This post was most recently updated on August 19th, 2018
What is a Sponsorship Invitation Letter for UK Visa?
A Sponsorship letter for UK visa is very similar to an invitation letter for UK visa. The main difference between them is that the sponsorship letter contains a declaration that the host will be handling some or all of the expenses of the guest.When writing an invitation for your guest you are free to include in the letter that you will be responsible for the travel costs as well as the accommodation costs of your guest(s). With a sponsorship letter for visa, you will need to show proof that you can actually handle these costs.
A simple invitation letter on the other hand does not need to contain any declaration of support. All you need to include in an invitation letter is that you want your guest to visit you, 
as well as details about yourself and the guest. The Visa Officer will not appraise your guests application for visa based on your income. The application for visa to enter the UK would be appraised based on the income of your guest.
Should the visa officer believe that you do not have adequate funds to sponsor your guest, the application will be denied or more documents will be requested. In many cases, what we have is a sponsorship/invitation letter for UK Visa.
A sponsorship/invitation letter contains both the invitation and the declaration of sponsorship. The declaration of sponsorship does not have to be full. For full sponsorship it is advisable that you fill out and sign a formal Declaration of sponsorship which can be obtained from the UK visa application website.
Sample Sponsorship Letter for Uk Visa
This letter is written by a UK citizen to invite his Mum to visit him in Manchester. His mum is retired and living on a modest pension in Kenya. He and his wife will be sponsoring his mother’s entire trip to the UK. This letter will be sent to his mother in Kenya along with COPIES of all the necessary documents. His mum will then attach them to her application to the British Embassy in Kenya.
Before you start writing your letter
If you do not have Grammarly - A grammar checker that I use every day for all my writing, please get it free from here Now. Grammarly. You can read my full story on how I discovered Grammarly here.To
The Visa Officer
British Deputy High Commission
Nairobi
Kenya
Standard Visitor Visa application for – Mrs. Grace Kikuyu, Passport No: 1237777
Dear Sir /Madam,
I Andrew Kikuyu am pleased to provide this letter of invitation for my mother Mrs. Grace Kikuyu who resides at 34 Mango Road, Nairobi, Kenya. She intends to visit us for holidays for 6 weeks from October 1st, 2018 until 15th of October, 2018. Mrs. Grace is a retired teacher and widow of my dad Mr. Thomas Kikuyu.
I am the Network Administrator at MicroMana, an IT company based in Manchester, UK. Please find enclosed herewith my payslips and bank statements in which my salary is deposited.
My wife an I own a 4 bedroom bungalow at 234 Swan Street, Manchester, which is of sufficient size to accommodate my mother during her stay in the UK. Enclosed is a copy of our Title deed for the house and copy of our Council tax bill and utility bill.
I will be responsible for my mum’s travel costs, maintenance, accommodation and care and shall ensure that during her stay in the UK, she does not have recourse to any public funds.
Should you require any further information, please contact me on +44-123-12345 or e-mail andrewkikuyu@microblast.com
Sincerely,
Andrew Kikuyu
ENCLOSURES:
• Copy of British Passport
• Copy of 6 month Salary statements
• Copy of 6 month bank statements
• Copy of Title deeds for our house
• Copy of Council tax bill for our house
Is a Sponsorship Letter for UK Visa Required?
Although an invitation letter is not required for the application for a Uk Standard Visitor Visa, it is advisable that you get one. It acts as one of the supporting documents for the visa application.
It is important however to note also that there are more important and required documents and information that the guest must provide. Click here to see a list of other required documents.
A sponsorship Letter, however, is required because it is the document that shows how the guest plans to pay for the trip to the UK.
If you are sponsoring your guest financially to the UK, you must provide this document as well as the signed Declaration of Sponsorship form. Otherwise, you could just fill the form and attach it to a regular invitation letter.
hi i want to ask that my aunt send me a sponsor letter and its having a 1 letter mistake in my surname ..i do have previously 4 visas of uk . So should i have a new sponsor or is allowed to use this sponsor for application.
Thank you
If you can get another letter it will be good! With your history though, you shouldn’t have a problem with a typo.
My friend is a British citizen living in uk and he wants me to come and visited her for just in month and she is sponsorin my whole trip to UK. Am a immigrant living in Germany what are the documents that I needed from her?
Just an invitation letter and proof of funds!
Hello, I’m Daniel
I am a university student from Ghana. I am making a presentation at a conference in the UK. The organisers have sent me an invitation letter. My brother who lives in Ghana is sponsoring me. Please may I know the content of his sponsorship letter. Also, is there any other documents I might need from both sides?
Hi Daniel,
Your brother in Ghana can write a simple letter that he is your sponsor. More importantly, he should present financial statements and documents to show that he is capable of sponsoring you.
Hi.
I just want to ask about the council tax bill. My fiancee is renting a house and doesn’t have council tax bill. Is it necessary to include the council tax bill as part of proof of accommodation?
Please help on this matter. Thanks.
You can skip it.
Hello!My boyfrind from Turkey Wants to live with me in uk .what must make
Hi Nicolle,
for your boyfriend to live with you, he has to immigrate to uk. Right now has he ever visited you in the uk?
Hello! I am an Indian Citizen living and working in the united states for the past few years – I am planning to go to the UK as a tourist for 9 days and I am planning to stay at a friend’s place in London. She is also an Indian Citizen living and working in UK on a UK work permit. In addition to the Invitation letter from her, what all documents of my friend should I provide? Please let me know. Thanks!
You don’t need much other than the invitation letter and proof of your friend’s immigration status in uk.
can search for job while on visit visa in uk?
Hi Caroline, you can search for jobs but you can’t work legally. So no need to search.
Hi Sir, Im student in the UK and i want to invite my friend he is from Saudia Arabia to visit me for two weeks and i will sponsor him, may i know if i can as student to invite him ? What kind of documents do they need ? Can i apply for him or he should apply for him self and i send him letter so he can attached it with his appliacation?
Thanks in Advance and your quick reapond will be highly appreciated.
Regards,
Omar
Hi Omar,
Your friend needs to apply by himself and you will need to send him an invitation letter
Hi there,
My friend is working on a tier 2 work VISA in Scotland. I am a PhD student in India currently holding no fellowship and I am going to London as well as Scotland for a conference there and visiting my friend’s institute. Is my friend is eligible to provide me a sponsorship letter? Please help!
But must i send invitation in Turkey for visa, or no because I don’t know what must make.thanks
I don’t understand your question Nicolle
Hi,
I’m inviting my aunt over and will bear the cost of her trip and stay in the UK.
Do I need to separate invitation letter and sponsorship letter or can they be one letter instead?
Secondly, on the sponsorship undertaking form (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/262493/sponsorship-form_12.pdf ). What do I do about the page 2 that is for official use only?
Hello,
I am a british citizen living in the philippines and me and my family are planning on going to the uk this christmas for 2 weeks to visit my aunty and my grandma, i have three kids and they are all british citizens, however my unmarried partner (the father of my kids) is a filipino citizen.
Could i make a sponsorship and invitation letter for him? I dont have a uk address and we would just be staying in hotels for our visit
Hi Emily,
Wow, this is a peculiar situation. I do not think you will need to write an invitation letter. You may just need to write a letter stating that you are visiting the uk and show proof that you will return with your partner after the Christmas holidays. He will then apply for a visit visa with your statement.
The goal really is for you to show that your partner will return to the Philippines after your trip.
I hope this helps and I wish you the best.
Thank you for your help
hello I am British citizen I live with my husband I am house wife and my husband working we have our own house flat and we are expecting our second child can u help me about the invitation letter shall I write it or its is better if my husband do that and shall I mention that needs my mother with me when have my baby or just make it normal invitation letter to visit us in uk !!,,plus my sister and brother coming with her?
Hi Aveen,
You can write the letter. Your financial status is not usually a problem when inviting a visitor. What is important is that your mom is able to show that she would return to her country of residence of the visit. You really don’t need to say you need her at the time of delivery. You can state in the invitation letter that your child would be happy to want to see their grandma.
As per your brother and sister, if they are 18yrs and up, it is more difficult.
Hello !
I am Indonesian citizen , and my boyfriend is from french but study at Hull university in UK , we live together here in Bali for like a year during his internship, and he will come back to UK next year , he really want to take me with him to UK and sponsor me during my stay , i will probably staying for like 3-4 months and move to france after ,
do i need invitation letter ? bcs my boyfriend and i will go together from Bali to UK .
and do i need to attach my bank references too ?
Thankyou !
Yes Fiana,
You still need an invitation letter (or a statement from your boyfriend that you are traveling together – he would attach his documents.) Yes you will need bank statements.
Thank you for your post, but I wanted to ask if this sponsorship letter has any fees, bcz some agency told my husband who is British tht he’ll need 1500 GBP to do this letter, please guide us
Hi Soumaya,
I have never heard of a need to pay for sponsorship letter
Hello,
I am planning for my boyfriend to visit over the Christmas period from Tanzania. I have just started my teaching career and I’m renting from a family member. I visit every 6 weeks or every school holiday however I would like him to visit. I will be contributing to some of the costs for his visit.
I am planning to write a sponsorship/ invitation letter, however will the fact I live with a family member cause any problems? What other supporting documents would you recommend?
Kind regards,
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
Your living with a family member will not cause a problem. The key is in his showing that he would return to Tanzania after the visit.
Hello
I’m a third year university in Ghana and I’m from Ghana too. A British citizen friend of mine wants to invite me over for 4 weeks. How much does he need in his bank account to warrant my visa. Enough amount
Hi Rosemary,
It is not really his account that matters. It is the fact that you will not abandon your schooling. So apart from the invitation letter, you will need to show very good grades if you have them and just hope you meet a kind visa officer.
My fiancée wants me to come in UK and stay in his house and cover my expenses. Shall he needs to submit Letter of Invitation and Sponsorship Undertaking? As a guest/visitor in UK, Can I stay maximum 5 years or required maximum 6 months stay only in UK? If 6 months stay in UK, shall my sponsor submit 6 months bank statements too? How about if staying 5 years in UK with my fiancée, what are the requirements to submit?
hi please my problem is my school results is not good enough so will they refuses me a visa
Hi,
I (on Tier2 ICT visa in UK) am inviting my mother-in-law (house wife) and brother-in-law (unmarried and preparing to join Master course in India) to visit us in the UK. I am fully sponsoring their visit. My queries are-
1. Do I need to sign the declaration of sponsorship (SU07)?
2. If yes, should I send the original copy or scan copy to them?
3. Do I need to write separate declaration of sponsorship to each of them or one would work?
4. My brother-in-law is showing his entrance exams hall tickets/schedule to prove that he will be pursuing his higher studies in India, would there still be any difficulty in obtaining visitor visa?