How to Maintain Your UK Sponsorship License: Key Compliance Duties For Employers

Table Of Content

1. How To Maintain Your UK Sponsorship License?
2. Key Compliance Duties For Employers
3. Authorizing Officer
4. Level 1 And Level 2 Users
5. Key Contact

UK sponsorship allows UK based organizations to hire foreign skilled workers. You need sponsor license to bring international talent in the UK. Obtaining a sponsor license is the first step for an organization. Once you have received sponsor license you also need to maintain it. You need to meet certain UK sponsorship license compliance duties in order receive and retain your sponsor license. If you fail to comply with sponsor’s duties and responsibilities your sponsor license may be downgraded in license rating, suspended or revoked putting immigrant workers status at risk.

How To Maintain Your UK Sponsorship License?

If you want to have a right to sponsor international talent you need a sponsor license first. After that you can issue certificate of sponsorship to these foreign workers applying for UK Skilled Worker Visa. But to enjoy their services you must maintain your UK sponsorship license. Maintaining your sponsor license requires you to oblige to the key compliance duties laid down by the Home Office. You need to satisfy the Home Office that you are meeting your duties and responsibilities properly. The Home Office can visit your premise for a compliance audit anytime with or without information to ensure if UK sponsorship license compliance is being met or not. You can be asked to provide certain information or documents by the Home Office as well. If you are a serious sponsor you must know the key compliance duties for employers before you apply for sponsorship license.

Key Compliance Duties For Employers

1. Maintaining accurate records

As a responsible sponsor license holder you must keep accurate and up to date records of each foreign worker hired. Appendix D of the Immigration Rules lists the documents you need to retained and also the time duration they must be kept for. You must keep these documents in paper or electronic format. These documents related to immigrant workers include but are not limited to:

• Each worker working for you has the legal right to work in the UK and do the work in question
• Where relevant, evidence of the worker’s date of entry to the UK
• A copy of the worker’s National Insurance (NI) number unless exempted
• A worker’s current and historic contact details (UK residential address, personal email address, telephone number (mobile and/or landline).
• A copy of the worker’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where required for the role undertaken by the sponsored worker
• A record of the worker’s absences

In order to maintain UK sponsorship license compliance you should keep all these required records until examined by an officer, or, for at least one year or for the duration of the employment if an employee works for less than a year.

You may require keeping some documents for longer periods also.

2. Reporting

Reporting to the Home Office (using SMS portal) within prescribed time about certain changes significant related to the workers and/or your organization is a key compliance requirement. Here are certain events related to sponsored employees about which you must report within 10 days:

• If an employee does turn up for work on their first day.
• If an employee’s contract is terminated early.
• If an employee is absent from work for more than 10 consecutive days, without permission.
• If there are significant changes in a sponsored worker’s contract of employment
• If an employee stops working for you
• If there is any change in the immigration status of an employee
• If there is any suspicions about an employee

You also have to notify to the Home Office about certain changes related to your organization to meet UK sponsorship license compliance. These include:

• You must report within 20 days if there is change of organization name, takeover or sale of all or part of the organization or the company has ceased to trade
• If there is a change in company address
• If there is a change of authorizing officer (key contact point of your company)
• If a UK branch is opening or closing
• If there is a takeover, acquisitions, mergers and Tupe transfers they must be reported within 28 days of the occurrence of the event

3. Compliance with immigration rules and UK wider law

This is a key UK sponsorship license compliance requirement. Complying with immigration rules and UK law means you must not act in any ways as a sponsor license holder that is detrimental to the public good.

If you are offering a job the job vacancy must be genuine. You must ensure that the foreign worker you are assigning certificate of sponsorship for a particular role in your organization has the necessary skills and qualification and/or experience for the role. You must keep records to prevent any illegal working and if you find an employee involved in an criminal or other such activity you must report it to the Home Office.

4. Appointing key people

You need to appoint some key people in your organization at the time of sponsor license application and at all times during which your license is valid. These personnel would look after and ensure that the sponsor’s duties are being met. These key people include:

Authorizing Officer

An authorizing officer is the key contact point of your organization. He/she should be the most senior employee with an authority to hire overseas workers. Authorizing officer must be appointed while applying for sponsor license and they must remain till the time your license is valid.

Level 1 And Level 2 Users

The Level 1 user has to be an employee, director or partner or someone engaged as an office holder. There must be at least 1 Level 1 user in your organization whose job is to look after day to day immigration work. They have the full access to the SMS system and play a key role in ensuring that the organization is complying with sponsor duties. Using the SMS the Level 1 user(s) are responsible for

• Assigning certificate of sponsorship,
• Reporting any changes in sponsored employees’ activity, immigration status or job duties,
• Overseeing sponsor license compliance,
• Managing the renewal of the sponsor license
• Liaising with the Home Office
• Handling compliance audits

You can appoint one or more Level 2 users. Level 2 user(s) have restricted system access. They can only assign Certificate of sponsorship and report migrant activity.

Key Contact

He is your main point of contact with the UKVI. The Home Office will contact him if they require any information or have any query related to your sponsor license. You need to appoint and retain a key contact before you apply for a sponsor license and till the time you hold a sponsor license.