Do you require a sponsor licence?

The lack of skilled workers in the UK is evident. However, the opportunity to explore creative ideas, bring in top expertise, and expand your company can be realised by having a sponsor licence.

If a UK business wishes to hire skilled overseas workers it must first obtain a sponsor licence as a UK business. It is unlawful to employ an individual who does not have the required right to work in the UK and this could result in a fine or, in more serious cases, a prison sentence.

Anybody can apply for a sponsor licence but completing it without expert support can be a risk as there is little margin for error. With the Home Office becoming progressively focused on compliance, it is important that you have a team like us on your side when applying for and managing a UKVI sponsor licence. We can take care of the entire process, from application to sponsoring your workers.

Are you eligible for a sponsor licence?

In order to be eligible for a sponsor licence, you must be a genuine UK business. 

Before applying for a licence, you must ensure that you as the employer do not have unspent criminal convictions for immigration offences or other crimes such as fraud. 

You must also not have had a sponsor licence revoked in the last 12 months. 

The Home Office will assess your eligibility for a sponsor licence and may, if necessary, conduct additional checks such as a pre-licence audit.   

Application Process

The sponsor licence application process requires that you fill in an online form. This form requires information such as, your registered and trading addresses, the number of employees you have and details of key personnel. 

Within the application, you will need to provide the details of the person within your business who will be the Authorising Officer for the sponsor licence. This person will be responsible for the day to day running of your sponsor licence. The Authorising Officer will need to be a senior employee within the business. 

While requesting a sponsor licence, the Home Office will assess the following:

• The company is operating legally in the UK – for example, if you are required to be accredited by a governing body, you must provide evidence of registration. 
• All sponsorship tasks and duties can be managed via your HR system.
• Your company offers genuine jobs that are in line with skill requirements and UKVI  minimum salary requirements.
• You and your company have no criminal convictions or outstanding illegal working civil penalties.

Documents you must  provide in your sponsor licence application: 

As a part of the application process, in most cases, you will need to provide at least 4 documents to support your submission but the more you provide the better. Here are some examples of the types of documents which can be accepted:

• Latest business bank statement 
• Employer’s Liability Insurance 

• PAYE Registration 
• VAT Registration (if applicable) 
• Latest completed CT600 and CT603 Notice 
• Proof of ownership or lease of the business premises

When making a skilled worker sponsor licence application, in addition to the supporting documents, you must also provide a supporting letter. This letter should include (but is not restricted to):

• An explanation as to why your business requires a sponsor licence
• The sector your organisation operates in
• Job description and salary for the roles you intend to sponsor workers in 
• Organisational chart and list of current employees alongside with their job roles 
• Proof of governing body registration (where required) 
• Operating hours

Submission Process

Once your application form is completed, you can submit the application and make the payment. The sponsor licence fee is £536 for small businesses and £1,476 for medium and large businesses.

After the online form has been submitted, you will be provided with a submission sheet that you will need to completed.The required documents, along with the supporting letter and submission sheet, will need to be sent to the Home Office separately via email to complete your application submission. 

You must ensure that you continue to have access to the email address that is registered with the application in case any additional information is requested from you and for news of the decision.

With the world rapidly adapting to new technology challenges, there is a huge demand on IT skilled workers, and it has now reached a point where there is a shortage of the skilled workers. 

IT sector jobs have a huge impact on businesses, the absence of this sector causes excess stress on existing employees and puts their wellbeing at risk as they may not possess the correct IT skills for the role. 

According to industry estimates, there will be a shortage of approximately 50 million IT skilled workers by 2030. This is a significant issue for businesses trying to keep up to date with the rapid changes in modern technology. To address this shortage, businesses must start exploring new opportunities to find the IT talent they need in their business.

What can you do to address this shortage?

Why not sponsor a worker from overseas? We can assist you at every stage of the procedure, making it simpler for you to bring your future skilled employees to the UK.

There are many advantages for sponsoring workers from overseas, such as a wider range of talented individuals, cost efficiencies and cultural diversity. Due to many IT occupations remaining on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), you benefit from lower visa application fees and potentially lower salary requirements.

If you are interested, please drop us an email and we will be happy to help you.

1. Inaccurate data or an incomplete application

The visa application form must be filled out completely in every section. Do not skip any sections and ensure all information you provide is accurate. There are instructions in every section about what to do if it does not apply to you. If you do not submit the correct data, this can be a reason for your visa being rejected.

2. Status of your passport

There is a chance that your visa will be rejected if your passport is not valid, or is soon to expire, or has no page for a visa. Your passport will need to be valid for at least six months when you submit your application. You cannot obtain a visa if your passport expires in less than six months.

3. Violation of the visa documentation process

Every immigration department has strict internal guidelines that govern the documentation requirements and visa approval. You risk having your visa refused if any of your supporting documents are inconsistent or if you do not adhere to the rules and regulations.

Before applying for a visa, always check that you are able to provide all necessary documentation, this will prevent delays and reduce the risk of visa refusal. 

Providing documents in regional languages is ineffective since the embassy authority cannot verify them.

4. Country and visa specific requirements

Certain countries and visa routes require additional checks and documentation. 

You will no doubt have researched the requirements for your visa, but it’s important to ensure that you have considered if the visa route requires any extra certification, for example a Health and Care worker visa application will require an accompanying criminal check certificate from the country of residence.

Extra requirements may also be placed upon applications from certain countries. If you’re travelling from a region which presents an increased risk of Tuberculosis (TB) you may need to present a clear x-ray certificate as a part of the visa application process.

5. Process time of Visa application

The processing times for visas vary among the different visa routes. You should submit your visa application before the deadline processing time. You can make a visa application up to 3 months before your intended travel date. If the processing time exceeds the departure date, you will be granted a visa which is valid from the date you receive a decision and not your intended travel date.

Defined Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

Defined CoS are for Candidates applying for a Skilled Worker visa from overseas. Without a defined CoS their application will be rejected. 

You must submit a request to the Home Office for a single defined certificate or a batch of certificates if you want to sponsor a candidate applying from overseas. If we are designated as your immigration representatives we can make the request on your behalf via the sponsorship management system (SMS). Once the request is granted, you can assign the CoS to the candidate, and they can use the unique CoS reference number to complete their skilled worker visa.

You will not get a yearly defined certificate of sponsorship allocation and there is no cap on the number of defined CoS you can request in a year.

Undefined Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

Undefined CoS are used for candidates making applications from within the UK, this could be that they are switching categories into the skilled worker route or they are switching from their current or previous sponsor. 

Your organisation can be granted an initial annual allocation of undefined certificates by making an allocation request within the sponsor licence application. There is no cap on the number of undefined CoS that may be allocated, providing the workers are eligible under the visa route and the sponsor pays the associated fee to assign the CoS.  Annual allocations can be automatically renewed and a request to amend the annual CoS allocation can be made if required. 

Once your annual allocation runs out you can make a request for additional CoS to be added to your allocation. Although these requests will normally require specific candidate details for the CoS to be granted by the Home Office. 

Still unsure? Contact us and we will be happy to help…

UKVI Minimum Salary Thresholds

If you sponsor overseas workers there are several minimum salary requirement changes which are likely to impact your business.

The following changes, relating to sponsored worker salary requirements, came into force on 12 April 2023:

1. The minimum gross annual salary for a skilled worker is increasing from £25,600 to £26,200
2. The minimum hourly rate for a skilled worker is increasing from £10.10 to £10.75 
3. The minimum gross annual salary for shortage occupation list (SOL) roles, certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) roles, new entrants, and certain healthcare roles is increasing from £20,480 to £20,960
4. Going rates will now be based on a 37.5-hour working week rather than a 39-hour working week.

    

As a result of these changes, any certificate of sponsorship (CoS) requests moving forward should be made in line with the new minimum salaries.

Please note, that sponsored workers already in the UK or those who submit their visa applications prior to 12 April, will not need to have their salaries increased to match these new UKVI requirements immediately.

National Minimum Wage

The national minimum wage rates increased from the 1st April 2023. Please see below table for specific rates:

All employees, including sponsored workers, will need to meet the applicable minimum hourly rate. 

What do these changes mean in practice?

Any CoS already issued by the Home Office and on your sponsor management system (SMS) ready to be assigned will still be valid. Although, when these CoS are ready to be assigned, you may need to adjust accordingly if they fall below the legal NMW requirement which increased from 1st April 2023. Caseworkers will be checking these requirements as they come through.

We would recommend that any new CoS you request or assign from now going forward meet or exceed the new UKVI minimum salary thresholds.

Any existing sponsored employees will need to meet or exceed the new legal NMW threshold from 1st April 2023, as per the rest of your workforce.

Why should your business have a HR system in place?

An adequate HR system will help a business to comply with their sponsor duties.

A good system can keep track of employees’ contact details, right-to-work checks, visa expiry dates, absences, sickness, and holidays.  

Employee files are easily accessible in case of a Home Office audit a business must be able to obtain accurate and up-to-date information about each of their employees, particularly their migrant workers at any time. 

What happens if your business doesn’t have a HR system in place?

The Home Office will expect your business to comply with its ‘sponsor duties’, this will require evidence that certain processes are in place. With no HR system in place your business may be at risk of losing its sponsor licence. 

Key visa renewal dates may be missed. This could result in the expiry of an employee’s skilled worker visa, leaving the business to face potential civil penalty fines of up to £20,000 per illegal worker.

We can help you

+HR is an intuitive HR software solution provided by us which makes light work of your compliance responsibilities.  Often failure to comply happens due to poor internal processes, and this recommended software contains all you need to meet your sponsor obligations.  We can set it up for you and train you on how to use it. +HR can also help you meet the eligibility requirements when making your initial sponsor licence application.

Why choose +HR?

We recommend +HR, it is a dedicated software solution which is simple to use and affordable. +HR can assist you in meeting your sponsor duties and even make day to day HR tasks easier. This software has been tested and proven during multiple Home Office audits.

Will my business be audited by the Home Office?

The chances are, yes. businesses are likely to have a Home Office audit either prior to the issue of their sponsor licence or during the 4 year validity of the licence. These audits are conducted to assess compliance with sponsor duties and can include consideration of HR practices, procedures and policies.