An organisation that wishes to employ an individual, who is not a British National, does not have ILR, or is not an EU national will require a sponsor licence to sponsor the individual in order to work with them in the UK. Such sponsorship can be gained under Tier 2 or Tier 5 routes.
However, there are various responsibilities attached to the sponsor licence and if an organization fails to meet them, they will have to face sponsor license suspension and then revocation.
How to avoid sponsor license revocation?
As an organization when you are applying for a
UK sponsorship licence or you already have it, you need to have an appropriate HR system in place in your organization.
Home Office may visit your organization before or after issuing a sponsor license. Irrespective of their time of visit, you must be fully compliant with Home Office requirements and should be able to provide records when requested. Here are the basic activities you must do in order to avoid sponsor license revocation.
- Offer genuine employment to foreign workers.
- Record specific information of each sponsored employee such as a copy of their biometric residence permit, natural insurance number, their updated contact details, the record of worker's absence from the job etc.
- When the Home Office asks for any information, provide them with the correct information and in the appropriate format.
- Maintaining the worker's rights and clear evidence of duties being carried out by the employees.
- Keeping track of payment to the employees.
What does the Home Office check on a visit?
Home Office personnel can visit your office anytime before and/or after issuance of sponsor license. They can also choose to ask for information through post or phone. They will check the following:
- Is your organization complying with the duties set out by the Home Office?
- Are you keeping records of foreign employees and are the records in the correct format?
- How did you conduct the resident labor market test?
- Were there genuine vacancies you filled with foreign workers?
- Are you maintaining your obligation to the right of your workers and if yes how?
What if there are discrepancies found by the Home Office?
If the Home Office finds any sort of discrepancies then you will have to face the consequences of it. If they find that there is a small transgression, they will cooperate with you to solve the issue. However, if they find that you have made serious and intentional deception or conduct of breach your sponsor license will be suspended or revoked. As a consequence of this, you may face the followings:
Your sponsor license may be suspended and you will be given time to provide written representations and evidence. If your license is suspended, foreign employees in your organisation can continue working but you cannot assign a certificate of sponsorship to new workers. But if your license is revoked the visas of existing foreign workers will be curtailed to a 60 days period.
What to do after sponsor licence revocation?
If your sponsor license is revoked you have no right to make an appeal against it. The only option for you is to challenge the decision via Judicial Review. In the alternative, your organisation can apply for a new sponsor licence application after 12 months of cooling off period.
Impact on sponsored employees
For employees who are found complicit in the acts because of which revocation took place, their visas will be curtailed reducing the time limit of their stay in the UK to 60 days to look for a new sponsor or apply for a stay in another category.
How Visa & Migration can help?
Visa & Migration Ltd helps you make a sponsor's application in the proper format. We also help you in meeting all the duties laid out by the Home Office for sponsors. We can help you in the auditing process and advise you on making changes to the requirements complaint with the Home Office requirements. Additionally, Visa and Migration can also assist you in providing representations against your sponsor licence suspension.
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