Sponsor Licence: Criminal Record Rules

Section A: Sponsor Licence Suitability Criteria

If granted a sponsor licence, significant trust will be placed in you as a sponsor licence holder to prevent abuse of the system. With this trust comes a responsibility to act in accordance with the Immigration Rules and to meet all of the duties associated with sponsoring a worker. As such there are various strict suitability criteria that you must satisfy to qualify for a sponsor licence. In particular, when submitting your licence application, the Home Office will look at whether you are honest, dependable and reliable.

To judge this, they will look at your history and background, including the criminal records of any key personnel named on your application as responsible for undertaking your sponsorship duties, as well as any people involved in the day-to-day running of your business.

Equally, the Home Office will consider whether or not you are capable of carrying out your duties under your sponsor licence. Here, you must be able to show that your business has adequate HR systems and recruitment practices in place to meet the necessary sponsorship duties. This will include conducting right to work checks on prospective and existing sponsored workers, as well as reporting any relevant activities, such as unauthorised absences, changes in job role or location or criminal offences.

Prior to the grant of a sponsor licence, a site visit may be carried out by the Home Office to assess whether you meet the suitability criteria, or otherwise pose a threat to immigration control.

In circumstances where the Home Office is not satisfied that your systems and practices are adequate, and/or that key individuals are not sufficiently trustworthy or capable of carrying out your sponsorship duties, your licence application will be refused.

In practice, the Home Office applies both a suitability test and an eligibility test. Eligibility focuses on whether your organisation is lawfully operating in the UK and has a genuine need for a licence; suitability assesses whether you can be trusted to uphold immigration control. Suitability checks extend beyond key personnel to owners, directors and partners, and the Home Office may request information about anyone exercising significant control. Where any such individual has an unspent conviction for a relevant offence, or a history that calls into question their honesty or reliability, refusal is likely. Spent convictions are generally disregarded under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, but wider integrity concerns may still be considered.

The Home Office will also assess whether your business has a track record of compliance with wider legal obligations, such as employment law, tax duties and corporate governance. Evidence of previous enforcement action, including civil penalties for illegal working, can weigh heavily against you. The sponsor guidance also confirms that knowingly making false statements or failing to disclose relevant information in your application will itself be grounds for refusal, regardless of whether any other suitability concerns are present.

Since July 2025, the Home Office has reinforced its approach to suitability by expanding cross-checks with HMRC and Companies House. Sponsors can now expect financial and corporate checks alongside immigration compliance assessments, increasing the likelihood that historic irregularities in tax filings or director conduct will be identified during the assessment process. Where discrepancies or concerns are found, this can be used as evidence that the sponsor is not reliable or capable of meeting their obligations.

As such, when preparing your application, it is not only important to identify and nominate compliant key personnel but also to undertake an internal review of the wider business and its leadership. Any weaknesses in HR systems, historic compliance breaches or unresolved legal issues should be addressed before submission. The Home Office has little tolerance for sponsors who attempt to “patch over” shortcomings and will typically refuse rather than issue a licence subject to conditions. The application process is therefore an exercise in governance as much as immigration control.

Section B: Sponsor Licence Criminal Record Rules

In addition to meeting the general suitability and eligibility requirements, the Home Office places significant weight on the criminal record status of those connected with your organisation. Both at the application stage and throughout the life of the licence, criminality checks are carried out on individuals in positions of responsibility, and adverse findings can lead to refusal, suspension or revocation of your licence. The guidance sets out specific rules in relation to criminal convictions for key personnel, senior management and, indirectly, for the sponsored workers themselves. These rules are designed to ensure that only organisations with trustworthy leadership and compliant personnel are permitted to access the sponsorship system. Employers must therefore exercise caution when nominating individuals and be prepared to act swiftly if concerns arise after a licence is granted.

1. Key Personnel & Criminal Records

The sponsor licence application will require you to nominate specific key personnel within your business, some, or all, of whom will be given access to the sponsor management system in the event that you are granted a licence. These individuals will also be responsible for managing the sponsorship process.

The sponsor management system (SMS) is an online portal that allows you to carry out your day-to-day sponsor activities such as reporting any change in circumstances to the Home Office.

As the employer, you will be responsible for all activities carried out on the SMS. As such, you should always exercise caution when nominating key personnel, not only to ensure they meet the suitability criteria and have a clean record, but that they are suitable to undertake the responsibilities required of them.

When applying for a sponsor licence you must name your authorising officer, key contact and level 1 user on the application form. That said, these roles can either be filled by the same person or a combination of people.

The authorising officer must be the most senior person within your organisation responsible for the recruitment of sponsored workers and ensuring that all your sponsor duties are met, whilst the key contact will act as the main point of contact between your organisation and the Home Office.

The level 1 user can be the authorising officer or another person within your organisation, and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the sponsor licence using the SMS. There can only be one authorising officer and one key contact, but you can appoint more level 1 users once you have been granted a sponsor licence. With your licence in place, the level 1 user(s) will be able to appoint level 2 users to delegate responsibilities in using the online portal.

However, to be eligible to meet any one of these roles, the nominated personnel must satisfy various criteria, not least that each individual must meet the requirements on criminal convictions set out in Annex 2 (criminality and suitability) and Annex 6 (revocation triggers) of the Home Office guidance.

In particular, any key personnel must not have a conviction for a relevant offence. This includes, but is not limited to, offences of dishonesty such as theft, corruption, deception and fraud, as well as bribery, money laundering and offences under UK immigration law. Serious criminal convictions for violence, sexual offences or drugs may also be taken into account as indicators that a person is not reliable to hold responsibility within a licensed organisation.

Under Annex 2 of the sponsor guidance, your licence application will usually be refused if any key personnel have an unspent conviction for a relevant offence or if their conduct is deemed to present a risk to immigration control. Even where a conviction is technically spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, the Home Office still retains discretion to take account of the wider circumstances, particularly where public confidence in the immigration system could be undermined by allowing that individual to act as a key personnel.

The Home Office will always carry out checks on authorising officers, key contacts and level 1 users. This will include checks against their records and the police national computer. These checks will be made not only when considering your sponsor licence application, but they may be repeated at any time during the life of your licence.

The Home Office can also carry out checks where new individuals take up key personnel roles, not least before newly appointed level 1 users are given access to the SMS. You may even find that the Home Office refuses to accept a person you later nominate for a key personnel role.

In circumstances where any of your key personnel have an unspent criminal conviction for a relevant offence, the Home Office will normally refuse your application for a sponsor licence unless you can nominate alternative compliant personnel. It is not standard practice for the Home Office to grant a licence with restrictions as a way of addressing criminality. Instead, you should be prepared to replace any unsuitable nominees before proceeding.

Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, convictions may become spent after a specified rehabilitation period. Sponsors are generally not required to declare spent convictions; however, given the Home Office’s discretion to consider wider integrity concerns, it is prudent to take legal advice if in doubt.

Following a change in the guidance in 2025, organisations whose sponsor licences are revoked due to serious or repeated breaches, including those related to criminal activities by key personnel, now face a mandatory cooling-off period of two years before they can reapply for a licence. This extension from the previous 12-month period serves as a stronger deterrent against non-compliance and makes it vital to ensure that all nominated personnel are thoroughly vetted before submission.

2. Criminal Records & Senior Management

In addition to carrying out checks on key personnel, the Home Office will also carry out criminal record checks on the owner of the business, together with any members of the senior management team, including directors and partners, or those otherwise responsible for its day-to-day running.

Further, although checks are not routinely undertaken on any other people associated with licensed sponsors, the Home Office reserves the right to request information on employees in positions of responsibility who are not directors, partners or key personnel, as well as individual financiers involved in the running of your business.

Having regard to any relevant criminal history here, the Home Office may again refuse your licence application or grant you a licence with limitations.

In practice, the sponsor guidance makes clear that where an owner, director or partner has an unspent conviction for a relevant offence, the default position will be refusal of the application. The Home Office is not obliged to accept explanations or mitigating factors, and unlike with key personnel roles, there is often no scope to “swap out” individuals in senior positions who are integral to the business structure. This means that a single unspent conviction in the senior leadership team can make the entire organisation ineligible for a licence.

The rules also extend to shadow directors and anyone exercising significant control, even if they do not hold a formal title. The Home Office takes a broad approach to who qualifies as “responsible for the day-to-day running of the business,” and will look to Companies House records, shareholder structures and financial disclosures when making that assessment. This prevents sponsors from attempting to avoid scrutiny by moving individuals with convictions into informal roles.

Where a conviction comes to light after a licence has been granted, the Home Office can suspend the licence to investigate, and if the concern is confirmed, revoke it. Annex 6 of the sponsor guidance specifically lists unspent convictions of owners, directors and partners as grounds for revocation. The consequences are severe, as revocation will normally result in sponsored workers’ leave being curtailed and the organisation being barred from reapplying for at least two years.

Employers should therefore carry out due diligence on their leadership team before applying. This includes verifying whether any convictions are unspent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, but also considering reputational risks of spent convictions that might attract scrutiny. Where issues are identified, legal advice should be taken on whether the organisation remains eligible to hold a licence and whether remedial steps, such as changes to the management structure, are required before submission.

3. Criminal Convictions & Visa Applicants

Even with a valid sponsor licence firmly in place, any sponsored workers that you are looking to employ will also be scrutinised by the Home Office in their consideration of the general grounds for refusal under the UK Immigration Rules, including any previous criminal history.

Further, certain applicants will also be required to submit an overseas criminal record certificate with their visa application, namely, those coming to work in the health, education and social care sectors under the Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker routes. This is to provide additional safeguards where the worker’s job will involve working closely with children and vulnerable adults.

Finally, as a sponsoring employer of a foreign national who has been successfully granted leave to work for you in the UK, you will be under a continuing duty to report any change in their circumstances, including the subsequent conviction of a criminal offence.

As with the risk of revocation of your sponsor licence when reporting any recent criminality on the part of key individuals within your organisation, you must still report any relevant convictions that you are aware of in relation to sponsored workers, even though this may result in the curtailment of their leave.

In practice, the Home Office applies a tiered approach to applicants’ criminal records. Under Part 9 of the Immigration Rules, an applicant will normally be refused if they have received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, regardless of when the conviction occurred. Shorter sentences and non-custodial convictions may also lead to refusal if recent or if the offence is considered to cause serious harm. This means that not all criminal records are an absolute bar, but they do pose significant risks to an applicant’s eligibility. Employers need to factor in these risks when making offers of employment and allow for the possibility that an otherwise suitable candidate may be refused on criminality grounds.

Since 2023, overseas criminal record certificates have been a requirement for Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker visa applicants in specific occupations, primarily those involving close contact with vulnerable groups. Certificates must be obtained from every country where the applicant has resided for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Applications can be delayed or refused where certificates are missing or raise concerns, so employers should ensure candidates begin gathering these documents early in the recruitment process.

Once a worker is employed, sponsors must report any criminal convictions that arise during employment through the sponsor management system. Failure to do so can itself constitute a breach of sponsor duties, even where the offence does not directly trigger curtailment. The Home Office takes non-reporting as evidence that the sponsor cannot be trusted to monitor and disclose compliance risks, which can justify suspension or revocation of the licence.

Section C: Refusals & Penalties Due to Criminal Records

Where the Home Office identifies criminality concerns at any stage of the sponsor licence process, the consequences can be severe. At the application stage, a refusal may follow if any owner, director, partner or nominated key personnel has an unspent conviction for a relevant offence, or if information has been withheld that calls into question the organisation’s honesty. After a licence is granted, the discovery of criminal records can trigger suspension while investigations are carried out, and in serious cases, revocation of the licence. These outcomes can disrupt workforce planning, damage business continuity and expose the organisation to long-term restrictions on sponsorship. Employers therefore need to be aware of both the refusal grounds and the penalties that may arise post-grant, as well as the different cooling-off periods now applied depending on the nature of the breach.

1. Sponsor licence application refusal due to criminal record

One possible ground for a sponsor licence refusal is where those responsible for the day-to day running of your business and/or the key personnel nominated to carry out your sponsorship duties are found by the Home Office to have a history of unspent criminal convictions for a relevant offence, including immigration violations.

That said, this is no justification for failing to disclose any criminal record when making a licence application. In particular, you have a duty to act honestly in any dealings with the Home Office, such as not making false statements and ensuring all essential information is disclosed when applying for a sponsor licence.

Any failure on your part to disclose any unspent convictions or pending criminal prosecutions can, in itself, provide a basis for the refusal of your application, namely that you have proven yourself to be dishonest and, as such, not fit to hold a sponsor licence.

The specific circumstances in which the Home Office may refuse your application for a sponsor licence are set out under Annex 2 of its official guidance.

Further, where your licence application is refused in circumstances where you have knowingly provided false statements or false information, or otherwise acted in bad faith, there will usually be a cooling-off period of six months before you can submit a further application.

Since 2025, the Home Office has distinguished between refusal and revocation when applying cooling-off periods. While revocation for serious breaches now carries a two-year bar on reapplying, refusals due to dishonesty or false representations typically trigger a shorter six-month cooling-off period. However, where the refusal is based on wider suitability concerns, such as an unspent conviction of a key person or director, there may be no fixed reapplication period and the sponsor will remain ineligible for as long as the underlying concern persists. This means that an organisation with a director holding an unspent conviction for fraud, for example, cannot simply wait six months and reapply, the conviction itself continues to bar eligibility until it becomes spent.

It is also important to note that the Home Office retains discretion to refuse even where there is no unspent conviction, if there are serious doubts about integrity or reliability. Factors such as previous civil penalties for illegal working, non-compliance with employment law or evidence of concealment of information can all support a refusal under the suitability test. Sponsors should therefore approach the application process as a full compliance exercise and not assume that criminality is the only risk factor.

2. Sponsor licence penalties

If you are successfully granted a sponsor licence but an unspent criminal conviction subsequently comes to light, the Home Office may take action against you. This could include suspending your licence to investigate the matter further, or even revoking your licence altogether.

The circumstances in which revocation can take place are set out in detail under Annex 6 of the Home Office guidance.

As a sponsor licence holder, you are also under a continuing duty to disclose to the Home Office any relevant change of circumstances, including where either the owner of the business or any members of senior management, as well as your key personnel, have been convicted of a relevant criminal offence.

You are duty-bound to report any relevant criminal convictions, even though this could have an adverse effect on your sponsor licence. Moreover, a failure on your part to disclose any criminality following the grant of your licence could result in enforcement action regardless of whether the offence is later disclosed.

Needless to say, if your sponsor licence is revoked, either because you no longer meet the suitability criteria and/or because you failed to report any relevant and recent criminality, this can have a hugely detrimental impact on your business, not least where the sponsored workers that you employ are likely to have their leave curtailed in consequence.

Further, following the revocation of your licence, there may again be a cooling-off period before you can reapply, and even then you will still need to meet the suitability criteria where an unspent conviction could mean your application to reinstate your licence is refused.

Since the 2025 update, the Home Office has made clear that revocation for serious or repeated breaches, including criminality, triggers a mandatory two-year cooling-off period before a new licence application will even be considered. This is a significant increase from the previous 12-month bar and reflects the Home Office’s tougher stance on compliance. Less serious breaches, or cases where revocation is based on administrative failings rather than criminality, may attract shorter restrictions, but the discretion lies with the Home Office. Employers should assume that once a licence is revoked for criminality, the business will face at least a two-year exclusion from the system.

In addition to revocation, the Home Office can also reduce a sponsor’s allocation of Certificates of Sponsorship, impose closer scrutiny of future applications through compliance visits, or downgrade a licence rating. While downgrades are often used for remedial breaches, they can be applied where criminality concerns exist but revocation is not pursued immediately. The effect is that sponsors must commit additional resources to compliance monitoring, pay for an action plan and accept tighter oversight, with failure to meet those conditions leading directly to revocation.

Section D: Summary

The rules on criminal records in the context of sponsor licensing underline the level of scrutiny the Home Office applies when assessing whether an organisation can be trusted to access the sponsorship system. At the application stage, checks extend beyond nominated key personnel to owners, directors and partners, ensuring that the leadership of the organisation is free from unspent convictions for relevant offences. The same approach applies throughout the lifetime of the licence, with the Home Office retaining the power to investigate and act on concerns whenever they arise. This means that compliance is not a one-off hurdle but an ongoing obligation, with any adverse findings capable of leading to suspension or revocation.

For employers, the implications are clear. The nomination of key personnel should be made with care, ensuring that individuals are both competent and free from relevant convictions. Senior management must also be vetted, as a single conviction at this level can compromise the organisation’s entire eligibility. Equally, sponsored workers are subject to criminality checks, and employers must remain alert to the reporting obligations if convictions arise during employment. Failure to disclose, or attempts to conceal, will typically be treated more harshly than disclosure that results in enforcement action.

The extension of the cooling-off period to two years for revocations in 2025 demonstrates the Home Office’s strengthened stance on integrity. The consequences of refusal or revocation are not limited to compliance costs but extend to significant operational disruption and reputational damage. A thorough, proactive approach is therefore indispensable for any organisation seeking to hold a sponsor licence.

Section E: Need assistance?

DavidsonMorris’s specialist business immigration lawyers work with UK employers on all aspects of the UK sponsor licence, from the initial application, dealing with refusals and ongoing management of the licence once issued. We can also support with Home Office compliance penalties such as suspensions and revocations.

If you have a question or need help with a sponsor licence application, contact us.

Section F: Sponsor licence & criminal record FAQs

Who needs to pass a criminal record check for a sponsor licence?

All individuals appointed as key personnel on a sponsor licence must satisfy the Home Office’s suitability requirements. This includes the Authorising Officer, Key Contact, and Level 1 Users. The Home Office also checks owners, directors, partners and anyone involved in the day-to-day running of the business. These checks are carried out against police and immigration records, with the discretion to review wider sources where integrity is in question.

What types of criminal convictions can affect a sponsor licence?

Unspent convictions for offences such as fraud, money laundering, bribery, immigration offences and dishonesty will usually result in refusal or revocation. Serious violent, sexual or drug-related offences may also be considered. Even spent convictions can be taken into account if they raise doubts about whether the sponsor is reliable or would undermine public confidence in the system.

How have the rules changed in 2025?

The 2025 update extended the cooling-off period from 12 months to two years where a licence is revoked for serious or repeated breaches, including criminality. It also expanded cross-checking between the Home Office, HMRC and Companies House, meaning financial or corporate irregularities are more likely to be identified as part of suitability assessments.

Can a sponsor licence be revoked if a key personnel member is later found to have a criminal record?

Yes. If a key personnel member is discovered to have an unspent conviction that was not disclosed, or if they commit a relevant offence after the licence has been granted, the Home Office can suspend or revoke the licence. Revocation in such cases will usually trigger a two-year cooling-off period before reapplication.

How often does the Home Office check criminal records for key personnel?

Checks are mandatory at the application stage and when new key personnel are nominated. The Home Office also has the power to run further checks at any point during the life of the licence, particularly during compliance visits or audits. Employers should therefore assume that personnel remain subject to ongoing scrutiny.

What happens if a sponsor licence application is refused due to a criminal record?

If the refusal is due to dishonesty or false information, the Home Office will usually apply a six-month cooling-off period before another application can be made. If the refusal is because of an unspent conviction for a relevant offence, the business remains ineligible until that conviction becomes spent or the individual is removed from a role that brings them within the scope of suitability checks.

What should an organisation do if key personnel change after the licence is granted?

Any changes to key personnel must be reported through the Sponsor Management System (SMS). New nominees must meet the suitability requirements, including criminality checks, before they can take up their role. If the Home Office refuses to approve the appointment, the business will need to nominate an alternative who is compliant.

Section G: Glossary

Section H: Additional Resources and Links