Following a change in Home Office guidance in 2024, sponsor licences are no longer issued with a 4-year validity period.
Sponsor licence expiry removed
With effect from 6 April 2024, there is no longer a requirement for sponsor licence holders to renew their licence.
Instead, sponsor licences now remain valid indefinitely unless they are revoked or made dormant by the Home Office, or surrendered by the licence holder.
Revocation occurs when an organisation fails to meet its sponsorship responsibilities. If a licence is revoked, the employer immediately loses the ability to sponsor foreign workers, and existing sponsored employees may be required to leave the UK unless they find alternative sponsorship.
Suspension, on the other hand, means that the Home Office has temporarily removed an employer’s ability to sponsor new workers while it investigates potential breaches of compliance. If an investigation results in a finding of serious non-compliance, the licence may be revoked. If the issues are minor and corrected in time, the suspension may be lifted, and the sponsor licence restored.
In certain circumstances, the Home Office may make a licence dormant, for example, when an organisation has been taken over by another organisation.
An organisation may opt to surrender their licence, and in doing so, loses ability to sponsor migrant workers.
To surrender your sponsor licence, you must notify the Home Office through the Sponsor Management System (SMS). Log into the SMS, navigate to the ‘Request changes to licence details’ section, and select the option to surrender your licence. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. It’s important to ensure that all sponsored workers are informed and that any necessary arrangements are made for their continued legal employment or departure from the UK. Before proceeding, consult the latest Home Office guidance to understand the implications of surrendering your licence.
Sponsor licence compliance
Even though sponsor licences no longer have a fixed expiry date, sponsors must continue to comply with their legal compliance obligations. This includes keeping accurate records, reporting changes to sponsored workers’ employment status, and ensuring that workers meet the conditions of their visas. Failure to do so could still result in enforcement action, despite the absence of an automatic renewal requirement.
The Home Office continues to carry out compliance audits, both with and without prior notice. These inspections are designed to assess whether sponsors are fulfilling their legal responsibilities under the terms of their sponsor licence. As such, it is essential for employers to maintain accurate, up-to-date records and ensure that all HR and record-keeping systems are fully compliant with UKVI requirements.
To minimise the risk of non-compliance, sponsors should routinely review their HR procedures, employee records and sponsorship obligations, ensuring that all necessary documentation is readily available in the event of an audit. This includes keeping track of sponsored employees’ work statuses, right to work checks, absences and visa expiry dates. Failure to meet compliance standards could result in penalties ranging from a downgraded licence rating to full revocation of the sponsor licence, preventing the business from employing migrant workers in the future.
Given the possibility of unannounced inspections, sponsors must adopt a proactive approach to compliance, implementing regular internal audits and staff training to ensure that their organisation consistently meets Home Office expectations. Seeking professional guidance or conducting periodic self-assessments can help businesses identify potential gaps before they become an issue during an official audit.
Read more about licence compliance and management obligations here >
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals
