Non-compliance

If a sponsor does not comply with its duties under the sponsor licence, it runs the risk of having its licence suspended whilst it is being investigated by UKVI and subsequently downgraded or revoked.

During a suspension, the sponsor will be prevented from assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship to any new hires for the Skilled Worker or ICT visas. However the sponsor will still be required to comply with its obligations to the sponsored workers.

Where UKVI suspends a licence without further investigation, it will set out in writing the reasons for suspension and the sponsor has 20 working days to respond by setting out any mitigation. UKVI will then provide a final decision.

If UKVI undertakes a full investigation, it will write to the sponsor informing it of this and the reasons for suspension. The sponsor has 20 days to respond in writing. After the investigation has concluded UKVI will again set out its reasons for suspension which the sponsor is invited to reply to before UKVI provides its final response.

Where UKVI believes that a sponsor is failing to comply with its duties, it can downgrade the licence from A-rating (which is given when the licence is obtained), to a B-rating. The following breaches will result in a mandatory downgrading:

• a sponsor has certified that a migrant will not claim state benefits, but that migrant does do so, with the sponsor’s knowledge
• if it is found by compliance officers that a sponsor is not using a process or procedure necessary to comply with their sponsor duties
• where UKVI has asked for information or documentation from a sponsor and they fail to provide this within the given time limit.

In all other cases, UKVI has discretion to downgrade a licence.

Where a licence is downgraded a sponsor cannot assign a certificate of sponsorship to a migrant until it has shown that it is committed to making improvements by entering into an action plan devised by UKVI and paying the associated fee. The action plan will be in force for up to three months.

At the end of this period, UKVI will carry out a compliance visit. If it can be shown that all of the requirements of the action plan have been met, the sponsor’s A-rating will be re-instated however if this is not the case, the licence will be revoked.

There are a large number of instances where UKVI will mandatorily revoke a sponsor’s licence. These include where a sponsor has provided false information to support its application or has employed a migrant that does not meet the relevant skill level.

If a sponsor licence is revoked, this will be effective across all routes under which the sponsor is registered, meaning that all sponsored workers will no longer be sponsored and will have their visas curtailed. The sponsor must also take steps to end their employment.

If the revocation is mandatory, the sponsor cannot appeal the decision and will not be able to re-apply until a cooling off period has come to an end. The only option for organisations to have their licences reinstated is to pursue judicial review through the courts.

We provide specialist training sessions for sponsors to help ensure that you can continue to meet your ongoing obligations as a sponsor and we can advise you if your licence has been suspended due to suspected non-compliance with sponsor obligation. Get in touch or look at our services if you would like to discuss how we can help.

When a sponsor licence is revoked, UKVI will curtail any sponsored migrants’ permission to stay in the UK, usually to 60 days (or less if the migrant has fewer than 60 days leave remaining). If UKVI believes that the migrant was complicit in the breach, it will curtail permission to stay in the UK with immediate effect.

During this period, the individual will either need to make a new visa application before expiry of the curtailment period or leave the UK.