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Following a recent freedom of information request, it has been confirmed to us that the well-established procedure of UKVI issuing a notice/letter when a sponsored worker’s employment ends may be nearly a thing of the past.
What is a curtailment notice and how does it work?
UKVI has the power to cancel a visa holder’s permission. Procedurally this is done by issuing a notice of curtailment/cancellation.
The most common situation when UKVI terminates someone’s immigration permission is when they no longer meets the requirements for their immigration category, for example, by virtue of their sponsored employment having ended. Curtailment notices usually shorten a visa holder’s permission to 60 days validity, assuming they still hold permission valid for at least 60 days. Further complications ensue with permission ending immediately if a curtailment notice is issued when the visa holder is outside the UK/Common Travel Area, or should they seek to travel once the curtailment notice has been issued and before the end of the 60-day period.
In the current economic climate, unfortunately many sponsored workers are facing issues with having to change roles or potential redundancy.
For sponsored workers, following the end of their sponsored work, issues about when they might receive a curtailment notice is a source of uncertainty and worry: by issuing a notice, UKVI pulls the rug from under their feet and sets a clock ticking during which time the sponsored worker would need to find a new sponsor or move into another immigration category.
For sponsored workers, the end of their roles are reported to UKVI via the Sponsor Management System. Such reports should be made within 10 working days of the end of the worker’s role. It is then for UKVI to action the report and issue a curtailment notice. The system is reliant on the sponsor complying with its sponsor duties to report the end of a worker’s role and then for the notice to be delivered to the correct postal or email address, with added issues around when service is ‘deemed’ to have taken place and the date from when the 60-days starts further complicating the matter.
Is UKVI still issuing curtailment notices?
During the pandemic, UKVI appeared to mercifully take a pause on issuing curtailment notices. But even following the lifting of restrictions there does not appear to have been a rush from UKVI back to handing out notices. Indeed, following our freedom of information request, UKVI confirmed that it has only issued curtailment notices to 8 Skilled Worker/Tier 2 (General) visa holders over the last 12 months as of 21 March 2023 – clearly terminating sponsored workers’ permission is not high on UKVI’s priorities. The outcome is that sponsored workers may find that they have many months of permission before their status might potentially be cancelled.
Whether the end of a role has been reported or not, it appears at present that the likelihood of a sponsored worker receiving a curtailment notice is very low; nevertheless, it is prudent to seek to obtain fresh status as promptly as possible to avoid a nasty surprise. Our blog on what happens when a sponsored worker’s employment ends has some more details.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any questions regarding this blog, please contact Robert Houchill or a member of the immigration team.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Houchill is a senior associate in the immigration team. He has extensive experience in assisting individuals and organisations with their UK immigration and nationality matters. Robert’s experience covers all kinds of immigration and nationality applications but with a particular emphasis on corporate immigration matters, and helping high-net-worth individuals.
We welcome views and opinions about the issues raised in this blog. Should you require specific advice in relation to personal circumstances, please use the form on the contact page.
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