By Annie Ee –
Senior Authorized Affiliate
If you end up getting ready your utility for a Sponsor Licence, there are numerous components to contemplate. Our earlier article, Expert Employee Sponsor Licence: New Guidelines on Pay and Charges, units out the adjustments round funding by sponsored staff.
This text focuses on the important thing areas when assessing Sponsor Licence functions.
To fulfill the eligibility standards, it’s essential to present the best paperwork to indicate that your enterprise is real and has an working presence within the UK. Most organisations might want to present at the very least 4 supporting paperwork, as set out within the Appendix A of the Sponsor Steerage. They will embody obligatory paperwork for a selected sort of organisation, e.g. a charity the place the Dwelling Workplace will anticipate to see proof of your charitable standing by checking in case your organisation is listed with the related charity fee.
For start-ups (organisations which have been working or buying and selling within the UK for lower than 18 months), it’s important to exhibit that your organisation holds a checking account with a financial institution that’s regulated by the PRA and FCA.
Examples of paperwork that may be accepted are financial institution statements, HMRC registration for PAYE and VAT in addition to Employer’s Legal responsibility Insurance coverage certificates with a minimal of £5 million cowl.
Getting the best paperwork is vital to indicate that your organization is real and working within the UK. It’s advisable to hunt authorized assist as a way to submit a completely ready sponsor licence utility and if you’re making use of for a UK Enlargement Employee sponsor licence, the required paperwork are totally different as effectively.
When assessing a sponsor licence utility, the Dwelling Workplace might examine whether or not you will have human useful resource and recruitment techniques in place to fulfill your sponsor duties. We additionally mentioned sponsor duties in our article Sponsor Duties: Managing Third-Get together Work for Expert Staff.
The Dwelling Workplace Steerage units out the sponsor duties as follows:
“Your duties as a licensed sponsor embody:
- Reporting duties;
- Document-keeping duties;
- Complying with our immigration legal guidelines, together with all components of the Employee and Momentary Employee sponsor steering;
- Complying with wider UK legislation; and
- Not partaking in behaviour or actions that aren’t conducive to the general public good.”
Reporting duties: When there are specific adjustments within the employee’s circumstances, these should be reported inside 10 working days of the adjustments. For instance, if the employee is absent from work for greater than 10 consecutive working days with out permission.
Document-keeping duties: the checklist of paperwork that should be stored for every employee is revealed in Appendix D, which additionally explains how lengthy you need to maintain the related data;
Complying with immigration legal guidelines: consists of using staff who’re certified or skilled to undertake the function;
Complying with wider UK legislation: that is apart from immigration legislation, corresponding to complying with unlawful working laws. Our article, Fines For Using Unlawful Staff Set To Rise Considerably talked in regards to the authorities’s current announcement. We highlighted the important thing updates and the proper procedures for conducting the best to work checks for employers in our article Proper to Work Checks: Important 2025 Updates for Employers.
Not partaking in behaviour that’s not conducive to the general public good: The behaviour and actions of the organisations needs to be in a fashion that’s not detrimental to the general public good.
To make sure that the sponsor duties are met, you need to present within the Sponsor Licence utility that you’ve the important thing personnel to hold out the related roles. Key Personnel embody an Authorising Officer, Key Contact, Stage 1 Consumer and Stage 2 Consumer. A few of the key personnel could have entry to the sponsorship administration system (‘SMS’).
The Dwelling Workplace might assess whether or not your key personnel are based mostly within the UK. It’s possible you’ll appoint a authorized consultant that’s based mostly within the UK to fulfil the function of a key contact, further Stage 1 Consumer or a Stage 2 Consumer.
Authorising Officer
An Authorising Officer needs to be essentially the most senior individual in your organisation who’s liable for the recruitment of migrant staff and your organisation should have an Authorising Officer all through the licence. The Authorising Officer additionally ensures that each one the sponsor duties are met. For a UK Enlargement Employee Sponsor Licence utility, this function might be undertaken by the employee already within the UK or the migrant employee who will likely be coming to the UK on this route.
Key Contact
This individual would be the fundamental level of contact between the organisation and the Dwelling Workplace.
Stage 1 Consumer
A Stage 1 Consumer will likely be liable for day-to-day administration of the licence. Their obligations can embody assigning the Certificates of Sponsorship to staff and reporting a change of circumstances on the SMS. Within the preliminary utility, your nominated Stage 1 Consumer should be an worker, companion or director inside your organisation and a settled employee (though there are exceptions).
Your organisation should have a Stage 1 Consumer all through the interval of your Sponsor Licence.
Stage 2 Consumer
Entry is extra restricted for a Stage 2 Consumer. A Stage 2 Consumer might be appointed by a Stage 1 Consumer as soon as the Sponsor Licence has been granted.
4. Reviewing Employment Necessities for Particular Routes
When reviewing functions for Sponsor Licence beneath the Expert Employee, Scale-up or World Enterprise Mobility routes, you need to present that the employment is real and meets the wage and ability stage necessities. The Dwelling Workplace might go on to examine the sponsored migrant’s work tackle and the duties of the function if there isn’t any enterprise premises.
Real Emptiness
The function should be real. It should not be a task that doesn’t exist or created for the sponsored employee to return to the UK or keep within the UK.
Wage
The sponsored employee should be paid the minimal wage specified for that route as set out within the Immigration Guidelines.
Talent-level
The job should be at an applicable ability stage in an eligible customary occupational classification code set out within the Appendix Expert Occupations. The steering of the brand new checklist of lower-skilled occupations eligible for sponsorship was mentioned in our article UK Momentary Scarcity Checklist Steerage 2025 revealed in August 2025.
The Dwelling Workplace might conduct a examine on anybody concerned within the day-to-day working of the enterprise. This could embody the proprietor, director and the important thing personnel. If they’re discovered to have any unspent conviction or have been issued with any Civil Penalty or cost, the sponsor licence functions could also be refused.
After the Sponsor licence utility has been submitted, the Dwelling Workplace might perform a pre-licence compliance examine if they’ve any doubts in regards to the proof supplied in assist of the sponsor licence utility.
Additional, further info or clarification could also be sought if the credibility of the function is questioned. They will even conduct checks with different authorities departments.
The compliance examine could also be carried out on an introduced or unannounced foundation and this will likely contain interviewing the important thing personnel and the sponsored staff. The examine could also be carried out on-line or a bodily go to to the primary workplace tackle.
Discover out extra about Immigration Audits.
For skilled recommendation and help in relation to a Sponsor Licence utility, contact our immigration barristers in London on 0203 617 9173 or through the enquiry kind beneath.
8. Steadily Requested Questions
What paperwork are wanted to show my enterprise is real?
Most organisations should present at the very least 4 supporting paperwork as set out in Appendix A of the Sponsor Steerage. These can embody financial institution statements, HMRC registration for PAYE and VAT, and an Employer’s Legal responsibility Insurance coverage certificates with a minimal cowl of £5 million. Charities should additionally present proof of charitable standing from the related charity fee.
Are the doc necessities totally different for start-ups?
Sure. For organisations working within the UK for lower than 18 months, it’s important to exhibit that the enterprise has a checking account with a financial institution regulated by the PRA and FCA.
What are the sponsor duties I have to adjust to?
Sponsor duties require reporting sure adjustments in a employee’s circumstances inside 10 working days, holding correct data for every employee as laid out in Appendix D, complying with immigration legal guidelines together with using certified staff, adhering to wider UK legislation corresponding to unlawful working laws, and guaranteeing the organisation’s conduct shouldn’t be detrimental to the general public good.
Who’re the important thing personnel in a sponsor licence utility?
Key personnel embody the Authorising Officer, who’s essentially the most senior individual liable for recruitment and guaranteeing sponsor duties are met; the Key Contact, who serves as the primary level of contact with the Dwelling Workplace; the Stage 1 Consumer, liable for day-to-day licence administration together with assigning Certificates of Sponsorship and reporting adjustments; and the Stage 2 Consumer, who has extra restricted entry and is appointed by a Stage 1 Consumer as soon as the licence has been granted.
Can key personnel be based mostly outdoors the UK?
Key personnel are usually anticipated to be based mostly within the UK. Nonetheless, a authorized consultant within the UK might fulfil the function of Key Contact, a further Stage 1 Consumer, or a Stage 2 Consumer.
What are the employment necessities for particular routes?
For Expert Employee, Scale-up, or World Enterprise Mobility routes, you need to present that the employment is real and meets the wage and ability stage necessities. The Dwelling Workplace may examine the work tackle and the duties of the function if there isn’t any enterprise premises.
What occurs if somebody concerned in my enterprise has a prison conviction or civil penalty?
The Dwelling Workplace might refuse the sponsor licence utility if any proprietor, director, or key personnel have unspent convictions or have been issued with civil penalties.
What’s a pre-licence compliance examine?
After submission, the Dwelling Workplace might perform a pre-licence compliance examine to confirm the proof supplied. This may occasionally contain interviewing key personnel and sponsored staff, and checks might be carried out on-line or through a bodily go to to the primary workplace tackle.
Please be aware that the data supplied on this article is for basic
steering solely and is
based mostly on
the immigration guidelines and insurance policies in drive on the date of publication. Immigration legislation and Dwelling
Workplace coverage can change often, and necessities might range relying on particular person
circumstances. Authorized recommendation ought to at all times be sought in relation to your particular state of affairs.
