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SPONSOR LICENCE RENEWALS

SPONSOR LICENCE RENEWALS

Sponsor Licences are granted for an initial period of 4 years. If you wish to continue to sponsor migrants, you will need to renew your licence before it expires.  If your sponsor licence renewal application is successful, your sponsor licence will be extended for a further 4 years.

What are the main eligibility requirements for a Sponsor Licence Renewal?

Sponsor licence renewal applications must be submitted online via the Sponsor Management System (SMS).

Once you have submitted a valid application to renew your sponsor licence, you may be asked to send additional business-related documents to UKVI. Any additional corporate documents will need to be sent to the Home Office within 5 working days.

If, as a sponsoring company, you fail to send requested documents, UKVI may reduce or remove your CoS allocation or downgrade, suspend or revoke your licence.

When you apply to renew your sponsor licence, UKVI may visit your business premises. This is particularly likely if you have not received a Home Office compliance visit in the last 4 years.

If UKVI compliance officers have any concerns about your actions as a sponsor then they may downgrade or revoke your licence.

What else do I need to know about Sponsor Licence Renewals?

As a sponsor company you can apply to renew your licence up to a maximum of 90 days before your licence is due to expire.

If you have any sponsored migrants working for you and you want them to continue working for you, you must renew your licence before it expires, even if you do not plan to sponsor any new migrants.

Before applying to renew a sponsor licence, it is important that thorough checks are carried out to ensure that sponsor licence details are correct and that all sponsor duties have been complied with.

If you fail to renew your sponsor licence then you will not be able to assign any more CoS and your company details will be removed from the online public register of licensed sponsors.

If you fail to renew your licence but continue to employ sponsored migrants, their leave will be curtailed. This means that they will have their visa shortened to 60 days, after which point they will have to switch immigration category, leave the UK or be subject to removal.

How our immigration barristers can help

Our business immigration barristers understand the importance of renewing your sponsor licence for your business operations. We will work with you to ensure that you are able to successfully extend your sponsor licence.

Before an application to renew a sponsor licence is lodged with UKVI, we can help your organisation to check that all details on your sponsor licence are correct and make any necessary changes to your sponsor licence. We will ensure that all sponsorship duties have been complied with in relation to your migrant workers, including record-keeping, reporting and compliance checks. If the Home Office has not carried out an audit for some time, we can conduct a mock Immigration Audit of your business in advance of any Home Office visit.

We pride ourselves on being approachable and proactive in understanding and meeting our business clients’ needs. We are a highly driven team, dedicated to providing clear and reliable immigration advice directly to UK employers as part of a professional and friendly service.

We can also assist with

  • Sponsor Licence Applications

    If you are an employer seeking to employ an overseas national who is not a settled worker and who does not otherwise have immigration permission to work for you in the UK, you will need to submit a Sponsor Licence Application to UK Visas and Immigration.

    Whether you require advice on the correct company-related documentation to provide in support of a Sponsor Licence Application or assistance with drafting a compelling business case that will satisfy UKVI that you need a sponsor licence in order to fill a genuine role, our immigration barristers can manage the sponsor licence application process on your behalf.

  • Sponsor Licence Suspensions and Revocations

    If UKVI believe that you are breaching your duties and pose a threat to immigration control, your sponsor licence may be suspended. If you are subject to a Sponsor Licence Suspension, you will not be able to sponsor new migrants, but your current sponsored migrants will be unaffected. UKVI may then reinstate your licence, downgrade it or revoke it.

    If you are failing to meet your sponsor duties in a serious way or stop operating in the UK, your licence will be revoked. If your are subject to a Sponsor Licence Revocation, any migrants you sponsor will have their leave curtailed. They will be given 60 calendar days to find alternative sponsorship or leave the UK.

    Our immigration barristers work with sponsors to secure reinstatement of their sponsor licences, ensuring that a robust case is presented to UKVI addressing any issues raised in suspension letters. If a decision has been taken to revoke a sponsor licence, our immigration barristers can advise on the merits of applying for Judicial Review of the revocation decision and, where appropriate, provide representation in Judicial Review proceedings.

  • Sponsor Licence Refusals

    There is no right of appeal against the refusal of an application for a sponsor licence.

    If the Sponsor Licence Refusal decision was the result of either a caseworker error or the result of supporting evidence sent as part of your application not being considered by UKVI then our immigration barristers can assist you to request that the error be corrected and, if appropriate, submit a new online sponsor licence application.

    If the decision to refuse your sponsor licence application was unlawful, unreasonable or procedurally improper, our immigration barristers can apply for Judicial Review and provide representation at Judicial Review hearings.

    We also assist employers to prepare fresh application for sponsor licences following previous refusal decisions.

WHAT CAN WE HELP YOU WITH?

To discuss your Sponsor Licence Renewal with one of our immigration barristers, contact our business immigration team on 0203 617 9173 or complete our enquiry form.




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