A private UK family or household cannot normally obtain or use a standard Worker or Temporary Worker sponsor licence simply to sponsor a nanny for personal household employment. Current Home Office sponsor guidance says individual persons are not eligible sponsors unless acting as sole traders for their business, and a licence will not be granted for workers sponsored in a personal capacity.
The main household-specific immigration route people often confuse with sponsorship is the Overseas Domestic Worker visa. It is a narrow route for an existing domestic worker accompanying an eligible overseas employer to the UK for a temporary stay; it is not a general route for a UK family to recruit a new nanny from abroad.
The Home Office’s current Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor guidance states that individual persons are not eligible to be recognised as sponsors unless they are sole traders sponsoring someone to work in their business. It also says the Home Office will not grant a licence where an individual person or household intends to employ a worker in a personal capacity and is not otherwise conducting a UK business or service.
That means a family cannot normally solve a nanny recruitment problem by applying for a Skilled Worker or other standard Worker/Temporary Worker sponsor licence in the household’s own name.
Source: Home Office sponsor guidance, Part 1.
The sponsor guidance contains a specialist exception for private servants in a diplomatic household. It applies where the sponsor is a diplomatic mission, consular post or recognised international organisation and the other International Agreement-route requirements are met.
This exception should not be presented as an option for an ordinary private household.
Potentially, yes, if the individual’s existing immigration status permits the work being offered and the household completes the correct right-to-work check before employment begins. The family should not infer work permission from nationality, passport appearance, accent or how long the person says they have lived in the UK.
Use the current GOV.UK right-to-work process and our right-to-work guide for nanny employers.
The Overseas Domestic Worker route is for a domestic worker who lives outside the UK and comes to the UK with their existing employer. GOV.UK expressly includes nannies among the domestic workers who can use the route.
Current rules require the worker to have been employed as a domestic worker and living with the employer, or in a property the employer regularly uses as a home, for at least 12 months immediately before the application. The employment must be ongoing, the UK terms must be agreed in writing, and the employer must genuinely intend to pay at least the National Minimum Wage.
The employer must be an eligible overseas-based British or foreign employer coming to the UK for a temporary visit within the route’s conditions.
Sources: GOV.UK Overseas Domestic Worker visa and Immigration Rules Appendix Overseas Domestic Worker.
The current Overseas Domestic Worker route grants entry clearance for a maximum of 6 months. GOV.UK says the worker must return home at the end of the six months and cannot extend an Overseas Domestic Worker visa under this route.
The Immigration Rules permit a person on the route to change to another domestic-work employer during the validity of the permission, but doing so does not extend the six-month maximum stay.
Older Domestic Worker in a Private Household rules can apply to a distinct legacy group who entered under the pre-6 April 2012 rules. That is not a modern recruitment route for a new nanny.
| Situation | What the current rules mean |
|---|---|
| UK household wants to recruit a new nanny overseas and sponsor them personally | A private individual/household cannot normally use the standard Worker or Temporary Worker sponsor system in a personal capacity. |
| Overseas employer is visiting the UK with a nanny already employed for at least 12 months | The Overseas Domestic Worker route may be relevant if all eligibility conditions are met; the maximum stay is 6 months. |
| Candidate is already in the UK with valid permission to take the offered work | The household may be able to employ them after completing the correct right-to-work check and observing any conditions on their permission. |
| Diplomatic mission needs a private servant | A specialist International Agreement sponsorship exception may apply; this is not the ordinary household route. |
| Worker entered as a Domestic Worker in a Private Household under rules before 6 April 2012 | Separate legacy provisions may apply and require individual advice. |
For the wider employer process, see our UK nanny employment legal guide.
This page is general information, not immigration advice. Immigration routes and individual status are fact-specific and can change. A family considering sponsorship, an Overseas Domestic Worker arrangement, a legacy domestic-worker route or any unusual status should obtain advice from a suitably qualified UK immigration professional before relying on the page for a hiring decision.
Define the children, duties, hours and working arrangement first, then complete the correct employer checks before the role starts.