The sponsor licence is typically valid for 4 years following approval of the sponsor licence application. The Home Office stipulates a number of duties and responsibilities that sponsoring organisations must comply.

Failure to comply with the requirements may result in the suspension or revocation of the Sponsor License, and it could require the employment of sponsored workers must cease.

The Sponsor Guidance is frequently amended and updated, and the Sponsor must regularly review the guidance in order to ensure the organisation is up to date with compliance and make any required changes in regard to the Sponsorship of workers are made.

Failure to pay attention to sponsor duties may result in the suspension of the license upon investigation.

What are sponsor duties?

The general aim of the sponsor duties is to ensure that those benefiting from the sponsor licence i.e. sponsors play their part in:

• preventing abuse of sponsor assessment procedures;
• capturing patterns of migrant behaviour that cause concern; and
• monitoring migrant workers’ compliance with the Immigration Rules

In order to meet the aim set out above, sponsors are required to comply with a number of specific duties and these include:

• notifying UKVI if there are any relevant changes to the sponsoring entity (for example, change of ownership/shareholding/acquisition, change of address, different key personnel, changes in the size of the sponsor (from a small to a large company, etc.);
• monitoring the attendance/absences of sponsored workers;
• reporting any changes to the sponsored worker’s employment;
• carrying out right-to-work checks;
• retaining documents as set out in Appendix D of the Sponsor Guidance;
• complying with the law; and
• cooperating with the Home Office

How to comply with Sponsor Licence Duties

How you meet these duties will depend on the size of the organisation and how the organisation use the sponsor licence; the more sponsored workers the organisation employs, the more the sponsor will need to do.

Record-keeping

A large part of sponsor licence duties involves maintaining accurate records for each sponsored worker. For all visa types, a licence holder must maintain up-to-date documentary evidence of sponsored workers such as the photocopy or electronic copy of ID, BRP or HMRC document, employment contract, and a record of the workers' absence.

Sponsored worker monitoring & reporting 

Beyond keeping records, there is a positive duty on sponsor licence holders to report to the Home Office using the SMS Portal within 10 working days if any changes of sponsored workers including changes of employment, long absence without notice or resignation.

Organisations are also expected to monitor the immigration status of their employees and report any changes, and notify the Home Office of any suspicions and evidence that an individual is breaking the conditions of their stay in the UK.

Reporting organisational changes

The Home Office places duties on these organisations to inform of certain organisational and employee changes to ensure their records are kept up to date, and that immigration enforcement is upheld.

Where there has been any change to the size or address of the organisation, takeover, acquisitions or mergers of the company, or if any change impacts its status, this must be reported. 

Complying with Immigration Rules & UK law

Sponsor Licence holders have the responsibilities to refrain from conduct that is detrimental to the public interest. Only people who are qualified, registered, or experienced for the role in question should be employed by sponsors.

To prevent illegal working the sponsor holder should retain records proving that the employees are qualified for the position and keep track of each employee’s immigration status

Who is responsible to comply with Sponsor duties?

A further requirement for sponsors is to appoint certain key personnel, such as authorising officer or key contact who will have responsibility for administering your sponsor licence and ensuring the organisation is complying with its duties.

These roles can be assigned to a single person or multiple people, and in some cases, external advisers can be appointed. In practice, for smaller companies with a small number of sponsored workers, it is usually the HR manager who will assume all of the key personnel roles. Larger employers with many sponsored workers will generally assign different roles to different members of the HR team.

When do Sponsor Licence duties start?

The obligation to comply with the obligations as a licenced sponsor commences on the date the licence is issued and continues until it is revoked, deemed inactive, or terminated.

As soon as the sponsor assign Certificate of Sponsorship, the responsibility to each sponsored employee starts and it ends when a worker’s visa will end or the worker will no longer work for the sponsor.

Preparation for Compliance Visit

If the Home Office has any concerns that a sponsor is not capable of or is not complying with its duties, it may visit the sponsor at any time in order to carry out a compliance visit.

During a compliance visit, not only will the Home Office seek to determine that a sponsor is carrying out its duties but will also look into whether the employment that any sponsored worker is carrying out is genuine, whether those that run the organisation are honest and dependable and if the organisation is operating lawfully in the UK.

Breaching Sponsor Duties

The Home Office can undertake checks to verify that an organisation has sufficient HR systems in place to ensure compliance, either before granting or renewing a sponsorship licence or at any point during the four-year licence validity period. Site inspections can also be held at short notice and all sponsor licence holders are expected to comply with their duties at all times.

Where the Home Office alleges a failure to comply with sponsor licence duties, this can result in a downgrade in the organisation’s licence rating, or suspension or revocation of the licence, putting the jobs and immigration status of existing migrant workers at risk.

Failure to comply with the sponsor licence duties and responsibilities may result in enforcement action by the Home Office, such as suspension or revocation of the licence, and may affect the visas of your sponsored workers.

A neglected licence may cause problems during renewal or if the Home Office unexpectedly visits your business. By staying on top of the sponsor's duties, the sponsor holder can prevent issues, scrutiny, and revocation.

For expert advice and assistance with ongoing compliance support and guidance, contact us at 0203 865 6219.