Sponsor Licence Renewal Process

You could get a visit from a Home Office Compliance Officer if you’re currently renewing your sponsor licence.

When determining whether or not to renew your sponsor licence, the goal of these visits will be to verify that the following conditions are accurate about you and your business:

• You are complying with the responsibilities and duties associated with your sponsor licence.
• You already have all of the essential processes and systems in place to fulfil your commitments as a sponsor.
• Your application for a sponsor licence contains accurate and truthful information.
• You are fulfilling your duty to put a stop to unlawful employment.

In addition, a Compliance Officer may want to talk with the workers you are sponsoring to verify their personal information and ensure that the appropriate processes are being followed regarding their working conditions and sponsorship. This is done to confirm that the proper information is being collected and that the necessary procedures are followed.

You need to be sure that you have appropriately prepared for your compliance visit and that all of your procedures, information, and documents are in order; otherwise, it is likely your application to renew your sponsor licence will be denied.

Most applications to renew sponsor licences are processed within 8 weeks. If you want your renewal application to be completed more quickly, you may be able to pay more to have it given priority processing. You will be able to get the processing of your application completed within 10 days if you use this service.

Be aware, however, that on a daily basis, this service is only available to a limited number of applicants and operates on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis.

How many times can you renew your licence?

No limits are placed on the number of times your organisation may renew its status as a sponsor licence. An organisation can continue renewing its licence and authority to sponsor foreign employees, provided that it continues to be qualified for sponsorship and meets the conditions for sponsors.

Here’s the sponsor licence fees:

• A worker sponsor licence costs 1,476 pounds for large sponsors.
• A worker sponsor licence costs £536 for small sponsors.
• Students sponsor licence for £536.
• Temporary worker licence costs £536.

In some circumstances, the caseworker from the Home Office may write a letter requesting more business-related papers about the organisation from the sponsor. This might be any material that is included in Appendix A of the sponsor guideline document, or it could be any documentation that is associated with the organisation.

As part of the organisation’s continuous processes for maintaining its status as a compliant sponsor, these records must be easily accessible.

When their licences are up for renewal, sponsors who are licensed for certain routes and who operate within specific sectors are required to present updated copies of relevant papers. For instance, those who want to support employees via the International Sportsperson method must submit an endorsement from a sports governing organisation.

The head of the mission, the consulate, or the organisation’s office based in the UK must sign a letter confirming agreement with the licence renewal application and the intention to continue sponsoring workers under the International Agreement route on behalf of sponsors who are diplomatic or consular missions or international organisations.

Additionally, they must state in this letter that they consent to the sponsorship requirements and the limited waiver of diplomatic protection and privileges required by the Home Office to carry out any necessary compliance activity as outlined in the published guidance.

You have five working days to provide UKVI with  any further documentation if you don’t want to risk having your licence downgraded, suspended, or cancelled and having your sponsor licence renewal request rejected.

There is a possibility that some employers might be eligible for the “streamlined” sponsor licence renewal procedure, which would allow for more practical processing.

According to this procedure, the caseworker at the Home Office is authorised to do a reduced number of checks on the organisation before deciding whether or not to approve the renewal application for the sponsor licence if the organisation has previously been successful with at least two applications for the renewal of the sponsor licence.

It won’t be necessary to carry out any of the following inspections:

• Audits of the company as well as the insolvency
• Taking a look at how your certificate of sponsorship is being used
• When taking into consideration the licensing arrangement
• Reviewing the visit history of the sponsor management system and identifying any pending modification requests
• Performing trade checks, including reviewing risk profiles, validating accreditation and registration data, and performing any other necessary checks
• Submitting to a compliance visit by an official of the Home Office, if one is required.

There is no provision for filing an appeal if a request to renew a sponsor licence is denied. This implies that if your application to renew your sponsor licence is denied, your authorisation to sponsor migrant workers will immediately be revoked when the validity of your current licence runs out.

This results in you no longer being able to function as a licensed sponsor after that date. During that time you will not be able to grant any more sponsorship certificates, and the information of your firm will be deleted from the online public registry of registered sponsors.

Equally, the length of leave that sponsored migrants you presently employ are permitted to take will be reduced. This effectively implies that their visas will be cut to a period of sixty days, after which they will be required to choose another immigration path, depart the United Kingdom, or face the possibility of being subject to removal procedures.

This is because under the ‘error correction request’ procedure, a request may be made for the decision to be reviewed in the event that there was a mistake committed by a caseworker while denying your application for the renewal of your sponsor licence, or if evidence that was supplied in support of your application was not taken into consideration.

Your next steps can include the following:

• Putting in a request to have the decision examined again. This choice is only viable for you if you can provide evidence to support a request for a review. For instance, you think that the case office made a mistake that led to the denial of your request by, for example, failingconsider a certain document when reaching their judgement.
• Putting in an entirely new application. If you cannot seek a review and some reasons or problems may be remedied in a new application, consider selecting this option instead.

Birmingham Immigration Lawyers can help you to avoid this; call our team today on 0121 667 6530 for further assistance.

Suppose your company does not have a current sponsor licence. In that case, it will be withdrawn from the Register of Licensed Sponsors, you will not be allowed to issue Certificates of Sponsorship to newly sponsored workers, and the leave of your already sponsored employees may be reduced.

If a sponsor licence was let to lapse, but you still need authorisation to sponsor international employees, you will need to make a hasty decision on your next course of action.

In some situations, you may be permitted to apply for licence renewal, while in others, you could be required to submit an application for a new licence. Getting professional guidance on the particular situation can assist you in determining your alternatives and the best course of action to take to minimise the costs and disruptions incurred by your organisation.