What is the work visa sponsorship request form template?
Visa sponsorship requests tend to arrive as an email to a recruiter or a worried message to a manager, and HR then spends a week collecting the basics: what the person's status is now, when it runs out, what the role pays, whether a partner and children would come too. Every missing detail delays a decision that is often time-sensitive.
This template asks for all of it in one go. The requester says whether they're an employee, a candidate with an offer or a returning former employee, gives the role and work location, then describes their nationality, current right to work, visa type and expiry date, and any past refusal. They say what they need — a new sponsorship, an extension, a change of role, or support towards permanent residence — by when, and why the role needs it.
A dependants page captures family members who would apply too, and the last page records whether the manager supports the request, optional supporting documents and a signed declaration. Each request is saved as a PDF in your FileIt vault, ready to share with your immigration adviser.
- Best for
- HR, talent acquisition and global mobility teams
- Filled in by
- The employee or candidate who needs sponsorship
- Time to complete
- About 8 minutes
- Includes
- Status and expiry, request type, salary, dependants, manager support, document upload and signature
Who uses a work visa sponsorship request form?
- A graduate on a post-study visa asking to switch to a sponsored work visa
- A candidate abroad who has accepted an offer and needs a visa to start
- An employee whose sponsored visa expires next year asking for an extension
- A promoted employee whose new role needs the visa updated
- A long-serving sponsored employee asking for support towards permanent residence
- A recruiting team standardising how sponsorship questions reach HR
Questions on this work visa sponsorship request form
33 questions over 5 pages · includes signature, file upload, conditional questions, multiple pages, consent checkbox.
1 About you
- Your full name*
- Email*
- Phone
- Which describes you?* Current employee · Candidate with an offer · Former employee returning
- Employee ID asked only when it applies
- Date of your offer asked only when it applies
- Job title (current or offered)*
- Department or team*
- Hiring or line manager*
- Work location (city and country)*
2 Immigration status
- Nationality (all citizenships)*
- Country you currently live in*
- Your current right to work in the work location* No current right to work there · Temporary work visa with another sponsor · Student visa · Dependant or partner visa · Visa already sponsored by us — needs extending or changing
- Current visa or permit type asked only when it applies
- Current permission expires on* asked only when it applies
- Have you ever been refused a visa or permit for this country?*
- Please give brief details asked only when it applies
3 The request
- What are you asking for?* New sponsorship · Extension of existing sponsorship · Change of role or employer on the visa · Support towards permanent residence
- Date you need permission to work from*
- Planned start date in the role
- Contract type* Permanent · Fixed-term · Secondment
- Annual salary (current or offered)
- Why is sponsorship needed for this role?*
4 Dependants
- Will any family members apply as your dependants?*
- How many?* asked only when it applies
- Relationship and nationality of each asked only when it applies
- Are you asking the company to cover dependants' fees? asked only when it applies Yes · No · I'd like to discuss
5 Support & declaration
- Has your manager agreed to support this request?* Yes — they've agreed · Discussed but not confirmed · Not yet discussed
- Manager's email*
- Supporting documents (optional)
- Anything else HR should know?
- Declaration*
- Signature*
The work visa sponsorship request form, page by page
1 About you
The requester gives Your full name as it appears on their passport, Email and Phone, then picks Which describes you? Current employees add an Employee ID; candidates add the Date of your offer. Job title, Department or team, Hiring or line manager and Work location complete the page.
2 Immigration status
Nationality (all citizenships) and Country you currently live in come first. Your current right to work in the work location offers no current right, a temporary visa with another sponsor, a student visa, a dependant visa, or a visa already sponsored by you. Anything other than no current right asks for the visa type and a required expiry date. A yes to a previous refusal opens a short details box.
3 The request
What are you asking for? covers new sponsorship, an extension, a change of role or employer on the visa, and support towards permanent residence, with room for something else. The requester gives the date they need permission from, the planned start date, the contract type, the annual salary and a required explanation of why the role needs sponsorship.
4 Dependants
If family members would apply as dependants, the form asks how many, the relationship and nationality of each, and whether the requester is asking the company to cover dependants' fees.
5 Support & declaration
The requester says whether their manager has agreed to support the request and gives the manager's email so HR can confirm. They can upload documents such as a current visa or offer letter, add notes, and finish with a declaration that sponsorship isn't guaranteed and a signature.
Make the template yours
- Change the salary currency to the currency of the country you sponsor in
- Replace the request types with the specific visa routes your organisation is licensed for
- Add your immigration adviser's address to the notification emails so they see new requests straight away
- Add a question about who pays the fees if your policy differs by role or level
- Remove the dependants page if your organisation never supports dependant applications
- Route requests into a restricted HR vault folder, separate from general HR forms
Tips for a better work visa sponsorship request form
- Publish your sponsorship policy alongside the form so people know what to expect before they apply
- Ask about expiry dates early — sponsorship processes can take months, so a request should start well before permission runs out
- Have an immigration adviser check eligibility rather than relying on the form's answers alone
- Limit who can see these responses; they contain nationality and immigration details
- Reply to every request with a decision or a timeline, even if the answer is that the role can't be sponsored
- Keep the submitted PDF with the employee's file so later extensions start from the same facts
Every response becomes a PDF in your vault
Each request is saved as a PDF in the vault folder you choose, with any uploaded documents alongside it. With notifications on, HR is emailed straight away and the requester gets a copy of what they submitted.
HR can confirm support with the manager, pass the PDF to an immigration adviser and track open requests from the Responses table, or export them to a CSV for a mobility pipeline report.
- Start from this template. It opens in the FileIt Forms designer — change any question, add pages, set the rules for when questions appear.
- Share it. Turn on a public link, or send it to people by email, each with their own link. They don’t need a FileIt account.
- Get the answers as PDFs. Each response is saved as a PDF in the vault folder you choose, with uploaded files attached — and listed in a Responses table you can export to CSV.
Work visa sponsorship request form: frequently asked questions
Is this work visa sponsorship request template free?
Yes. It's included in the FileIt Forms app on every plan, including the free one, and every question can be edited.
Does submitting the form mean the company will sponsor the visa?
No. The declaration states that sponsorship isn't guaranteed. The form only collects the information HR needs to decide and, if it goes ahead, to brief an adviser.
Does FileIt check whether someone is eligible for a visa?
No. FileIt stores and organises the request. Eligibility depends on the destination country's rules and should be checked by HR or a qualified immigration adviser.
Can candidates who don't work for us yet fill it in?
Yes. Anyone with the link can submit it without a FileIt account, and the form asks candidates for the date of their offer instead of an employee ID.
Which countries does it work for?
The questions are written to be country-neutral. Change the salary currency and the request types to match the routes you use.
Can people upload their current visa?
Yes. There's an optional upload for up to five PDF or image files, such as a current visa, passport photo page or offer letter.
Who can see the answers?
Only people with access to the form's responses and the vault folder it files into, so you can keep these requests with a small HR team.