Which Immigration Costs Can Employers Recover? 2026 Rules
Section A: Recovering Immigration Costs from Workers Questions about recovering immigration-related costs arise regularly in the sponsorship context. Employers may fund visa application fees, Immigration Health Surcharge payments, relocation expenses, training costs and other expenditure associated with recruiting workers from overseas. Where significant costs have been incurred, attention often turns to whether those […]
Going on Holiday While on Sick Leave 2026: Rules, Pay & Risks
Section A: When can an employee legally go on holiday while on sick leave? For employers, the starting point should always be the legal position rather than assumptions about what sick leave should look like. UK employment law does not treat sickness absence as a period during which all other statutory rights are […]
Home Office Tightens Student Sponsor Compliance Rules for Universities
Home Office Raises the Compliance Bar for Student Sponsors The Home Office has announced significant changes to the Student sponsor compliance framework, introducing tougher performance thresholds and a new rating system for universities and higher education providers sponsoring international students. The reforms increase compliance expectations for licensed Student sponsors and create a more […]
10 Year Passport Rule Explained for UK Travellers
Section A: What Is the 10-Year Passport Rule? The 10-year passport rule has become a growing source of confusion for UK travellers heading to Europe. Despite the name, it is not a new passport policy introduced by the UK Government or a recently announced European measure. Instead, it reflects the passport validity requirements […]
Home Office Compliance Visits & UKVI Compliance
Section A: What is UKVI Compliance? UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is the division of the Home Office responsible for managing the UK’s visa system, sponsor licensing and immigration compliance enforcement. A UKVI compliance inspection can be a cause of real concern for employers. The Home Office has powers to investigate organisations to […]
Immigration Compliance, Audits & Sponsor Licence Support
Sponsor Licence Compliance Support UKVI expects sponsors to maintain effective systems and controls, keep prescribed records, monitor sponsored workers and meet their reporting obligations. In practice, compliance risks rarely arise because an organisation deliberately ignores its responsibilities. More often, issues develop over time as businesses grow, staff change roles and compliance responsibilities become […]
Sponsored Care Worker Awarded £30,000 After Receiving No Work
Mr S Shaji v Swan Care Solutions Ltd: Background to the Case Shaji v Swan Care Solutions Ltd concerned a sponsored care worker who relocated from India to the UK after being offered employment in the care sector. He later brought a claim for unpaid wages after alleging that he had remained ready […]
Future of UK Immigration: Could Sponsorship Attrition Drive Remigration?
Section A: The UK Sponsorship Expansion Era 2021 – 2023 Between 2021 and 2023, the UK experienced one of the largest periods of legal migration in recent decades. While political debate often focuses on headline migration figures, less attention has been paid to the policy choices that helped produce them. The increase was […]
Payroll Mistakes: Common Care Sector Pay Practices Risking Home Office Action
Section A: Payroll is an Immigration Compliance Issue For many employers, payroll has traditionally been viewed as a finance and HR function. Sponsorship compliance, meanwhile, has often been treated as a separate immigration responsibility concerned with visas, Certificates of Sponsorship and Home Office reporting duties. That distinction has become increasingly difficult to maintain. […]
Surrender Sponsor Licence? Process & Implications
Section A: What is Sponsor Licence Surrender? A sponsor licence allows a UK employer to sponsor eligible overseas workers under routes such as the Skilled Worker route. However, there is no requirement to retain a sponsor licence indefinitely. Where sponsorship is no longer required or has become commercially unworkable, an organisation can choose […]