until you’re in the UK you need to visit your port of entry and contact a Border Force member of staff and alert them to the issue. You need to record and/or get in writing their response so that this error cannot cause you problems later

No.

A CoS passport endorsement (entry stamp in our passport ) cannot simply revert back to a visitor visa without a new stamp being entered into your passport. If you do not leave the UK before your CoS entry (or visa) stamp expires (or renew through a passport centre) you should automatically receive a 5 year ban from re-entering the UK

There was but as of 2012 there isn’t, or at least we can no longer locate it.

So, if you have overstayed the leave to remain dates on your passport the only reasonable way we can determine for removing an automatic five year UK re-entry ban (and bear in mind that UK ports are now far better at monitoring non-EEA passport exits) is to apply for another CoS, leave the UK (e.g. a day trip to Lille or Paris) and return through UK passport control.

Almost certainly, if you try and re-enter as a visitor you’ll be denied entry but proof of sponsorship (and a cringeworthy explanation from your sponsor in the CoS) should remove the block. And, yes, if you do this on our sponsorship we will charge you for this because it shouldn’t have happened in the first place

The (overworked) passport centre in Croydon (Lunar House) is the place to go for visa / CoS renewing in England. There is a paid premium service for appointments otherwise it is first come first served (so get there early). Address: Lunar House, 40 Wellesley Road, Croydon CR9 2BY. Office is open 8am to 4pm

You technically can but we will not endorse this. If you take on work out of the CoS period even if within the leave to remain date on your passport endorsement we will revoke sponsorship online and report the action to the UKVI

If you are from a country that has a visa agreement with the UK (i.e. you are a visa national) then you can enter as a visitor (it is worth pointing this out to the passport official on re entry to the UK to avoid confusion especially if your original work pemit was only single entry). Otherwise you may need to obtain a visitor visa from a UK passport office. If you will be passing through en route to another destination outside of the UK and will only be in the UK for up to 72 hours you should be exempt of any visa requirement under the 72 hour transit rule.

If we need to add any information (e.g. additional work in the period covered by your entry stamp / CoS) or correct information (for example spelling of names, address etc) we can do so by adding a sponsor note online to the CoS (once the CoS is issued we cannot edit it in any other way). A sponsor note is no good for work taken on after the CoS expires or for drastic corrections to passport information (e.g. if we've been given the wrong passport information we'll have to create another CoS)

For a CoS that's 'used' (i.e. has had a visa issued on it) we have to use the Migrant Activity facility to update your CoS (this includes change of circumstances as well as immigration offences such as overstaying or abscounding from work)

The points needed for a Tier 5 Sporting and Creative Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) are covered once you've been approved by a Grade A level sponsor and therefore can be processed quickly online (provided you're not a "non-visa national" - see below)

Yes, even if they are not being paid, all members of your travelling party if integral to the work you are doing in the UK must have their own CoS. This includes managers, directors, choreographers, dancers, hair stylists and engineers

If you earn more than £9940 in the calendar year you will have to pay 22% on the total and this should be deducted by your UK employer using form FEU50 from HMRC. As a non-UK resident you cannot pay the tax liability yourself

Technically, the UK Border Immigration Agency will require a CoS even for unpaid work however there are some exceptions for unpaid educational (e.g. giving a seminar), some charitable and cultural work (e.g. a free workshop). In these cases the organisers of the event should be resonsible for ensuring your entry requirements are met

We charge an extra 25% on our published fees for 72 hour turnaround, 50% for 48 hour turnaround and 100% for same day. See FEES for full breakdown of our fees.

No. You must be outside the UK to apply but you don't need to be in your home country. You could, for example, apply from any EU country other than the UK

Yes. But not under our sponsorship

If you require a visa to enter the UK, technically as soon as your visa has expired you are no longer legally in the country. However, for Tier 5 you can remain while your new visa is being processed if you are provided with a CoS before the visa expiration date. We do not support this however

A CoS is synonymous with a CoS. They're the same thing except calling it a Certificate of Sponsorship describes better what it is, i.e. an agreement between you, a UK licensed sponsor and Home Office

The certificate of sponsorship is an online document. All the sponsored individual needs is the CoS number (though we provide a screenshot of the certificate as well). This you show to Immigration on entry to the UK (or first to a British Embassy with your passport if you need a visa)

If you need a visa you should only need the CoS number but some British Consulates might require a letter too in which case you can use the confirmation letter we send along with your CoS number

No. However, we are always interested in teaming up with individuals or organisations in other countries who do what we do but in their countries. We're particularly eager to work something out with a USA agency as obtaining CoS in the USA is much harder than to do so in the UK yet there's opportunities galore for band exchanges between the US and UK if we can resolve that!

We report to Home Office any transgression on the part of the CoS holder during their stay (or over stay for example) and have the legal right to withdraw a CoS if we suspect a transgression has taken place

Also, as your sponsor, we do have a duty of care and will assist you in your stay with advice, contacts and if need be intervention on your behalf if you have been wronged in any way.

Any major expenses incurred on your behalf we will seek to recover. However, we're not so petty that we'd bill you for our time or for phone calls or letter writing. We do, after all, want your stay in the UK to be an enjoyable and rewarding one

In every case we’re aware of, when a Creative visa has been refused due to RLMT (see above) the decision has been reversed on Administrative Review. Because AR can take 6-8 weeks anyone applying for a visa needs to factor this into their application submission date.

The AR form is an online document (and it times out after 20 minutes so you need to have your facts ready when filling it out): AR Form

You will need your visa application information on hand and the reasons for applying for a refusal reversal which we will provide you IF YOU MADE THE VISA APPLICATION THREE MONTHS OR MORE BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF WORK ON THE COS WE ISSUED YOU. If you made the visa application later than two months there’s not much point in bothering with the AR unless you plan to rebook the show. We will then assist as best we can. We’re hoping this situation will improve in 2018 but that’s now in the hands of the UKVI Sponsor Policy Unit