In the UK immigration system, a sponsor licence is a crucial prerequisite for employing overseas talent, and a sponsor is regarded as a partner in enforcing immigration rules, rather than simply an employer. Sponsor duties therefore function as a key safeguard for lawful immigration control, and the prevention of illegal working and labour exploitation, and breaches can result in suspension or revocation of the licence and the loss of sponsor status.
What are sponsor duties, and why do they matter?
Core sponsor duties are broadly divided into monitoring and reporting, record‑keeping, compliance with genuine vacancy and salary requirements, and compliance with the law and cooperation duties. Sponsors must monitor the attendance and working patterns of sponsored workers, report certain events such as absence, early termination, or changes to role or salary via SMS within set deadlines, and maintain required documents, including passports, visa evidence, contracts, addresses, and absence records in an organised manner.
The role must be a genuine vacancy, meet the appropriate skill level and occupational code, and the salary must meet both the minimum thresholds in the Immigration Rules and the terms stated on the CoS. Sponsors must also comply with UK employment law, including the national minimum wage and working time rules, and cooperate fully with UKVI visits and audits, which may take place without prior notice.
Sponsor duties apply from the date the licence is granted until it is voluntarily surrendered, expires, or is revoked. This means the duties remain in force throughout the licence period, even where there are no sponsored workers, and organisational changes such as restructuring, change of address or changes in key personnel must still be reported.
At the individual worker level, duties apply from the point sponsorship starts until it ends or the worker moves to a different sponsor, and where there are changes to the worker’s role, work location, hours or salary, the sponsor must update internal HR systems and, where required, report the changes to UKVI. These principles apply across the sponsorship system, including to the Skilled Worker (work visa) route.
Why are suspensions and revocations increasing?
In recent years, UKVI has significantly increased compliance activity in relation to sponsor licence management, particularly in so‑called “high‑risk” sectors such as care, hospitality and agriculture, where on‑site visits and document checks are becoming more frequent. As policy focus on issues such as genuine vacancies, salary under‑payment, unlawful recouping of sponsorship costs and exploitative conditions has intensified, even relatively minor breaches can now more easily lead to downgrades, suspension and ultimately revocation.
Rules relating to the Skilled Worker (work visa) route, salary thresholds and who may bear sponsorship costs change regularly, and sponsors who fail to track or implement updates may inadvertently fall into breach. The sharp increase in the number of organisations holding sponsor licences has also widened the pool of entities subject to audit, contributing to a rise in the absolute number of suspensions and revocations.
What happens if your licence is suspended or revoked?
Suspension means the sponsor is temporarily prevented from assigning new CoS or recruiting new sponsored workers while UKVI investigates whether duties have been breached and whether they can be rectified. Typically, the sponsor must respond within the timeframe specified in the suspension notice, providing representations and evidence of remedial steps, and the quality of that response influences whether the licence is reinstated, downgraded or revoked.
Revocation has far more serious consequences. Sponsored workers’ leave is usually curtailed (for example to 60 days), and if they cannot secure a new sponsor within that period they may be required to leave the UK, while the business loses sponsor status, may appear on public lists, faces reputational harm, future application restrictions, and civil penalties for illegal working, with the possibility of criminal investigation in serious cases.
What common failures lead to revocation?
One of the most common issues relates to the genuineness of the role, for example, where the actual duties performed do not match the job description or SOC code on the CoS, or where the work is at a lower skill level than required. Using sponsorship primarily as a means of obtaining a visa, rather than to fill a genuine business need, can also be treated as a non‑genuine vacancy and justify revocation.
In relation to pay and conditions, paying less than required under the rules or stated on the CoS, manipulating hours simply to meet salary thresholds, or passing sponsorship costs on to the worker are regarded as serious breaches. Other key triggers include breaches of minimum wage or working‑time rules, poor or missing records (such as contracts, attendance records, address and qualification evidence), failures or delays in mandatory reporting, providing false or misleading information, failing to cooperate with audits, and key personnel having relevant immigration or criminal histories.
How can sponsors protect their licence and stay compliant?
To protect a sponsor licence, it is crucial to focus on prevention through a robust compliance framework rather than relying on explanations after problems arise. Sponsors should implement standardised HR processes for right to work checks on recruitment, regular monitoring of visa expiry dates, contract and job description management, absence recording and reporting of personnel changes, and maintain all relevant documents in a central, auditable system.
Key personnel such as the Authorising Officer, Key Contact and Level 1 Users should receive regular training, and sponsor guidance and immigration rule changes should be reviewed frequently so that internal policies and systems can be updated promptly. Internal or external mock audits are useful to identify weaknesses in documentation and processes, and any issues found should be addressed with documented remedial actions and timelines to demonstrate seriousness and accountability during any UKVI visit.
An early‑notification culture around change and risk is also essential. Where changes occur to a worker’s role, salary, work location or hours, or to corporate structure and ownership, these should be reported quickly to the HR or sponsorship team and, where required, to UKVI within the relevant deadlines. Even where a breach has already occurred, proactively reporting the issue, explaining the cause and setting out measures to prevent recurrence is generally viewed more favourably than waiting for UKVI to uncover it.
With revocations at record highs, sponsors should assume UKVI scrutiny may occur at any time, particularly in the ‘high‑risk’ sectors mentioned above and take steps now to ensure compliance. Even if a licence is already in place, sponsors should undertake an internal review to identify any areas that may fall below current standards and bring policies and practices into line with recent rule and guidance changes.
For expert advice and practical assistance in relation to sponsor licence compliance, please contact us on 020 3865 6219 or leave a message.