In the UK on a visa? How to get sponsored in Europe from where you are

You are in the UK. Your visa has a date on it. Maybe the Graduate visa is running out, maybe your care employer lost its licence, maybe the Skilled Worker salary bar moved past what your job pays. You have been told the answer is to go home and start again. It is not.

Three countries next door will let an employer sponsor you while you are still sitting in Manchester or Leicester or Cardiff. You interview online. The employer files the permit application. You travel when it is granted. This guide is how that actually works, country by country, with the real numbers.

The one thing that is different from the UK

In the UK you are used to the idea of a sponsor licence: a company either holds one or it does not. Europe does not work like that everywhere, and knowing the difference saves you months.

The Netherlands is the closest to the UK: the IND keeps a public register of recognised sponsors, and only a recognised sponsor can bring you in as a highly skilled migrant. Ireland has no register at all; any employer can apply for a permit for you, and the government publishes which ones actually did. Denmark lets any employer sponsor you through the Pay Limit scheme, and keeps a separate list of companies certified for a faster route.

So when this site says a company is listed, it means three different things in three countries, and every page says which. Do not let anyone sell you a Dutch sponsor licence for an Irish job.

You do not need to leave the UK to apply

All three countries accept applications for a first work permit from a person who is abroad, and the UK counts as abroad. The employer submits the application in its own country. You supply your passport, your degree or experience proof, sometimes a criminal record certificate, and in the Netherlands a signed declaration. The decision comes back to the employer.

When the permit is granted you collect the entry visa or residence sticker at that country's embassy or consulate in London (or Manchester or Edinburgh, depending on the country), and you fly. You do not go home first. If your UK visa runs out before the decision, that is a UK immigration question and you should get proper advice, but the European application itself does not care where you are waiting.

Netherlands: fast, clear, high salary bar

The highly skilled migrant permit is the workhorse. A recognised sponsor applies, the IND aims to decide within two weeks, and the salary bar for 2026 is €5,942 gross a month if you are 30 or over, €4,357 if you are under 30. Those are the IND's own figures, excluding the 8% holiday allowance, and they change every 1 January.

If you finished a degree in the last three years, anywhere, and you would have qualified for the Dutch orientation year, the reduced criterion of €3,122 a month may apply to you. That is the door most graduates do not know exists. Ask the employer to check it with the IND before they quote you the full figure.

Ireland: lowest bar, English speaking, no register

Ireland issues permits by the tens of thousands, and the 2026 minimums are the lowest of the three: €36,605 a year for a General Employment Permit, €32,691 for healthcare assistants and home support workers, €40,904 for a Critical Skills permit in an occupation on the critical skills list. Nurses, doctors, engineers, software developers and many trades are on that list.

There is no sponsor register. The employer applies to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, usually after advertising the job for the Labour Market Needs Test (not needed for critical skills jobs). The company list on this site is the government's own list of who was actually issued permits this year and last: better evidence than a licence, because they have done it.

For care workers leaving the UK route, Ireland is the honest first place to look. The healthcare assistant permit exists, the minimum is published, and Irish care employers are on the list in their hundreds.

Denmark: highest pay, highest bar, fastest for certified firms

The Pay Limit scheme needs a job paying at least DKK 552,000 a year in 2026, roughly €74,000. That is the whole test: no shortage list, no labour market test, any employer. Processing is about a month according to SIRI. A supplementary scheme at DKK 446,000 exists with extra conditions on how the job was advertised.

Companies certified for the Fast-track scheme can do it quicker and with more flexibility, and that is the list this site reads. If your job is on the Danish Positive Lists there is no pay limit at all, but that route is not something we check yet, so a job under the limit shows as pay too low here even if the positive list would take it. Read the SIRI page before you rule anything out.

What to do this week

• Pick one country first. Applying to three at once looks like desperation to an employer and you will not do any of them well.
• Check the salary bar for your age and job against what the job actually pays. Every job on this site has already been checked, so start there.
• Get your degree certificate and transcript ready as PDFs. The Netherlands will want a Nuffic credential evaluation for some roles; Ireland may want a recognition letter for regulated professions.
• Write one CV for Europe: two pages, dated, no photo needed in Ireland, photo common in the Netherlands and Denmark. Our CV guide has the details.
• Apply to listed companies only. A company that is not on its country's list can still sponsor you in Ireland and Denmark, but a listed one has done it before, and that is who answers emails from foreign candidates.
• Never pay anyone. The employer applies and pays the government fee in all three countries. A fee for a job offer is a scam, every time.