UKVI has abruptly decided to, in effect, remove expiration dates on sponsor licences and therefore bring about an end to sponsor licence renewal applications. Previously sponsor licences were issued for 4 years and had to be renewed through the Sponsor Management System (and a hefty government fee incurred).
Where a sponsor’s licence expires on or after 6 April 2024 they will not need to apply to renew it and as an interim measure it will have already been automatically extended for 10 years by UKVI.
The abolition of sponsor licence renewals is certainly a positive step. Nevertheless, the sponsor licence renewals process provided a juncture at which sponsors could potentially consolidate and identify compliance issues, such as changes to Authorising Officers, Level 1 users or office addresses. It also provided UKVI caseworkers with an opportunity to scrutinise organisations against records on Companies House and other sources.
The removal of renewal applications might prolong the time that some sponsors are non-compliant and ultimately result in more enforcement action from UKVI - it may turn out to be a mixed blessing.
Against the government rhetoric and following a toughening of the Immigration Rules, it seems like we are moving inexorably towards an immigration policy of increased enforcement over the next few months. With the number of Skilled Workers and sponsor licence holders rising, it is likely that compliance checks and auditing may be back on UKVI’s menu for exerting immigration control. Caseworkers will be relieved of dealing with sponsor licence renewal applications, and workloads will perhaps soon be lessened further by diminished numbers of new Skilled Workers applicants following upcoming salary charges. It seems fair to assume that caseworkers will be freed up to undertake other work, such as performing compliance checks and audits.
The consequences of getting it wrong from an immigration compliance perspective can be ruinous for a business – should UKVI revoke a sponsor licence, the immigration permission of the organisation’s sponsored workers will ultimately be cancelled.
Glaring omissions or deception that result in revocation of sponsor licences are typically not contentious, but sponsors who make innocent mistakes or oversights, that can accumulate and are more difficult to avoid, can also get into difficulties. As a recent reported High Court case shows, UKVI will leverage shortcomings in discrepancies around job descriptions and other almost clerical errors to form the grounds to revoke a sponsor licence.
All sponsors, and particularly those in perceived high-risk sectors such as hospitality, IT and the care sector, need to be mindful of their obligations and take steps to ensure their compliance.
further information
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about the author
Robert has extensive experience of 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 complex immigration issues faced by individuals, such as previous immigration breaches and criminality.
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