New guide explains MFA login for visa sponsors
03 Sep 2026
Your employer's access to the Sponsorship Management System (SMS) is what keeps certificates of sponsorship and other visa paperwork moving, so a change to how they log in can matter to you even if you never touch the system yourself. GOV.UK published a new guide on 28 August 2026, "Multi-factor authentication for UK visa sponsors (SMS): manual 13", and added an accessible HTML version on 1 September 2026.
The guide explains what multi-factor authentication is, how it works, and why it's used, then walks sponsors through logging into the SMS with MFA step by step. It's aimed at the staff at your employer who manage sponsorship, not at visa holders directly.
There's no action for you to take. If you're a sponsored worker, the practical effect is that your employer's SMS access should be more secure, which helps protect the sponsorship record tied to your visa.
Sources: