The Appendix A for Sponsor Licence is primarily a guide for sponsors which sets out a list of documents that businesses and education providers must submit with their sponsor licence applications.
Your organisation will need a sponsor licence to sponsor any overseas national you wish to employ if they are not a ‘settled worker’ or do not otherwise have immigration permission to work for you in the UK.
Sponsorship is a privilege, not a right. Significant trust is placed on a sponsor organisation and this means you must play your part in ensuring the immigration system is not abused.
The organisation needs to ensure they meet all the eligibility criteria, have the required supporting evidence, have the key personnel identified, have the HR controls in place to ensure ongoing adherence and fully understand the sponsor duties before applying for the licence. City Legal can arrange a consultation with you and ensure you fully understand all of the above before applying to be a sponsor.
Once you are ready, below are the broad steps involved in applying and maintaining the licence:
The organisation will be granted an A rating to begin with upon successful acceptance
Post this the organisation needs to ensure that the sponsored migrant workers are monitored effectively and any changes are reported through SMS within the prescribed timelines.
City Legal can assist from the start of the process including the ongoing management of SMS and adherence to your sponsor duties.
The criteria to be met for a successful licencing process can be complex, as it is essential for the UKVI to ensure that the applying organisation is suitable and eligible.
Whilst majority of the organisations use the skilled worker route under the sponsor licence, there are multiple other visa routes that can be applied under the sponsor licence for Workers, Temporary workers and Students. Below is the list of routes under worker and temporary worker you could opt for where eligible:
An organisation may opt for a licence under multiple routes they may be eligible for.
The organisation needs to confirm who would hold the key personal roles when applying for the licence. The roles can be held by the same individual if required.
Below are the roles, responsibilities and requirements
The authorising officer must be the most senior person responsible for recruiting migrant workers and be a paid staff member or office holder (such as registered company directors or secretaries). The ultimate responsibility for the sponsor licence and the personnel who use the Sponsor Management System (SMS) is also with the same person. In addition, the Authorising officer must also ensure all sponsor duties are met, control the number of level 1 and 2 users, and be accountable for all sponsor’s actions.
The key contact must act as the main point of contact for correspondence between the sponsor and the Home Office and does not automatically have access to SMS unless appointed as a Level 1 user. The key contact must be a paid member of staff, engaged by sponsor as an office holder or a can be a UK based legal representative. UK based representative can then liaise with Home Office regarding sponsor licence on behalf of organisation. Clients often instruct us to act as a key contact.
The level 1 user undertake day to day activities on the SMS like adding/removing users, issuing CoS, requesting CoS, notifying the Home Office of changes in sponsor’s circumstances and reporting migrant activity etc. The initial level 1 user must be an employee, director or partner. Subsequent Level 1 users must be either a paid member of staff, an employee of a third party, the organisation contracted to provide HR functions or a UK-based representative. Clients often instruct us to act as a Level 1 user.
At least one Level 1 user must be a settled worker (subject to exception where Authorising Officer holds leave under specified category). The organisation must always have at least one Level 1 User, otherwise licence may be revoked.
The level 2 user may create and assign CoS and report migrant activity relating to those CoS. Level 2 users must be either a paid member of staff, an employee of a third party, the organisation contracted to provide HR functions or a UK-based representative.
We have the expertise and knowledge of the entire sponsor licence process. Mistakes made in self-application can trigger a cooling period before reapplication or applications being rejected. This can cost your organisation time and money.
We have a 100% success rate in sponsor licence applications and 4.9/5 in Trustpilot reviews making us result-oriented and client-focused at the same time.
Upon instruction we can be your legal representatives for the applications and ensure a completely hassle-free experience for you. We will do all the grunt work so you can focus on what you do best – running your business.
The Appendix A for Sponsor Licence is primarily a guide for sponsors which sets out a list of documents that businesses and education providers must submit with their sponsor licence applications.
The sponsor duties of skilled worker licence holders require employers to issue a certificate of sponsorship in compliance with the codes of practice under Appendix Skilled Occupation Codes of the Immigration Rules. The Minimum salary threshold varies depending on Job Role and seniority of the position.
Most applications (8 out of 10) are dealt with in less than 8 weeks. UKVI may need to visit your business for compliance inspection and that may add a further delay. UKVI has introduced a new priority service where you may be able to pay £500 to get a decision within 10 working days. This service is limited to 30 applications per day.
If the sponsor licence application is rejected, the organisation will be given written reasons for the same. In most cases this is because some of the required information has not been provided and so the application has not been considered. The organisation may be invited to re-apply immediately with all the relevant information and a refund given for the application fee paid.
If the sponsor licence application is refused after consideration the organisation will be given written reasons for the same. Based on the reasons there may be a cooling off period of 6 months, 12 months or 5 Years on the basis of refusal reasons. We may be able to assist organisations if the decision has been made as a result of a case working error; however, a full reconsideration is not possible. The organisations may however challenge the decision by the way of a Judicial Review which we can assist with.
It is possible for organisations to recruit any foreign workers, immaterial of their location. Different processes apply for those who are overseas and seeking to enter the UK as opposed to those who are in the UK and eligible to be sponsored. Our corporate immigration team will be happy to assist the organisations in determining the right route and strategy for the licence application and/or employee’s skilled work visa application.
Skilled worker visa applications after 1st Dec 2020 are not required to advertise the vacant positions however you must still retain evidence of any recruitment activity you have undertaken. If you did not advertise the role, you must be able to explain how you recruited the worker. This information will help home office establish, where necessary, that the role is a genuine vacancy.
Following COVID-19 Pandemic, the Sponsor Licence Application Team has now changed its guidance to enable the prospective sponsor to submit all supporting documents via email. This service allows for the authorising officer to use a digital signature on the submission sheet. All documents must now be submitted within five working days from the submission of the online application form.
