Why your immigration consultant can't fully verify your CoS

Immigration consultants can offer valuable advice on eligibility and paperwork, but they cannot independently confirm whether a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is genuinely allocated to you, still active, or has been withdrawn. That verification sits entirely with the Home Office.

Why consultants can't check the Sponsor Management System.

Only the sponsoring employer's authorised users can log into the Home Office's Sponsor Management System (SMS) to view and manage their CoS allocations. Consultants have no login credentials or API access to it. They can review the document you hand them for obvious inconsistencies, but they can't confirm the number is real, unused, or still tied to your name.

What a fraudulent CoS looks like.

The reference number may be entirely fabricated. It may be genuine but already withdrawn or reused after another applicant dropped out. Or the sponsor's own licence may have been suspended or revoked since the CoS was issued, which invalidates it regardless of how legitimate the document looks.

What you can actually check yourself.

Confirm the sponsor's current licence status on the UKVI Register — remember, this only confirms they were licensed as of the register's last publication, not their status right now. Cross-check every personal and job detail against your passport and offer letter. Contact the employer directly through a phone number you find independently, not one given to you by a recruiter or agent, and ask them to confirm the CoS was actually assigned to you.

A legitimate sponsor will be able to confirm your CoS assignment directly. If HR has no record of you, that is the clearest signal something is wrong.