Sponsor Licence Suspension

If your sponsor licence been suspended, you need to act quickly to avoid further disruption to your business. We can help to protect your sponsor licence.

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A suspended sponsor licence can be damaging to your business, affecting your permission to sponsor migrant workers.

Being able to sponsor overseas nationals to fill essential skills gaps in your workforce can help you to achieve vital growth and remain competitive. Still, with sponsorship comes key responsibilities that must be met, otherwise risk sponsor licence suspension. In turn, having your sponsor licence suspended ultimately risks having your licence revoked, not only resulting in your permission to sponsor migrant workers being curtailed, but also the leave of any existing migrant workers within your workforce being significantly cut short.

The Home Office has the power to suspend a sponsor licence where it alleges an organisation has failed to manage its licence correctly and to meet its immigration compliance duties.

If you have received formal notification from UKVI that your company’s sponsorship licence is at risk of suspension, your next steps will be business-critical.

Depending on the facts of the case, your options could include challenging the Home Office’s decision to suspend the licence. You will also need to act fast to determine how you will respond and to submit your response within the given timeframe.

Failing to respond on time is likely to result in your licence being revoked.

Why are sponsor licences suspended?

When you become a licensed sponsor, you are agreeing to meet all of the compliance duties under the UK visa sponsorship regime. The underlying principles are to help prevent abuse of the immigration system by capturing and retaining information relating to sponsored workers’ compliance with the Immigration Rules and their visa conditions.

The sponsor licence duties include:

  • Record-keeping of sponsored workers’ documentation, as required under Appendix D of the Immigration Rules.
  • Sponsored worker monitoring & reporting to Home Office eg significant changes to an employment contract, if the worker is absent without permission for more than 10 days.
  • Reporting organisational changes such as change of company address or Authorising Officer.
  • Complying with the prevention of illegal working regime by conducting Right to Work checks.
  • Cooperating and being responsive to the Home Office.
 

If the Home Office alleges you have breached any of these duties, you could be subject to a licence suspension.

The suspension will apply across all visa categories under your licence.

During the period of suspension, the organisation will not be able to assign any certificates of sponsorship and it will be prohibited from sponsoring new migrant workers.

Any CoS assigned prior to the suspension with an application pending will be put on hold until a decision is made by the Home Office on the suspension.

Your business will also be removed from the public register of sponsors for the duration of the suspension period.

You must continue to comply with all sponsor duties throughout the period of suspension.

If your licence is due to expire during this period, you must still apply for a renewal if you wish to retain the licence beyond its expiry date.

Implications of a sponsor licence suspension on sponsored workers

A sponsor licence suspension will have the following impact on your workers:

Existing sponsored workers

Your existing sponsored workers’ leave will not be affected by the suspension, unless the Home Office decides to escalate the penalty to a licence revocation.

Should the Home Office decide to withdraw the suspension following your response, sponsored workers’ status will remain unchanged.

If existing sponsored workers are already in the UK and are awaiting a decision on a visa extension, their extension application will be placed on hold until a decision is made on the suspension.

New sponsored workers

Any new sponsored workers already in the UK who have not yet started work with you can begin working.

Any new sponsored workers who are overseas and have not yet started work but have a visa will be contacted by the Home Office directly.

New sponsored workers who are overseas and who are awaiting a decision on their visa will see their application put on hold until a decision is made on the suspension.

What if you have received a sponsor licence suspension notice?

If UKVI has evidence that justifies a decision to suspend your licence pending a full investigation, it will write to you giving its initial reasons for the suspension and letting you know that an investigation will be taking place. UKVI may not be able to specify how long the investigation will take, but you should be kept regularly updated on its progress.

Having received the notification, you will need to act quickly.

During this investigation period, you will have 20 working days from the date of the suspension notification to respond to UKVI’s letter. This is your chance to seek a review of the suspension decision and to set out any mitigating arguments that you believe exist.

Where UKVI has evidence that justifies a decision to suspend your licence pending a full investigation, it will write to you giving its initial reasons for the suspension and letting you know that an investigation will be taking place. UKVI may not be able to specify how long the investigation will take, but you should be kept regularly updated on its progress.

During this investigation period, you will have 20 working days from the date of the suspension notification to respond to UKVI’s letter. This is your chance to seek a review of the suspension decision and to set out any mitigating arguments that you believe exist.

Your response to UKVI must be in writing and fully set out, with any relevant supporting evidence, which suspension grounds you believe to be incorrect and the reason(s) for this. If there are exceptional circumstances, UKVI may give you more time to respond. UKVI will then inform you of its final decision within 20 working days of receipt of your response, unless the consideration is especially complex or information is pending from a third party, such as another government department. In this case, UKVI will notify you of the delay.

How to respond to a sponsor licence suspension notice

The first step is to consider your options and formulate a plan of action to avoid any detrimental impact on business operations and your employees’ visas.

Generally, your options are to either:

  • Respond to the letter challenging the allegations, with supporting evidence, and seeking to reinstate the licence.
  • Respond to the letter by accepting the allegations and identifying how you are addressing the breaches.
 

The notification letter will detail the grounds for suspension, which you must address carefully and in detail in your response to the Home Office.

Your response to UKVI must be in writing and fully set out, with any relevant supporting evidence, which suspension grounds you believe to be incorrect and the reason(s) for this. If there are exceptional circumstances, UKVI may give you more time to respond. UKVI will then inform you of its final decision within 20 working days of receipt of your response, unless the consideration is especially complex or information is pending from a third party, such as another government department. In this case, UKVI will notify you of the delay.

Taking professional advice can help to identify your options and ensure you respond in way that addresses the Home Office’s immediate concerns and identifies necessary remedial steps. For example, is there a factual error in the stated grounds that can be challenged with supporting evidence? Are there measures you need to take or have already taken to rectify the breach?

Engaging with the Home Office throughout the process will be critical in demonstrating your commitment to meeting the duties placed on your organisation.

Your response will need to be thorough and robust on all points. Extensive and compelling documentary evidence should be collected to support your position.

You should also prepare for a site inspection from immigration enforcement officials if you haven’t already been visited.

What happens after you respond to the Home Office suspension notice?

Following receipt of your response the Home Office will carry out further investigations into your organisation and its compliance.

The suspension will remain in place until UKVI makes a decision on what action to take.

Your licence could be reinstated if the Home Office is satisfied the issues have been addressed, or your licence could be downgraded or revoked altogether if officials are not satisfied with your response to the allegations or if you have failed to respond.

If the licence is reinstated with an A-rating, your licence status will resume full status.

If your licence rating is downgraded, ie; reinstated but with a “B” rather than an “A” rating, you will be required to pay for an action plan for a feee to help reinstate your “A” licence rating.

If your licence is revoked, there is no right of appeal and you won’t be allowed to apply for a sponsor licence again until the end of the appropriate cooling-off period, to run from the date your licence is revoked.

This will also mean that any leave granted to migrant workers currently in the UK will be curtailed, and if they fail to find sponsored employment promptly with another sponsor licence holder they will be asked to leave the UK.

In addition, any applications the organisation has pending with the Home Office would usually be refused.

This makes it all the more important to resolve – and not ignore – the suspension.

For help and advice with reinstating your sponsor licence following a suspension, please contact us.

Additional penalties for immigration non-compliance

By law you are required to carry out Right to Work checks on all workers you employ – including sponsored workers – to ensure that they are legally entitled to work in the UK and to undertake the work in question.

If migrant workers are found to be working illegally in circumstances where you have failed to carry out the required checks, you are at risk of a civil penalty and, in some cases, criminal prosecution potentially resulting in imprisonment or an unlimited fine.

Right to Work checks should form part of the pre-employment screening process, enabling you to meet your obligations to prevent illegal working.

You must also conduct follow-up checks on workers that have time-limited permission to work in the UK, such as Skilled Worker visa holders, to verify their continued laful status and eligbility to work.

Right to Work checks can be conducted in one of following ways:

 

The type of check to use will depend on factors such as the immigration status of the worker. Take advice if you are unsure of which checks to use and how to meet your Right to Work obligations.

Manual right to work checks

If you are conducting manual document checks you must ensure the checks are compliant and carried out in the prescribed manner as set out in the Home Office guidance for employers. This involves three key stages:

Step 1: Obtain
Original documents must be obtained from either List A or List B of the recognised documents at Annex A.

Step 2 :Check
The authenticity of the documents and the identity of the person providing them, as well as their authorisation to perform the type of work you are offering, must be verified. You should check that:

  • Documents provided are authentic, undamaged and belong to the individual applying for the job.
  • Any inconsistencies in the stated name on the documents must be supported with additional evidence. For example, deed poll, original marriage certificate, divorce decree absolute. A copy of this supporting document should be made and retained.
  • Photographs and dates of birth match across documents with the individual’s appearance.
  • Visa expiry dates remain valid and have not passed.
  • Work authorisation extends to the type of work you are offering, for example, student visa holders are subject to limits on employment.

Step 3: Copy
Each document must be made into a clear copy that cannot be manually changed, and the copy must be securely stored, either electronically or in hardcopy. The date that you made the check must also be kept in a safe place. A date written on a copy of a document does not, by itself, guarantee that this is the actual date the check was performed. If a date is written on the copy of the document, you must also note that this was the date the check was done.

You have to make and retain copies of:

  • Passports: any page containing a visa or entry stamp as proof the holder has the right to enter or remain in the UK and perform the relevant work, as well as any page containing the holder’s nationality, date of birth, signature, immigration permission, expiration date, biometric information, and photograph. You no longer need to copy the front over of the passport.
  • The whole paperwork, containing an Application Registration Card and both sides of an Immigration Status Document.

For the duration of the worker’s employment and for two years after, any copies of papers taken must be stored safely. After then, the copy must be safely destroyed.

How to avoid a sponsor licence suspension

There are various best practice tips that you can follow to avoid sponsor licence suspension, not least ensuring that you comply with all your recording and reporting duties as a licensed sponsor. It is also absolutely essential to respond to any requests from UKVI within the timeframe required, for example, a request for further documentation in the context of a sponsor licence renewal application must be satisfied within 5 workings days.

It is also good practice to ensure that prior to any announced compliance visit, or prior to renewing your licence application, at which stage a pre-renewal compliance visit is highly likely, that all your sponsorship records are up-to-date. Equally, you must ensure that your HR practices are adequate, where you are able to satisfy all of your sponsorship duties.

By seeking expert advice prior to any compliance visit or renewal application, your adviser can identify any limitations in your existing HR practices to help rectify any weaknesses in advance. In this way, you can pre-empt any potential problems that may lead to a suspension decision in the first place, maximising the prospects of no action being taken.

Need assistance with a sponsor licence suspension? We can help

DavidsonMorris’ team of specialist UK immigration lawyers bring substantial experience in advising companies facing a sponsor licence suspension.

With expertise in challenging licence suspensions and reinstating employers’ permission to employ sponsored workers, we can minimise the impact of a suspended licence on your business operations.

Whether you have been given initial warning that a licence suspension is being considered, or whether the licence has been suspended, we can help. Our services include:a

  • Assisting with understanding the grounds for suspension
  • Advice on collating the supporting evidence
  • Advice on remedial steps to address areas of non-compliance
  • Support in engaging with UKVI
  • Advice and support in relation to any subsequent follow-up scrutiny such as Home Office site visit
 

At the initial stage,we will assess all the facts and merits of your case to identify grounds to appeal the Home Office’s decision. 

We would review the facts of your case, including the alleged breaches as notified by the Home Office and your current general position to ascertain areas for challenge, such as weaknesses in the investigation process.

We would then provide a recommended course of action, advising on all compliance and evidentiary requirements critical to a prompt response and dealing with Home Office officials on your behalf. This could take one of many approaches, determined by the strength of your position and the case against you.

This will inevitably involve careful liaison with the Home Office, which we would undertake on your behalf. The aim is to negotiate to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion for both parties whereby the Home office is satisfied the issues raised in the suspension letter are addressed and the employer is able to retain their licence.

In instances where early resolution is not possible, while rare, we are experienced in managing any resulting court proceedings. This may include making an application for interim relief preventing the Home Office from taking your matter to revocation while court proceedings are live. This will be in the interests of your sponsored workers, who will be forced to find alternative entry clearance or to leave the country should your licence be revoked.

Sponsor licence suspension FAQs

How long do I have to respond to the Home Office suspension notice?

In most cases, you will have 20 days from the date of the notification to respond to the Home Office. The notification letter will state the deadline you need to work to.

Can you appeal a sponsor licence suspension?

You can challenge the decision by responding to the suspension notification within 20 days, providing evidence to support your argument for reinstatement of the licence.

Does a sponsor licence suspension affect visa workers?

Your sponsored workers can continue to work for you during the suspension. Their visas will only be affected directly if the Home Office takes the decision to revoke the sponsor licence.

What if you ignore sponsor licence suspension notice?

You must not ignore the letter. Failure to respond will almost certainly result in further action being taken against your organisation, which could include revocation of the licence.

What is my sponsor licence is being revoked?

If the Home Office decides to take further action by revoking the licence, all of the organisation's CoS will be cancelled. This will mean you can no longer employ migrant employees. Your sponsored workers' visas will be curtailed to 60 days, or however long they have left on the visa if less than 60 days. They must then leave the UK, unless they can secure permission under a different visa category.

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