Sponsor Duties and Compliance

As a sponsor licence holder, it will be your responsibility to ensure that your business and employees adhere to UK laws and regulations. You will be expected to keep track of any trading and work activities, the immigration status of your workers, as well as any other activities that might have implications under UK immigration laws and general legislation.

Your duties include:

• Reporting
• Record Keeping
• Compliance with UK Immigration Laws
• Compliance with wider UK Law
• Fostering an environment that is conducive to the public good.

Page Contents

• What Are Sponsor Licence Holder Duties?
• Timeline
• Reporting Duties
• Changes Affecting Employees
• Changes Affecting Your Business
• Record Keeping Duties
• Compliance with UK Immigration Laws
• Compliance with Wider UK Law
• Fostering a Positive Environment
• Additional Sponsorship Duties
• Compliance Checks
• Failing to Comply with Your Sponsor Duties
• Licence Downgrades
• How Can Total Law Help?
• FAQ

Your duties as a sponsor will start on the day your sponsor licence is approved and will last for as long as you maintain a valid sponsor licence.

Your duties will end when:

• You give up your sponsor licence
• Your licence is made dormant (this might happen if your business is taken over by another organisation)
• Your licence is revoked

Responsibilities associated with individual workers will start as soon as they are assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). Individual responsibilities may end under any of the following circumstances:

• The employee’s CoS is withdrawn or cancelled before it is used to apply for entry clearance or permission
• The employee’s permission expires without having been assigned a new CoS
• The employee’s permission expires while they are outside of the UK (unless they are assigned a new CoS or retain their right to re-entry under the old CoS through the Creative Worker visa concession)
• You stop sponsoring the employee

If you are a sponsor under the Scale-up route, your specific responsibilities to the worker will end after 6 months from their initial start date when the employee no longer requires sponsorship.

If the circumstances of your business change, you will need to make a report. This might include changes to your trading activity, address, or your Key Personnel. You can file a report by completing the sponsor change of circumstance form on the sponsorship management system (SMS).

You need to file a report when:

• Your Key Personnel changes (Authorising Officer or Key Contact)
• The contact information for your Key Personnel changes (Authorising Officer or Key Contact)
• The details of your business change (such as name changes, address changes, new contact details, or new head office details)
• Your business structure changes (such as new branches, new linked entities in the UK, or new linked entities overseas for Global Business Mobility sponsors)
• There are changes to your business registration or accreditation that affect your eligibility as a legally trading business or sponsor
• You stop trading or become insolvent
• Your business is subject to a takeover, merger, or similar changes
• Anyone holding a key role in your business is convicted of a relevant offence (including assault, grievous bodily harm, or homicide)
• There are changes to your business size (sponsor size) or charitable status
• Any other significant changes in the structure or nature of your business
• You relinquish your sponsor licence

As a sponsor, it should be your priority to maintain full compliance with UK immigration rules.

This includes:

• Ensuring all workers are suitably qualified for their position
• Ensuring all workers meet their immigration requirements (and continue to do so during employment)
• Offering a genuine vacancy (This is a suitable job role with specific duties that meets all sponsor licence requirements of the selected sponsorship route. It must actually exist, meet a genuine need in the business, and be paid according to regulations)
• Not abusing your sponsor licence to facilitate immigration for other than work-related purposes (This includes not assigning Certificates of Sponsorship to family members of anyone associated with your company)

On top of all other specific duties, you must make sure that you, your business, and your employees adhere to UK laws and regulations at all times. This includes maintaining all relevant registrations, qualifications, and permissions, as well as holding suitable rights to your work sites, and offices.

You must pay your taxes and ensure that your workers pay theirs.

Should you become aware of any breaches to legal operations or activities, it is your duty to report this.

Sponsoring organisations must lead by example and maintain a welcoming, tolerant, and safe work environment. This includes taking action against elements of hatred, discrimination of any nature, or other inter-community division. There must be no signs of exploitation, undue punishment of workers, or otherwise unsustainable working conditions.

There may be circumstances where past actions associated with your business may be taken into account to assess your eligibility to become or stay a sponsor, even if you did not hold an active licence at the time. This includes but is not limited to evidence of animal cruelty or abuse, any kind of criminal activity, or general behaviour that conflicts with the interests of the general public.

Depending on the route of sponsorship, you may have additional responsibilities:

• Sponsors of Scale-up workers need to report the actual date the sponsored employee starts working for their business
• Sponsors of overseas qualified nurses or midwives (Skilled Worker route) must report the date they complete their NMC registration (or failure to do so) within 8 months
• Sponsors of UK Expansion Workers must report when their Authorising Officer (AO) has been granted clearance to enter the UK
• Sponsors of Creative Workers that are under the school-leaving age have additional safeguarding duties

You will be subject to compliance checks or visits which may happen before your sponsor licence application is approved or anytime after. You may be asked to share your records or provide additional documentation. There will be regular checks with HMRC to make sure that you are paying appropriate salaries to your workers.

Compliance checks may also include digital interviews or site visits to make sure that the information you have provided is factual. Compliance officers may request to speak with your sponsored workers or other employees and inspect your business sites and systems. You must co-operate during a compliance visit and allow reasonable access where requested.

You will be informed of any outcomes in writing.

Should you be found in breach of requirements or fail to uphold your duties as a sponsor, you will face sanctions from the Home Office which may include:

• Limiting the number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) you may allocate. (It may be set to 0)
• Downgrading the rating of your sponsor licence
• Licence suspension (pending further investigation)
• Revoking your worker’s permission to remain in the UK
• Reporting you or your business to the police (or other relevant authorities)

Sponsor licences are usually issued with an A-rating. Should there be problems with your ability to maintain your requirements as a sponsor, your licence may be downgraded to a B-rating. When this happens, you will be subject to a time-limited action plan and must pay a fee of £1,476. You have 3 months to improve your rating or your licence will be removed. Should you decline this procedure, you will also lose your sponsor licence. You will not be able to sponsor new workers until your sponsorship licence has been restored to an A-rating.

You should keep in mind that you will not receive a licence downgrade if you are a Provisional sponsor on the UK Expansion Worker path. Should you fail to meet your requirements, your licence may be revoked.