Sponsor Licence Action Plan: Guide for B-Rated Sponsors

Sponsor Licence Action Plan: At a Glance

A sponsor licence action plan is imposed where the Home Office downgrades a sponsor licence from an A-rating to a B-rating because it has identified compliance failures that it considers capable of remediation.

A B-rating is a serious regulatory intervention. The sponsor remains licensed, but significant restrictions apply while it works through the action plan. In particular, a B-rated sponsor cannot normally sponsor new workers and must continue meeting all existing sponsor duties throughout the remediation period.

Under current Home Office guidance, an action plan runs for a fixed three-month period. During that time, the organisation is expected to correct the identified deficiencies, address the underlying compliance weaknesses and produce evidence that revised systems and controls are operating effectively.

Successful completion can result in restoration of the sponsor’s A-rating. Failure to satisfy the action plan can lead to sponsor licence revocation, with potential consequences for existing sponsored workers, future recruitment and the organisation’s wider workforce strategy.

Employers should therefore manage the three-month period as a structured compliance remediation programme, with clear ownership, internal deadlines, evidence requirements and testing of revised controls.

This guide explains how sponsor licence action plans work, the restrictions that apply to B-rated sponsors, the opportunity to challenge a proposed downgrade and the steps employers can take to restore their A-rating and reduce the risk of revocation.

 

Section A: What is a Sponsor Licence Action Plan?

 

A sponsor licence action plan is a formal Home Office programme of corrective measures imposed on a sponsor whose licence has been downgraded to a B-rating. It sets out the compliance improvements the organisation is required to make before it can return to A-rated status.

The precise requirements depend on the deficiencies identified by the Home Office. Depending on the case, the action plan and the sponsor’s wider remediation programme may involve improvements to:

 

• record-keeping systems;
• processes for monitoring sponsored workers;
• reporting procedures;
• Sponsor Management System (SMS) controls;
• Certificate of Sponsorship procedures;
• management of key personnel;
• communication between branches or business units;
• associated right to work processes;
• internal compliance policies;
• staff training and oversight; and
• management governance and internal compliance controls.

 

The Home Office action plan sets the formal requirements the sponsor needs to satisfy. The organisation should also consider whether those findings expose related weaknesses elsewhere in its sponsorship arrangements.

Effective remediation therefore goes beyond correcting the individual examples identified by UKVI. If several sponsored worker files are missing documents required under Appendix D: Keeping Documents – Guidance for Sponsors, locating the missing records may address the immediate deficiency, but the organisation also needs to establish why the records were not collected or retained correctly and whether the same problem affects other files.

The same principle applies across reporting, worker monitoring, SMS activity, CoS assignment and sponsor governance. The employer should be able to show both that the specific failure has been addressed and that the control which allowed it to happen has been strengthened.

The action plan provides a route back to an A-rating where the Home Office considers the deficiencies capable of remediation. More serious sponsor compliance failures can lead instead to suspension or revocation, depending on the applicable sponsor guidance and the facts.

A Provisional sponsor under the UK Expansion Worker route cannot be downgraded to a B-rating or placed on an action plan. Where such a sponsor fails to meet its sponsor duties or licence requirements, the Home Office will instead consider revocation.

Employers receiving an action plan should therefore assess both the measures expressly required by the Home Office and the wider compliance position before reassessment takes place.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section B: Why Has Your Sponsor Licence Been B-Rated?

 

A sponsor licence may be downgraded from an A-rating to a B-rating where the Home Office identifies sponsor compliance failures but considers that the organisation can remedy those failures through an action plan.

The circumstances leading to a downgrade will vary between sponsors.

Problems may be identified during a Home Office compliance check, through information reported on the Sponsor Management System, following intelligence received by UK Visas and Immigration or as part of other Home Office compliance activity.

Examples of deficiencies that can contribute to a B-rating include:

 

• inadequate sponsor record keeping;
• incomplete or inconsistent personnel files;
• failures in monitoring sponsored workers;
• weaknesses in reporting changes to the Home Office;
• poor controls over the use of the SMS;
• inadequate oversight of Certificate of Sponsorship assignments;
• weaknesses involving sponsor licence key personnel;
• ineffective communication between branches or different parts of the organisation;
• inadequate HR procedures;
• failure to maintain appropriate supporting evidence; and
• failure to provide information requested by the Home Office.

 

The significance of any compliance failure will depend on its nature, scale and circumstances.

A single administrative error does not necessarily have the same implications as systemic failures affecting multiple sponsored workers. Likewise, failures that indicate poor governance or a lack of effective control over the sponsor licence may be treated more seriously than isolated mistakes.

The Home Office may also look at the sponsor’s wider compliance history when deciding what action is appropriate.

For this reason, employers should not treat the action plan solely as a list of individual problems to be corrected. The downgrade should trigger a broader assessment of the organisation’s sponsor licence compliance arrangements.

If the Home Office has identified problems in one area, similar weaknesses may exist elsewhere.

A wider sponsor compliance audit can therefore be important in identifying additional issues before the Home Office carries out its reassessment.

This becomes particularly important because subsequent Home Office compliance activity is not necessarily confined to checking whether the individual examples identified in the original action plan have been corrected.

The objective should be to ensure that the organisation as a whole is capable of demonstrating effective and sustainable sponsor licence compliance.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section C: Can You Challenge a Proposed B-Rating?

 

In many cases, the sponsor will have an opportunity to respond before a proposed downgrade from an A-rating to a B-rating becomes final.

Where the Home Office is considering downgrading a sponsor’s licence, current sponsor guidance provides for the organisation to be notified of the proposed action and the reasons for it.

The sponsor will normally be given 20 working days from the date of the Home Office letter to respond in writing.

This stage can be important because the sponsor may be able to challenge factual errors, provide missing evidence, explain relevant circumstances or demonstrate that the Home Office’s concerns do not justify the proposed downgrade.

 

1. What should the sponsor do when it receives a proposed downgrade letter?

 

The correspondence should be escalated immediately to the Authorising Officer and appropriate senior personnel.

The organisation should review:

 

• each allegation made by the Home Office;
• the evidence relied upon;
• the sponsor duty said to have been breached;
• the factual circumstances surrounding the alleged failure;
• whether relevant evidence was overlooked or misunderstood;
• whether the issue has already been corrected;
• whether the alleged breach is isolated or systemic; and
• whether the proposed downgrade is supported by the applicable sponsor guidance.

 

The sponsor should avoid responding defensively or providing unsupported explanations. Representations should be structured around the specific Home Office findings and supported by documentary evidence wherever possible.

 

2. What can be included in representations against a proposed downgrade?

 

Depending on the circumstances, written representations may address matters such as:

 

• incorrect factual assumptions;
• records that were available but not considered;
• evidence demonstrating compliance;
• misunderstandings concerning HR processes;
• SMS records and reporting history;
• relevant sponsored worker documentation;
• explanations of organisational structures;
• evidence that an apparent compliance issue did not amount to a breach;
• corrective measures already implemented; and
• the proper application of the sponsor guidance to the facts.

 

The purpose of the representations is not simply to argue that the consequences of a B-rating would be inconvenient for the organisation. The sponsor needs to address the substance of the Home Office concerns.

 

3. Is there an oral hearing?

 

The sponsor downgrade representations process is conducted in writing. It should not be approached on the assumption that the organisation will later have an opportunity to explain its case orally.

This makes the written response particularly important.

The representations should be sufficiently clear and complete to enable the Home Office to understand the sponsor’s position and the evidence relied upon.

 

4. What happens if the Home Office relies on new evidence?

 

Where new evidence or information arises during the Home Office’s consideration of the case, current sponsor guidance provides for the sponsor to be given a further opportunity to respond to that material.

The sponsor will normally be given a further 20 working days to make representations on the new evidence.

This procedural safeguard is important because the sponsor should have an opportunity to address material that may affect the Home Office decision.

 

5. Can the response deadline be extended?

 

Sponsors should work on the basis that the stated Home Office deadline applies and should not assume that additional time will be granted.

Where genuinely exceptional circumstances prevent the organisation from responding within the permitted period, an extension may potentially be requested, but this should not be relied upon as part of the sponsor’s strategy.

Evidence collection and preparation of the representations should therefore begin immediately.

 

6. Why the representations stage matters

 

Once a B-rating and action plan are imposed, restrictions apply to the sponsor’s ability to use its licence.

Where there is a proper basis to challenge the proposed downgrade, effective representations can therefore be considerably more valuable than simply accepting the B-rating and attempting to recover the A-rating afterwards.

The sponsor should nevertheless use the representations period constructively. If the Home Office has identified genuine compliance weaknesses, the organisation should begin corrective work even while challenging aspects of the proposed decision.

Representations and remediation are not mutually exclusive.

The strongest position may be to demonstrate both that parts of the Home Office assessment are incorrect and that any genuine weaknesses have already been identified and addressed.

If, after considering the representations, the Home Office decides to proceed with the downgrade, the B-rating will take effect in accordance with the decision and the sponsor will need to comply with the action plan process.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section D: What Happens When You Receive a Sponsor Licence Action Plan?

 

Receiving notification that a sponsor licence has been downgraded requires immediate action.

The sponsor should treat the downgrade as both a regulatory event and an operational risk. The organisation needs to understand the Home Office findings, comply with the procedural requirements of the action plan and begin remediation without delay.

The process will generally involve several stages.

 

1. Home Office notification

 

The Home Office will notify the organisation that its sponsor licence has been downgraded from an A-rating to a B-rating.

The notification should explain the compliance concerns and the action the sponsor is required to take.

The organisation should review the decision carefully and establish precisely which sponsor duties, systems or practices have caused concern.

At this stage, the sponsor should also identify whether any part of the Home Office reasoning appears factually or legally incorrect and whether any procedural issue remains capable of being challenged or clarified.

 

2. Action plan fee

 

The sponsor will be required to pay the applicable Home Office fee for the action plan.

The payment deadline is important. A sponsor that intends to continue holding its sponsor licence should ensure the fee is paid within the required period.

Failure to deal with the action plan notification should not be treated as a way of avoiding the remediation process. If the sponsor fails to pay the action plan fee within the required 10-working-day period, the Home Office will revoke the licence unless the failure was due to circumstances beyond the sponsor’s control.

 

3. Action plan issued

 

Once the relevant process has been completed, the sponsor will be subject to the requirements contained within its action plan.

These requirements form the framework against which the organisation’s remediation work should be managed.

Each requirement should be converted into specific actions, responsibilities, deadlines and evidence requirements.

 

4. Compliance remediation

 

The employer then needs to implement the required improvements.

This may involve correcting existing records, revising policies, changing HR processes, improving SMS controls, training staff or introducing additional management oversight.

For larger organisations, remediation may involve several departments, sites or business functions.

Responsibility should therefore be clearly allocated rather than assuming that the Authorising Officer or HR team alone can correct every issue.

 

5. Evidence gathering

 

As changes are implemented, the sponsor should retain evidence demonstrating what has been done.

The objective is not merely to tell the Home Office that improvements have been made. The organisation should be capable of showing that the new procedures have been implemented and are operating in practice.

 

6. Home Office reassessment

 

The Home Office will subsequently assess whether the sponsor has complied with the requirements of the action plan.

Current sponsor guidance provides for a further compliance check as part of the action plan process. This may involve an onsite visit, a digital compliance check or other compliance activity, depending on the circumstances.

The Home Office will assess whether the required improvements have been made and whether any further compliance concerns have emerged.

The outcome of that assessment will determine whether the organisation can return to an A-rating, whether a further action plan is required in relation to other remediable deficiencies or whether the licence will be revoked.

For this reason, the period between receiving the action plan and reassessment should be managed as a formal compliance project, with clear accountability at senior level.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section E: 10-Working-Day Deadline to Pay the Sponsor Action Plan Fee

 

Where the Home Office downgrades a sponsor licence to a B-rating and requires the organisation to follow an action plan, the sponsor must pay the action plan fee within the specified timeframe.

The current sponsor licence action plan fee is £1,579.

The sponsor will normally have 10 working days from the date of the Home Office notification to pay the fee.

Payment is made through the Sponsor Management System using the relevant Action plan details function.

The deadline should be treated as urgent. Employers should not delay payment while they investigate the underlying compliance problems or decide how the remediation programme will be managed.

Those activities can take place alongside the administrative requirement to accept and pay for the action plan.

 

1. What are the sponsor’s options?

 

Broadly, an organisation receiving an action plan notification will need to decide whether it intends to continue operating as a licensed sponsor.

For most employers with existing sponsored workers or an ongoing requirement to recruit internationally, the practical course will be to accept the action plan, pay the fee and begin remediation immediately.

Where the organisation no longer requires its sponsor licence and has no sponsored workers, surrendering the licence may instead be an option.

The sponsor should not simply ignore the action plan.

If the sponsor fails to pay the action plan fee within the required 10-working-day period, the Home Office will revoke the licence unless the failure was due to circumstances beyond the sponsor’s control.

 

2. Paying the action plan fee does not resolve the B-rating

 

Payment of the £1,579 fee should not be confused with compliance with the action plan itself.

Payment allows the sponsor to proceed through the action plan process. The organisation must then complete the corrective measures required by the Home Office.

The B-rating remains in place while the action plan is being completed.

Employers should therefore use the initial 10-working-day period to mobilise the remediation programme rather than waiting until the fee has been paid before investigating the underlying problems.

This can include:

 

• reviewing the Home Office decision in detail;
• identifying each compliance failure;
• securing relevant personnel files and records;
• preserving evidence;
• checking SMS records;
• identifying responsible managers;
• instructing relevant internal stakeholders;
• beginning a wider sponsor compliance audit; and
• establishing a remediation timetable.

 

Three months can pass quickly where changes are required across multiple HR processes, departments or locations.

Early action can also provide time for new procedures to be tested before the Home Office reassesses the sponsor.

 

3. Declining the action plan and surrendering the licence

 

An organisation that no longer needs its sponsor licence may decide not to proceed with the action plan.

This may be relevant, for example, where the business has no sponsored workers and does not intend to sponsor workers in future.

Current Home Office guidance provides a process for sponsors in this position to decline the action plan and surrender their licence.

Where the sponsor decides to decline the action plan, it should follow the Home Office procedure carefully. This includes selecting the relevant decline option and returning the signed surrender declaration within the required 10-working-day period.

Surrender should, however, be considered carefully.

Where sponsored workers remain employed by the organisation, surrendering the sponsor licence can have significant immigration consequences for those workers. It can also affect the employer’s ability to recruit sponsored workers in future.

An employer should therefore understand the workforce and immigration consequences before deciding that surrender is preferable to completing the action plan.

 

4. What happens if you do nothing?

 

Doing nothing is not a neutral option.

If the sponsor fails to pay the action plan fee within the required 10-working-day period, the Home Office will revoke the licence unless the failure was due to circumstances beyond the sponsor’s control.

This makes internal escalation particularly important.

Action plan correspondence should be brought immediately to the attention of the organisation’s Authorising Officer and other appropriate senior personnel. It should not be left within an unattended SMS account, individual email inbox or administrative workflow.

Where the sponsor relies heavily on sponsored workers, loss of the licence can create substantial operational and workforce disruption.

The 10-working-day deadline is therefore the first critical deadline in the action plan process.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section F: How Long Does a Sponsor Licence Action Plan Last?

 

Under current Home Office sponsor guidance, a sponsor licence action plan is set for a fixed period of three months.

This gives the organisation a relatively short window in which to identify the causes of its compliance failures, implement the required corrective measures and demonstrate that its sponsor management arrangements are operating effectively.

The three-month period should not be regarded as three months simply to prepare for another Home Office inspection.

The purpose is to achieve genuine compliance within the organisation.

Depending on the issues identified, this could require changes to:

 

• HR systems;
• recruitment processes;
• employee monitoring;
• record keeping;
• right to work procedures;
• SMS administration;
• reporting procedures;
• Certificate of Sponsorship controls;
• management responsibilities;
• internal auditing;
• staff training; and
• governance and escalation procedures.

 

Where several of these areas are affected, remediation can become a significant organisational project.

 

1. Why the three-month period matters

 

Some compliance failures can be corrected relatively quickly.

A missing document may be obtained. An inaccurate SMS record may be corrected where the reporting rules permit. Access rights may be reviewed. A policy may be rewritten.

Systemic compliance weaknesses usually take longer.

For example, if the Home Office concludes that the organisation does not adequately monitor sponsored workers’ attendance, the employer may need to establish a new monitoring process, determine who is responsible for operating it, train relevant managers and demonstrate that the system is being used consistently.

The Home Office will be interested in whether the organisation has actually addressed the problem rather than merely produced a document saying that it has.

Evidence of implementation can therefore be as important as the policy itself.

 

2. Do not leave remediation until the end of the action plan

 

A common strategic error is to regard the Home Office deadline as the date by which the sponsor needs to start preparing its response.

Instead, employers should work backwards from the anticipated reassessment.

Ideally, the organisation should have completed the principal corrective work sufficiently early to allow time for the revised procedures to operate.

This provides an opportunity to identify whether the new controls actually work.

For example, an organisation might introduce a new monthly sponsored worker audit. If that procedure is introduced only shortly before the Home Office reassessment, there may be little evidence that it has been embedded successfully.

If introduced earlier, the sponsor may be able to produce completed audit records demonstrating that the process is being followed.

The same principle can apply to manager training, right to work checks, reporting processes, SMS controls and personnel file audits.

 

3. Can an action plan be extended?

 

Employers should not plan their remediation programme on the assumption that additional time will be available.

Current Home Office guidance provides for a fixed three-month action plan period.

The operational objective should therefore be to achieve full compliance comfortably within that period.

Where significant problems exist, senior management involvement may be required to ensure that corrective work is prioritised and adequately resourced.

 

4. Can you ask the Home Office to check compliance early?

 

A sponsor may request an earlier compliance check where it believes it has completed all the requirements of the action plan.

An early reassessment can appear attractive, particularly because a B-rating restricts the organisation’s ability to sponsor new workers.

However, requesting an early check should be considered carefully.

Completing the individual tasks listed in an action plan does not necessarily mean that the organisation is ready for Home Office scrutiny.

Before requesting an early assessment, the sponsor should be satisfied that:

 

• every action plan requirement has been completed;
• relevant personnel files have been reviewed;
• SMS records are accurate;
• outstanding reporting issues have been addressed;
• key personnel understand their responsibilities;
• revised policies have been implemented;
• managers have received any necessary training;
• new controls are operating in practice;
• supporting evidence has been retained; and
• no additional sponsor compliance issues remain unresolved.

 

A wider compliance audit can be particularly important before requesting an early check.

If the sponsor requests an early compliance check, it should understand that the Home Office will apply the normal action plan outcome framework based on what it finds at that point. The sponsor should not assume that it will retain the unused balance of the three-month period as a fallback if the reassessment identifies that the required improvements have not been completed.

The objective should therefore not be to obtain the earliest possible reassessment, but the earliest reassessment for which the sponsor is demonstrably ready.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section G: What Can Be Included in a Sponsor Licence Action Plan?

 

The contents of a sponsor licence action plan will depend on the compliance deficiencies identified by the Home Office.

There is no single remediation programme that will apply to every B-rated sponsor.

The action plan itself will specify the measures the Home Office requires the sponsor to complete. In addition, the organisation may need to undertake wider remediation work to address related compliance weaknesses and reduce the risk of further concerns being identified during reassessment.

Depending on the circumstances, action plan requirements and wider remediation may involve one or more of the following areas.

 

1. Record keeping

 

The sponsor may be required to improve the way it obtains, checks, stores and maintains documents relating to sponsored workers.

This could include deficiencies involving documents that sponsors are required to retain under Appendix D: Keeping Documents – Guidance for Sponsors.

The organisation should not restrict its review to the individual files identified by the Home Office. Where one file contains deficiencies, a wider sample or full audit may be appropriate to determine whether the same problem affects other workers.

The review should also consider whether the organisation’s record-keeping process is capable of ensuring that documents are collected consistently, retained for the required period and readily accessible if requested by the Home Office.

 

2. Sponsored worker monitoring

 

Sponsors are expected to maintain effective systems for monitoring their sponsored workforce.

An action plan or wider remediation programme may therefore require improvements to processes dealing with matters such as attendance, absences, changes in employment circumstances, changes in work location and other events relevant to the sponsor’s reporting duties.

Where monitoring is decentralised, the employer should consider whether line managers understand when information needs to be escalated to the sponsor licence team.

A monitoring process is only effective if information moves reliably from the operational part of the business to the people responsible for sponsor compliance.

 

3. SMS reporting

 

Failures to report relevant changes within the required timeframe can expose weaknesses in the organisation’s sponsor management arrangements.

Remediation may require the employer to improve the way reportable events are identified, escalated and submitted through the Sponsor Management System.

A practical reporting process should establish:

Trigger → Internal notification → Compliance review → SMS report → Evidence retained.

Without an effective internal escalation mechanism, the Level 1 User responsible for making an SMS report may not know that a reportable event has occurred.

The organisation should therefore identify which roles generate information relevant to sponsor reporting and ensure that those personnel understand the internal escalation process.

 

4. Certificate of Sponsorship controls

 

The Home Office may identify concerns regarding the organisation’s processes for requesting, allocating or assigning Certificates of Sponsorship.

Employers should ensure that CoS assignments are subject to appropriate checks and authorisation.

The organisation should be able to demonstrate:

 

• why the CoS was required;
• who approved the assignment;
• what eligibility checks were completed;
• whether the role and salary were reviewed;
• whether supporting evidence was retained; and
• whether the assignment was consistent with the restrictions applying to the sponsor at that time.

 

This becomes particularly important while the licence is B-rated because assigning a CoS to sponsor a new worker is prohibited.

 

5. Key personnel and SMS access

 

Weaknesses involving the Authorising Officer, Key Contact, Level 1 Users or other SMS users can indicate poor governance of the sponsor licence.

The sponsor may need to review:

 

• who has access to the SMS;
• whether users remain appropriate;
• whether access is adequately controlled;
• whether responsibilities are clearly allocated;
• whether relevant personnel understand the sponsor guidance;
• whether appropriate management oversight exists; and
• whether contingency arrangements exist when key personnel are absent.

 

Sponsor licence responsibility should not effectively sit with one administrator without appropriate senior supervision.

 

6. Right to work procedures

 

Where concerns involve right to work compliance, the organisation may need to review its checking procedures across the workforce.

This can include how checks are carried out, who conducts them, how evidence is retained and how follow-up checks are managed where an individual has time-limited permission.

Right to work compliance and sponsor compliance are related but distinct regimes. Not every right to work issue will form part of the Home Office action plan itself.

However, deficiencies in right to work systems can indicate wider weaknesses in immigration compliance and should be considered as part of the organisation’s broader risk review where relevant.

 

7. Policies and procedures

 

An action plan may require the organisation to introduce or improve written compliance procedures.

Policies should reflect what actually happens within the business.

Producing a sophisticated sponsor compliance policy will have limited value if managers do not understand it or operational practices do not follow it.

The sponsor should therefore be capable of demonstrating both the existence of the procedure and its practical implementation.

 

8. Training

 

Relevant personnel may need additional training on sponsor duties and internal procedures.

The appropriate audience may extend beyond the sponsor licence team.

Line managers, recruitment personnel, HR staff, payroll personnel and others can all generate information relevant to sponsor compliance.

Training should therefore reflect the individual’s role within the compliance system.

The organisation should retain evidence of the training provided, including attendance records and training materials where appropriate.

 

9. Governance and oversight

 

Where the underlying issue is weak management control, the action plan or wider remediation programme may require more fundamental changes to the way the sponsor licence is governed.

This can include clearer allocation of responsibilities, internal reporting arrangements, periodic compliance audits and greater involvement by the Authorising Officer.

For employers operating across multiple locations or business units, governance can be particularly important.

The sponsor needs to know that the procedures relied upon for sponsor compliance are being applied consistently throughout the organisation.

Ultimately, the Home Office action plan should be treated as the minimum formal remediation requirement. If the organisation’s own review identifies further weaknesses, those problems should ordinarily be addressed before the Home Office discovers them during reassessment.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section H: What Can’t a B-Rated Sponsor Do?

 

A B-rating allows an organisation to retain its sponsor licence while it completes the Home Office action plan, but significant restrictions apply during the remediation period.

One of the most important consequences is that a B-rated sponsor cannot normally use its licence to sponsor new workers.

This can have an immediate impact on recruitment and workforce planning, particularly where the organisation relies on overseas recruitment to fill skilled roles.

Employers should therefore identify any planned sponsorship activity as soon as they receive the downgrade decision.

 

1. Sponsoring new workers while B-rated

 

A B-rated sponsor cannot assign a Certificate of Sponsorship to sponsor a new worker.

This restriction is fundamental to the action plan regime.

The Home Office is effectively allowing the organisation to retain its existing sponsorship arrangements while requiring it to demonstrate that it can meet the standards expected of a licensed sponsor before being permitted to expand its sponsored workforce.

Current sponsor guidance states that where the Home Office finds that a CoS assigned while the licence was B-rated has been used to sponsor a new worker, the sponsor licence will be revoked.

This is therefore not an area where sponsors should rely on informal interpretation or assume that an incorrect CoS assignment can simply be corrected later.

Recruitment teams should be notified immediately of the downgrade.

This is particularly important in larger organisations where the sponsor licence team and recruitment teams operate separately.

There should be a temporary control preventing an unauthorised CoS assignment from being made simply because the recruiter or hiring manager was unaware that the licence had been downgraded.

 

2. Existing sponsored workers

 

The position of existing sponsored workers requires separate consideration.

A B-rating does not automatically prevent the sponsor from continuing to sponsor workers who were already sponsored by the organisation before the downgrade.

There can also be circumstances in which the sponsor is permitted to assign a CoS to an existing sponsored worker under the Worker or Temporary Worker routes where that individual needs and is eligible to make an application for permission to stay.

Current sponsor guidance provides for the Home Office to determine the number of Certificates of Sponsorship the organisation may have for such extension applications during the action plan period.

Employers should therefore check the applicable requirements before making any CoS assignment while B-rated.

The distinction between an existing sponsored worker and a new worker is critical.

Where there is any uncertainty about whether a proposed CoS assignment is permitted, the sponsor should resolve the position before proceeding.

 

3. Adding new branches

 

A B-rated sponsor is restricted from adding new branches to its sponsor licence while the B-rating remains in place.

This may affect organisations undergoing expansion or restructuring.

Businesses planning acquisitions, new sites or organisational changes should therefore consider the interaction between those developments and the action plan.

 

4. Adding new immigration routes

 

A B-rated sponsor cannot normally add a new immigration route to its licence.

For example, an organisation that intended to expand the scope of its sponsor licence to support a different category of sponsored worker may need to defer those plans until its A-rating has been restored.

 

5. Restrictions affecting key personnel changes

 

A B-rating can also remove certain automatic sponsor management privileges.

Where the sponsor previously had access to the relevant automatic functions, current Home Office guidance provides for the removal of the ability to:

 

• replace the Authorising Officer automatically;
• replace the Key Contact automatically; and
• add new Level 1 Users automatically.

 

This does not mean that relevant changes can never be made, but the sponsor should not assume that the same automatic SMS processes available to an A-rated sponsor will remain available while it is B-rated.

Before carrying out significant sponsor licence activity during the action plan period, the employer should check whether the proposed action is permitted and what Home Office process applies.

 

6. The commercial impact of a B-rating

 

The restrictions associated with a B-rating can create consequences beyond the compliance function.

An organisation may have:

 

• overseas candidates already in recruitment;
• job offers dependent on sponsorship;
• existing sponsored workers approaching visa expiry;
• business-critical vacancies;
• planned transfers from overseas group companies;
• corporate transactions underway;
• new sites or branches being established; or
• future projects dependent on internationally recruited workers.

 

The sponsor licence team should therefore identify the organisation’s upcoming sponsorship requirements at the beginning of the action plan period.

This allows the business to understand where the B-rating could affect operational plans and where immigration deadlines need to be managed particularly carefully.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section I: What Happens to Existing Sponsored Workers?

 

A sponsor licence being downgraded to a B-rating does not, in itself, mean that existing sponsored workers lose their immigration permission or have to stop working for the organisation.

The employer remains a licensed sponsor.

However, the organisation remains responsible for complying with all of its sponsor duties in relation to those workers while it completes the action plan.

 

1. Existing sponsorship continues

 

The B-rating is primarily a restriction on the sponsor’s ability to undertake certain new sponsorship activity while its compliance deficiencies are being remedied.

Existing sponsored workers can generally continue working for the organisation provided their immigration permission remains valid and the conditions of their sponsorship continue to be met.

Employers should avoid creating unnecessary concern among sponsored workers while ensuring that any immigration issues affecting individual employees are identified and managed appropriately.

 

2. Workers approaching visa expiry

 

Particular attention should be given to sponsored workers whose immigration permission will expire during the action plan period.

The organisation should identify these workers early rather than discovering an impending expiry shortly before an application needs to be made.

A workforce audit should record, as appropriate:

 

• the worker’s current immigration route;
• visa expiry date;
• current sponsored role;
• relevant CoS details;
• whether further sponsorship will be required;
• anticipated application date; and
• any changes affecting sponsorship.

 

Where a CoS will be required for an existing sponsored worker to make an application for further permission to stay, the sponsor should confirm that the proposed assignment is permitted under the rules applying to B-rated sponsors.

The organisation should also factor in that the Home Office determines the number of CoS available for eligible extension applications during the action plan period.

 

3. Sponsor duties continue during the action plan

 

A B-rating does not suspend the sponsor’s ordinary compliance responsibilities.

The organisation must continue meeting its duties relating to matters such as:

 

• record keeping;
• monitoring sponsored workers;
• reporting relevant changes;
• maintaining appropriate contact details;
• complying with immigration law;
• cooperating with the Home Office;
• ensuring sponsored roles remain eligible; and
• operating appropriate HR systems.

 

This is particularly important because new compliance failures arising during the action plan period can undermine the organisation’s attempts to regain an A-rating.

The sponsor should therefore avoid becoming so focused on correcting historic problems that routine compliance deteriorates elsewhere.

 

4. Workforce planning during the B-rating

 

The action plan should include a review of the organisation’s expected sponsorship requirements during the three-month remediation period.

This can identify potential pressure points before they become urgent.

For example, the employer may have an existing sponsored worker who requires further permission, while at the same time having a new overseas candidate whose recruitment cannot proceed under the B-rating.

These cases may require different treatment.

A central sponsorship schedule can help the organisation distinguish between:

 

• existing sponsored workers;
• workers approaching visa expiry;
• proposed extensions;
• pending recruitment;
• prospective new sponsored workers;
• proposed intra-group transfers; and
• other immigration-dependent recruitment.

 

This also reduces the risk that someone within the organisation assigns a CoS without appreciating the restrictions imposed by the B-rating.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section J: How to Respond to a Sponsor Licence Action Plan

 

The most effective response to a sponsor licence action plan is a structured remediation programme.

The employer should be capable of demonstrating not only that each Home Office requirement has been completed, but that the underlying compliance weaknesses have been identified and corrected.

A useful approach is to divide the response into ten stages.

 

1. Step 1: Analyse the Home Office Findings

 

Begin with the Home Office decision and action plan.

Each finding should be analysed against the relevant sponsor duty.

The organisation should establish:

 

• what the Home Office says went wrong;
• which sponsor duty is involved;
• which workers, records or processes are affected;
• whether the problem is isolated or systemic;
• how the failure occurred;
• whether similar failures could exist elsewhere;
• what corrective measures the Home Office expressly requires; and
• what additional remediation may be required to address the underlying cause.

 

This should produce a clear compliance issue list.

Do not rely solely on a general description such as “record keeping needs improvement”.

The issue should be broken down sufficiently to allow the organisation to identify what needs changing, who is responsible for making the change and what evidence will demonstrate that the problem has been resolved.

 

2. Step 2: Establish Governance and Responsibility

 

The remediation programme should have a clearly identified owner.

The Authorising Officer should have appropriate senior-level oversight, but responsibility may also need to be allocated across HR, recruitment, legal, compliance, payroll, operational management and other functions.

For each action, identify:

 

• the responsible person;
• the required outcome;
• the internal deadline;
• who will verify completion;
• what evidence will demonstrate completion; and
• how unresolved issues will be escalated.

 

Senior management should receive appropriate reporting on progress.

A B-rating is a regulatory and workforce risk, not simply an HR administration issue.

Where the organisation depends materially on sponsored workers, senior management should also understand the potential commercial consequences of failing the action plan.

 

3. Step 3: Conduct a Wider Sponsor Compliance Audit

 

The Home Office action plan identifies known deficiencies.

It should not automatically be assumed that these are the only deficiencies.

The organisation should consider conducting a wider audit covering its sponsor licence arrangements.

Depending on the circumstances, this may include:

 

• sponsored worker files;
• Appendix D documentation;
• associated right to work records;
• attendance and absence monitoring;
• worker contact details;
• SMS reporting;
• CoS assignments;
• salary and working arrangements;
• changes in sponsored roles;
• work locations;
• key personnel;
• SMS access;
• recruitment records;
• internal policies;
• reporting escalation processes; and
• previous compliance findings.

 

The objective is to identify problems before the Home Office does.

Where right to work processes are reviewed, employers should remember that the statutory right to work regime and sponsor compliance regime are distinct. The purpose of including right to work within a wider audit is to identify associated immigration compliance risks rather than to suggest that every right to work issue forms part of the sponsor action plan.

 

4. Step 4: Create a Remediation Matrix

 

The organisation should convert the action plan into a working compliance document.

A remediation matrix can include the following fields:

 

Home Office Requirement	Compliance Failure	Corrective Action	Owner	Deadline	Evidence	Status
Requirement identified in action plan	What went wrong	What must change	Responsible person	Completion date	Evidence retained	Open / Complete

 

For complex action plans, further columns can be added for:

 

• root cause;
• affected workers;
• relevant sponsor duty;
• quality assurance;
• management approval;
• follow-up testing; and
• outstanding risk.

 

The matrix should remain live throughout the remediation period.

This provides management with a single view of progress and helps prevent individual requirements from being overlooked.

It can also provide a useful audit trail demonstrating how the organisation managed the Home Office action plan.

 

5. Step 5: Correct Historic Compliance Problems

 

Where possible and appropriate, existing deficiencies should be corrected.

This could involve:

 

• obtaining missing records;
• correcting inaccurate personnel files;
• reviewing outstanding SMS reporting issues;
• checking sponsored worker information;
• correcting internal records;
• reviewing CoS documentation;
• updating contact information; and
• resolving inconsistencies between HR records and sponsorship records.

 

Care is needed when dealing with historic failures.

An organisation should not attempt to conceal previous non-compliance by creating misleading records or retrospectively presenting documents as though they existed at an earlier date.

Where a historic failure cannot genuinely be corrected retrospectively, the organisation should identify the issue accurately, determine what remedial action can now be taken and ensure that the underlying process is changed to prevent recurrence.

The compliance response should be accurate, transparent and capable of withstanding Home Office scrutiny.

 

6. Step 6: Fix the Underlying System

 

Correcting the historic problem is only part of the exercise.

The organisation needs to understand why the failure happened.

For example, if a sponsored worker changed work location and the change was not reported when required, simply dealing with the outstanding reporting issue may address only the immediate problem.

The root cause could be that operational managers do not notify HR when employees move locations.

The system-level remediation may therefore require:

Manager notification → HR review → Sponsor reporting assessment → SMS action → Compliance record retained.

This is the type of process improvement that can demonstrate sustainable compliance.

The same approach should be taken to other deficiencies.

For every material failure, the sponsor should ask:

 

• Why did this happen?
• What control should have prevented it?
• Why did that control fail?
• What change is required?
• Who will operate the new control?
• How will management know the control is working?

 

7. Step 7: Train Relevant Personnel

 

Once processes have been changed, the people responsible for operating them need to understand the new requirements.

Training may be required for:

 

• Authorising Officers;
• Level 1 Users;
• Level 2 Users;
• HR teams;
• recruitment teams;
• line managers;
• payroll personnel;
• site managers; and
• compliance teams.

 

Training should be relevant to each person’s responsibilities.

A line manager does not necessarily need to understand every SMS function, but should understand which changes involving a sponsored worker must be escalated internally and how quickly that information needs to reach the sponsor licence team.

The organisation should retain evidence of the training provided, including attendance records, dates and training materials where appropriate.

 

8. Step 8: Test the New Controls

 

A procedure should not be assumed to work simply because it has been written.

The organisation should test its revised compliance arrangements.

This can include:

 

• sampling sponsored worker files;
• reviewing recent recruitment;
• checking right to work records where relevant;
• testing reporting escalation;
• reviewing SMS activity;
• checking CoS authorisation;
• interviewing relevant managers;
• testing absence monitoring;
• verifying document retention; and
• checking whether revised procedures are being followed consistently across different locations.

 

Any problems identified during testing should be corrected before Home Office reassessment.

Where testing reveals that a control is ineffective, the organisation should investigate why and revise the process rather than simply recording that the test failed.

 

9. Step 9: Build the Evidence Pack

 

The sponsor should retain organised evidence of the remediation work.

This can include:

 

• revised policies;
• audit reports;
• remediation matrices;
• training records;
• completed checklists;
• management reports;
• screenshots of relevant systems;
• corrected personnel records;
• internal communications;
• governance documents;
• monitoring records;
• quality assurance results; and
• management sign-off.

 

The evidence should allow the organisation to demonstrate a clear progression:

Problem identified → Root cause established → Corrective action implemented → Staff trained → Control tested → Compliance verified.

That narrative can be considerably more persuasive than simply producing a new policy document.

 

10. Step 10: Prepare for Home Office Reassessment

 

Before the Home Office reassesses the sponsor, the organisation should conduct a final readiness review.

This should test the organisation against both:

 

1. the specific requirements of the Home Office action plan; and
2. its wider sponsor duties.

 

The employer should also consider how relevant personnel would respond if questioned by a Home Office compliance officer.

Managers should be able to explain what they actually do.

The objective is not to coach employees to provide artificial answers. It is to confirm that the organisation’s procedures are genuinely understood and operating in practice.

A mock compliance check can help identify weaknesses before the Home Office conducts its own assessment.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section K: Evidence of Compliance With the Action Plan

 

Evidence is a central part of the action plan process.

The Home Office will not necessarily be satisfied merely because the organisation states that a problem has been corrected.

The sponsor should be able to demonstrate what changed, when it changed, who was responsible and how the new process is operating.

 

1. Policies are evidence, but not enough on their own

 

Written policies can form part of the evidence.

However, a policy does not prove that the procedure described in it is actually being followed.

For example, a sponsor may produce a detailed policy stating that managers must report relevant changes in sponsored workers’ circumstances to HR within a specified internal timeframe.

The Home Office may then ask managers how the process works.

If managers are unaware of the policy, the document itself may do little to demonstrate effective compliance.

The stronger evidence would show:

 

• the policy exists;
• relevant staff received it;
• staff were trained;
• the procedure has been used;
• information has been escalated;
• required reports have been made;
• records have been retained; and
• management has checked compliance.

 

2. Examples of action plan evidence

 

Depending on the requirements imposed, useful evidence may include:

 

• updated sponsor compliance policies;
• revised HR procedures;
• completed personnel file audits;
• right to work check records where relevant;
• sponsored worker monitoring records;
• absence reports;
• SMS reporting logs;
• CoS approval records;
• key personnel reviews;
• SMS access reviews;
• training materials;
• training attendance records;
• internal compliance checklists;
• management meeting records;
• compliance dashboards;
• organisational charts;
• HR system screenshots;
• audit findings;
• corrective action records; and
• internal sign-off documentation.

 

The evidence required will depend on the nature of the action plan and the compliance weaknesses identified.

 

3. Create an Audit Trail

 

Where possible, evidence should be organised so that the sponsor can demonstrate an audit trail.

For each action plan requirement, the employer should be able to answer:

 

• What was the problem?
• Why did it happen?
• What did we change?
• Who implemented the change?
• When was it implemented?
• How do we know it is working?
• What evidence proves this?

 

This approach makes the remediation programme easier to manage internally and can also help the organisation prepare for Home Office scrutiny.

 

4. Evidence Should Reflect Actual Practice

 

Sponsors should avoid creating large volumes of documentation purely for the purpose of appearing compliant.

Home Office compliance activity can involve examining records, systems and actual working practices, as well as speaking to relevant personnel.

If the written process and operational reality are inconsistent, this can create further concerns.

For example, an organisation may have a written process requiring monthly sponsored worker monitoring but be unable to produce completed monitoring records. Alternatively, managers may describe a completely different procedure when questioned.

The strongest action plan response is therefore one where the documentary evidence reflects a compliance system that is genuinely functioning throughout the organisation.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section L: Sponsor Licence Action Plan Compliance Check

 

The Home Office will need to determine whether the sponsor has successfully completed the requirements of its action plan and whether the organisation is now meeting the standards expected of an A-rated sponsor.

Current sponsor guidance provides for further compliance checks after the action plan period to establish whether the required improvements have been made.

The reassessment should be treated as a significant stage in the action plan process. The sponsor will need to demonstrate that the problems which resulted in the B-rating have been addressed and that its wider sponsorship arrangements remain compliant.

The Home Office will normally conduct one compliance check during the action plan process, although it can undertake additional checks where further concerns arise.

A compliance check does not necessarily mean that Home Office officers will attend the employer’s premises. Depending on the circumstances, compliance activity can be conducted onsite or digitally.

 

1. What Will the Home Office Assess?

 

The Home Office will be particularly interested in whether the requirements contained in the action plan have been implemented.

However, the assessment should not be assumed to be limited exclusively to those matters.

Compliance activity can expose other sponsor licence deficiencies.

The organisation should therefore prepare on the basis that its wider sponsor compliance arrangements may be examined.

Depending on the circumstances, the Home Office may review areas such as:

 

• sponsored worker personnel files;
• Appendix D records;
• relevant right to work documentation;
• recruitment records;
• Certificates of Sponsorship;
• SMS records;
• reporting history;
• attendance and absence monitoring;
• sponsored worker contact details;
• salary and payroll information;
• job descriptions;
• work locations;
• key personnel;
• SMS access arrangements;
• HR policies;
• internal reporting procedures;
• organisational structures; and
• evidence of action plan remediation.

 

The Home Office may also want to understand how the organisation’s compliance systems operate in practice.

 

2. Interviews During a Compliance Check

 

Relevant personnel may be questioned about the organisation’s sponsorship arrangements.

This could include individuals responsible for:

 

• sponsor licence management;
• HR;
• recruitment;
• payroll;
• line management; and
• the management of sponsored workers.

 

Sponsored workers themselves may also be contacted or questioned as part of Home Office compliance activity where appropriate.

The purpose of preparation should not be to provide employees with scripted answers.

Instead, the organisation should ensure that relevant personnel understand the procedures they are responsible for operating.

For example, a line manager responsible for sponsored workers should understand what types of changes or absences need to be escalated internally and who should receive that information.

A Level 1 User should understand the organisation’s procedures for assessing and making reportable changes through the SMS.

The Authorising Officer should be capable of explaining how the organisation oversees sponsor compliance.

 

3. The Home Office May Identify Additional Compliance Problems

 

An important risk during reassessment is that the Home Office identifies a problem that was not expressly included in the original action plan.

This is one reason why limiting remediation to the precise examples listed by the Home Office can be dangerous.

For example, the original downgrade may have arisen from deficiencies in record keeping.

The sponsor may correct those records successfully but fail to identify unrelated problems involving SMS reporting.

If those problems are identified during reassessment, they can affect the Home Office’s decision.

Where the original action plan requirements have been met but the Home Office identifies other non-compliance that falls within the category of remediable deficiencies, a further B-rating and second action plan may be required, subject to the applicable limits on repeated B-ratings.

This should be distinguished from failing the existing action plan itself. Failure to meet the requirements of the current action plan can result in revocation rather than simply another opportunity to complete the same remediation.

The action plan period should therefore be used to achieve wider compliance readiness.

 

4. Conduct a Mock Compliance Check

 

Before Home Office reassessment, sponsors should consider conducting a mock compliance check.

The exercise can test both documentation and operational practice.

A mock audit might include:

 

• sampling sponsored worker files;
• reviewing SMS records;
• checking previous CoS assignments;
• testing right to work documentation where relevant;
• reviewing absence monitoring;
• checking payroll against sponsored salary information;
• reviewing work locations;
• testing internal reporting procedures;
• interviewing the Authorising Officer;
• interviewing Level 1 Users;
• interviewing HR personnel;
• testing line manager knowledge; and
• checking evidence of remediation.

 

Any weaknesses identified should be corrected before the Home Office assessment.

The final question should be straightforward:

If the Home Office carried out a compliance check today, could the organisation demonstrate that the action plan has been completed and that its sponsor compliance systems are operating effectively?

If the answer is uncertain, further remediation or testing may be required.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section M: Can You Ask the Home Office to Check Compliance Early?

 

A sponsor that believes it has completed all of the requirements contained in its action plan may request an earlier Home Office compliance check before the end of the three-month period.

This can be commercially attractive.

While the organisation remains B-rated, restrictions apply to its sponsorship activity. An employer with urgent international recruitment requirements may therefore want its A-rating restored as quickly as possible.

However, requesting early reassessment should be a compliance decision rather than simply a recruitment decision.

 

1. Why an Early Compliance Check Can Be Attractive

 

Restoration of the A-rating can allow the organisation to resume sponsorship activity that is restricted while the licence is B-rated.

For employers dependent on international recruitment, even a relatively short period of restricted sponsorship can affect:

 

• recruitment pipelines;
• candidate start dates;
• project resourcing;
• international transfers;
• workforce planning; and
• business expansion.

 

There can therefore be legitimate commercial reasons to seek early reassessment.

 

2. Why Requesting an Early Check Can Be Risky

 

The danger is requesting reassessment before the organisation is genuinely ready.

There is a difference between completing the tasks contained in the action plan and embedding effective compliance controls.

For example, an employer may have:

 

• rewritten its sponsor compliance policy;
• provided training;
• corrected personnel files; and
• changed its reporting procedure.

 

Those actions may technically have been completed.

The more important question is whether the organisation can demonstrate that the new procedures work.

If the Home Office returns before the revised systems have been adequately tested, previously unidentified weaknesses may emerge.

 

3. What Happens if an Early Check Is Requested?

 

Once an early compliance check is requested, the sponsor should expect the Home Office to assess the organisation against the normal action plan outcome framework based on its compliance position at that time.

The sponsor should not assume that requesting an early check simply creates an informal progress review.

If the Home Office concludes that the required improvements have not been completed, the consequences can be serious.

The sponsor should also not assume that it will retain the unused balance of the three-month action plan period as a fallback after an unsuccessful early reassessment.

This is why an early compliance check should only be requested where the sponsor is confident that the required remediation has been completed and can be demonstrated with evidence.

 

4. Readiness Test Before Requesting Early Reassessment

 

Before asking for an early compliance check, the sponsor should consider carrying out a formal readiness review.

This should confirm that:

 

• every action plan requirement has been completed;
• corrective measures have been documented;
• underlying root causes have been addressed;
• relevant sponsored worker files have been audited;
• SMS records have been checked;
• reporting requirements have been reviewed;
• key personnel remain appropriate;
• SMS access is properly controlled;
• relevant staff have been trained;
• new processes have been implemented;
• new processes have been tested;
• evidence of implementation is available;
• existing sponsored workers have been reviewed; and
• no material unresolved compliance concerns remain.

 

Where possible, somebody independent of the individuals who carried out the remediation should test whether the work has actually achieved the required result.

 

5. Do Not Let Recruitment Pressure Determine Compliance Readiness

 

A common commercial pressure can arise where the organisation has a candidate it urgently wants to sponsor.

Management may therefore want the B-rating removed as quickly as possible.

That commercial pressure should not result in a premature request for Home Office reassessment.

A failed or problematic reassessment can have consequences significantly greater than a delayed recruitment exercise.

The decision should therefore be based on evidence that the sponsor is ready to withstand Home Office scrutiny.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section N: What Happens at the End of the Sponsor Licence Action Plan?

 

At the end of the action plan process, the Home Office will determine whether the sponsor has addressed the identified deficiencies and whether its licence should return to an A-rating.

The outcome will depend on the sponsor’s compliance position at the time of reassessment.

Broadly, there are three potential outcomes.

 

Position Following Reassessment	Home Office Outcome
Action plan completed and no further material compliance concerns	A-rating restored
Original action plan completed but other remediable compliance deficiencies identified	A further B-rating and action plan may be required, subject to the applicable limits
Action plan requirements not met, or sufficiently serious non-compliance identified	Sponsor licence can be revoked in accordance with the current sponsor guidance

 

1. A-Rating Restored

 

The intended outcome is restoration of the sponsor’s A-rating.

This means the Home Office is satisfied that the required improvements have been made and that there are no other compliance concerns preventing restoration of the A-rating.

Restoration of the A-rating also removes the restrictions that apply specifically because the sponsor was B-rated, allowing the organisation to resume normal sponsorship activity subject to the wider sponsor rules.

This should not mark the end of the employer’s compliance programme.

The systems introduced during remediation should become part of the organisation’s ongoing sponsor licence governance.

Periodic internal auditing, refresher training and senior management oversight can help prevent the organisation from returning to B-rated status.

 

2. Other Remediable Compliance Concerns Identified

 

The Home Office may identify additional weaknesses during reassessment even where the sponsor has successfully completed the requirements of its existing action plan.

Where those additional deficiencies are considered capable of remediation and fall within the relevant Home Office criteria, a further B-rating and second action plan may be required, subject to the restrictions on repeated B-ratings.

This point should be distinguished carefully from failing the existing action plan.

A second action plan is not simply an automatic extension or another opportunity to complete the first action plan.

If the organisation has failed to meet the requirements of the existing action plan, the current sponsor guidance provides for revocation rather than simply allowing the sponsor to start again with another action plan.

 

3. Serious or Unresolved Failures

 

Where the sponsor has not complied with the action plan, the Home Office will revoke the licence. Sufficiently serious compliance failures identified during reassessment can also result in revocation under the applicable sponsor guidance.

The consequences can extend well beyond the licence itself.

The organisation may face disruption affecting:

 

• existing sponsored workers;
• future recruitment;
• overseas candidates;
• business-critical vacancies;
• workforce planning;
• international mobility;
• client projects; and
• expansion plans.

 

The action plan should therefore be viewed as an opportunity to prevent escalation into more serious Home Office enforcement action.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section O: What Happens if You Fail a Sponsor Licence Action Plan?

 

Failure to satisfy the requirements of an action plan will result in the sponsor licence being revoked.

For an organisation employing sponsored workers, this can be one of the most serious consequences of sponsor non-compliance.

The Home Office has already identified compliance weaknesses and provided the organisation with a defined opportunity to correct them.

Failure to do so can therefore raise fundamental concerns about whether the organisation is capable of meeting the responsibilities of a licensed sponsor.

 

1. Sponsor Licence Revocation

 

If the Home Office revokes the sponsor licence, the organisation loses its authority to sponsor workers under the affected routes.

This prevents the employer from using the licence for future sponsorship and can have consequences for workers already sponsored by the organisation.

The immigration implications for individual workers will depend on their circumstances and any action subsequently taken by the Home Office in relation to their permission.

Employers facing revocation risk should therefore consider both the regulatory position of the organisation and the immigration position of affected workers.

 

2. Is There an Appeal Against Sponsor Licence Revocation?

 

There is no general statutory right of appeal against the Home Office’s decision to revoke a sponsor licence.

Depending on the circumstances, an organisation may need to consider whether there is another public law remedy or whether the decision can otherwise be challenged, but this is different from having a conventional appeal against revocation.

This makes prevention particularly important.

Once a licence has been revoked, the organisation may also be prevented from immediately applying for another sponsor licence because a cooling-off period can apply.

Under the current framework, a sponsor will commonly face a period before it can make a fresh sponsor licence application, although the applicable position should be checked against the circumstances and the sponsor guidance in force at the time.

 

3. Impact on Sponsored Workers

 

Loss of the sponsor licence can create significant uncertainty for sponsored employees.

Depending on the circumstances, workers may need to find alternative sponsorship or consider whether another immigration route is available to them.

For the employer, this can create potential loss of personnel in roles that may already be difficult to fill.

The workforce implications should therefore form part of the organisation’s risk management during the action plan.

 

4. Impact on Recruitment

 

Revocation will also affect the organisation’s ability to recruit sponsored workers.

This may be particularly damaging in sectors or occupations where overseas recruitment forms an important part of workforce planning.

Recruitment campaigns, accepted job offers and planned international transfers can all be affected.

 

5. Reputational and Operational Consequences

 

Sponsor licence enforcement can also have wider consequences for the organisation.

Depending on the circumstances, these may include:

 

• disruption to workforce planning;
• increased management time;
• recruitment delays;
• project resourcing difficulties;
• increased compliance costs;
• reputational concerns; and
• greater scrutiny of immigration compliance.

 

Where sponsor compliance failures overlap with other immigration issues, there may also be wider enforcement risks.

 

6. Do Not Wait Until the End of the Action Plan to Identify Failure

 

Sponsors should monitor progress throughout the three-month period.

If a remediation requirement is falling behind schedule, management should know immediately.

A live action plan tracker should identify:

 

• outstanding requirements;
• overdue actions;
• unresolved compliance issues;
• evidence gaps;
• training still required;
• systems awaiting implementation; and
• areas that have failed testing.

 

This allows corrective action to be taken while time remains.

Waiting until shortly before Home Office reassessment to determine whether the organisation has successfully completed the action plan creates unnecessary risk.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section P: How Many Times Can a Sponsor Be B-Rated?

 

The Home Office places limits on repeated use of the B-rating and action plan process.

Current sponsor guidance states that an organisation can be B-rated and subject to an action plan no more than twice during any four-year rolling period in which it holds a sponsor licence.

The guidance further explains that this period is calculated from the date the sponsor licence was first granted and each subsequent four-year period.

Because the Home Office wording is specific, sponsors should avoid applying their own assumption about how the four-year period operates and should check their licence history carefully where previous B-ratings have occurred.

The action plan regime is intended to provide sponsors with an opportunity to correct remediable compliance failures. It is not designed to allow repeated cycles of non-compliance followed by temporary remediation.

 

1. Why the Four-Year Period Matters

 

Sponsors should maintain a record of previous B-ratings and action plans.

The relevant compliance history can become critical if the organisation is subsequently found to have further deficiencies.

A business that has already completed one action plan should therefore treat any subsequent compliance weakness particularly seriously.

The organisation should be able to establish:

 

• when the sponsor licence was first granted;
• whether and when previous B-ratings were imposed;
• when previous action plans were completed;
• what compliance deficiencies were identified; and
• whether similar problems have subsequently reappeared.

 

2. What Happens After Two B-Ratings?

 

Where a sponsor has already been B-rated and subject to an action plan twice within the relevant period and it subsequently meets the criteria for another downgrade, the current sponsor guidance states that the Home Office will revoke the sponsor licence.

This makes repeated B-ratings substantially more serious than an isolated first downgrade.

A third set of remediable deficiencies should not be approached on the assumption that the organisation will simply receive another action plan.

The organisation’s previous compliance history should therefore form part of its ongoing sponsor licence risk assessment.

 

3. Why Previous Action Plans Matter

 

A previous action plan can also provide useful information about weaknesses in the organisation’s compliance culture.

If similar problems arise again, management should ask why the earlier remediation failed to prevent recurrence.

Possible explanations could include:

 

• procedures were documented but not embedded;
• training was not maintained;
• key personnel changed;
• management oversight reduced;
• internal audits stopped;
• business growth outpaced compliance systems;
• responsibility became unclear;
• new sites failed to adopt existing procedures; or
• compliance became dependent on a single individual.

 

Repeated problems can indicate a governance issue rather than an isolated administrative failure.

The objective following an action plan should therefore be to build a compliance system capable of preventing the organisation returning to B-rated status.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section Q: Second Sponsor Licence Action Plan

 

Receiving a second sponsor licence action plan should be treated as a significant compliance warning.

A first B-rating gives an organisation an opportunity to identify and correct deficiencies in its sponsorship arrangements. If the organisation subsequently becomes B-rated again, the Home Office will be considering the sponsor against the background of its previous compliance history.

The employer should therefore investigate not only the issues that resulted in the second downgrade, but also why its previous remediation programme failed to prevent further non-compliance.

 

1. A Second Action Plan Is Not an Extension of the First

 

A second action plan should be distinguished from failure to complete the existing action plan.

Where the sponsor fails to meet the requirements of its current action plan, current Home Office guidance provides for revocation of the licence.

A second action plan can instead arise where the sponsor has satisfied the requirements of the existing action plan but the Home Office identifies other compliance deficiencies that are considered capable of remediation and do not require more serious enforcement action.

This distinction is important.

A sponsor should not assume that failure to complete the first action plan simply results in another three-month opportunity.

 

2. A Second Action Plan Requires Another Fee

 

Where the Home Office permits or requires the sponsor to follow a further action plan, the applicable action plan fee will be payable again.

The second action plan represents a separate compliance intervention.

Employers should not assume that payment of the first action plan fee covers any subsequent downgrade or remediation process.

 

3. Review the First Action Plan

 

One of the first steps following a second B-rating should be to revisit the previous action plan.

The organisation should establish:

 

• what deficiencies were identified previously;
• what corrective measures were introduced;
• whether those measures remained in place;
• whether the same or similar problems have returned;
• whether personnel responsible for compliance have changed;
• whether training has been maintained;
• whether internal auditing continued;
• whether business changes affected the compliance system; and
• whether management oversight remained effective.

 

This can reveal whether the problem is a new compliance issue or evidence that the earlier remediation was not sustainable.

 

4. Repeated Failures Require Root-Cause Analysis

 

Where similar problems recur, simply repeating the previous corrective action is unlikely to be sufficient.

For example, if the first action plan identified late SMS reporting and the organisation subsequently experiences the same problem, the issue may not be a lack of written procedures.

The underlying cause could instead involve:

 

• poor communication between managers and HR;
• unclear responsibility;
• insufficient staffing;
• inadequate training;
• absence of internal deadlines;
• ineffective management oversight;
• excessive reliance on one Level 1 User; or
• failure to audit SMS activity.

 

The organisation should identify the root cause and redesign the control accordingly.

 

5. Governance Should Be Escalated

 

A second action plan should ordinarily result in increased senior management involvement.

The sponsor should consider whether its existing governance arrangements are adequate.

This can include reviewing:

 

• the role of the Authorising Officer;
• reporting lines;
• compliance ownership;
• resources available to the sponsor management function;
• frequency of internal audits;
• management reporting;
• escalation procedures;
• training programmes; and
• contingency arrangements when key personnel are absent.

 

Where the organisation operates across multiple sites, divisions or group companies, the review should also consider whether sponsor compliance is being implemented consistently.

 

6. Revocation Risk Becomes Increasingly Important

 

Repeated B-ratings cannot continue indefinitely.

Because the Home Office restricts the number of B-ratings and action plans available within the relevant period, a sponsor that has already been B-rated twice can face mandatory revocation under the current guidance if it again meets the criteria for downgrade.

The second action plan should therefore be used to establish a sustainable sponsor compliance framework rather than simply achieving another short-term return to an A-rating.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section R: Sponsor Licence Action Plan Cost

 

The current Home Office fee for a sponsor licence action plan is £1,579.

This is payable where the sponsor accepts the action plan following the downgrade of its licence to a B-rating.

The fee is separate from other sponsor licence charges.

It should not be confused with:

 

• the sponsor licence application fee;
• Certificate of Sponsorship fees;
• the Immigration Skills Charge;
• visa application fees;
• Immigration Health Surcharge payments; or
• professional fees for compliance or legal support.

 

Because sponsor-related fees can change, employers should always check the current Home Office fee schedule when dealing with an action plan.

 

1. The Action Plan Fee Does Not Resolve the Compliance Breach

 

Paying the £1,579 fee does not remove the B-rating.

It allows the sponsor to proceed with the Home Office action plan process.

The organisation must still complete the required remediation and satisfy the Home Office that the relevant compliance deficiencies have been addressed.

The sponsor remains B-rated while the action plan is in force and the associated restrictions continue to apply until the Home Office restores the licence to an A-rating.

 

2. Further Action Plans Mean Further Costs

 

Where a sponsor is subsequently B-rated again and another action plan is required under the applicable Home Office framework, a further action plan fee will be payable.

The direct Home Office fee may also represent only a small proportion of the overall cost to the organisation.

Remediation can require substantial internal resources, particularly where problems affect:

 

• large sponsored workforces;
• multiple business locations;
• decentralised HR teams;
• extensive personnel records;
• multiple SMS users;
• historic reporting;
• recruitment systems; and
• group structures.

 

There can also be indirect costs resulting from the restrictions placed on a B-rated sponsor, particularly where international recruitment is commercially important.

For this reason, investment in ongoing sponsor licence compliance can be significantly less disruptive than responding to a Home Office downgrade.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section S: Common Sponsor Licence Action Plan Mistakes

 

A sponsor can complete a considerable amount of work during the action plan period and still remain exposed if its remediation is poorly targeted.

Common mistakes include the following.

 

1. Treating the Action Plan as a Paperwork Exercise

 

Creating new policies does not by itself demonstrate compliance.

The Home Office may test whether those procedures are understood and followed in practice.

Policies should therefore be supported by implementation, training, monitoring and evidence.

A sponsor that produces extensive documentation but cannot demonstrate that employees actually follow the procedures may remain vulnerable during reassessment.

 

2. Fixing Examples Instead of Systems

 

If the Home Office identifies three incomplete personnel files, correcting those three files may not address the underlying problem.

The appropriate response may be to audit the wider sponsored workforce and improve the process used to create and maintain personnel records.

The question should always be:

Why was the failure possible?

If the organisation cannot answer that question, it may have corrected the symptom rather than the cause.

 

3. Waiting Too Long to Start Remediation

 

Three months provides limited time to investigate failures, redesign processes, train staff, implement changes and demonstrate that the new controls work.

Remediation should begin as soon as the organisation receives the downgrade.

Waiting until the final weeks of the action plan can leave insufficient time to embed new procedures or produce evidence showing that they operate effectively.

 

4. Failing to Conduct a Wider Compliance Audit

 

The Home Office action plan identifies known problems.

Other problems may still exist.

If the sponsor discovers them first, it may have an opportunity to address them before reassessment.

If the Home Office discovers them during a compliance check, they can affect the outcome of the action plan.

Wider auditing is therefore one of the most important risk-control measures available to a B-rated sponsor.

 

5. Producing Insufficient Evidence

 

An organisation may genuinely improve its systems but struggle to demonstrate what it has done.

Evidence should therefore be retained throughout the remediation programme rather than reconstructed immediately before reassessment.

For every material change, the sponsor should be able to demonstrate:

 

• what was changed;
• why it was changed;
• when it was implemented;
• who was responsible;
• how the new process was communicated;
• whether staff were trained; and
• how the organisation tested whether the control works.

 

6. Insufficient Authorising Officer Involvement

 

Sponsor licence compliance should have appropriate senior oversight.

The Authorising Officer is the senior person responsible for the organisation’s sponsorship arrangements and for ensuring appropriate oversight of sponsor compliance.

Where the Authorising Officer has little understanding of the sponsor’s compliance arrangements or the action plan remediation programme, this can raise questions about governance.

The Authorising Officer should therefore receive appropriate information about:

 

• the reasons for the downgrade;
• the requirements of the action plan;
• progress against remediation;
• outstanding risks;
• training and governance changes; and
• readiness for Home Office reassessment.

 

7. Failing to Train Relevant Personnel

 

A compliance process can fail if the people responsible for operating it do not understand their responsibilities.

Training should extend beyond SMS users where operational managers, recruiters or other employees play a role in the sponsorship process.

For example, a Level 1 User may understand the SMS reporting requirements perfectly but still be unable to make a timely report if line managers do not notify HR that a sponsored worker’s circumstances have changed.

Effective sponsor compliance therefore depends on the full internal information chain.

 

8. Assuming a Written Policy Proves Compliance

 

The Home Office can compare written procedures with actual practice.

A policy stating that sponsored worker absences are monitored is of limited value if managers cannot explain how monitoring takes place or records show that the procedure has not been followed.

Employers should test whether written policies accurately describe operational reality.

 

9. Requesting Reassessment Too Early

 

The commercial desire to regain an A-rating can lead employers to request an early compliance check before revised controls have been properly tested.

Early reassessment should only be considered when the organisation can demonstrate genuine readiness.

An early check is not an informal rehearsal. The Home Office will assess the sponsor’s compliance position and apply the relevant action plan outcome framework.

 

10. Assigning a CoS Incorrectly While B-Rated

 

Restrictions apply to sponsorship activity while the organisation holds a B-rating.

In particular, a B-rated sponsor cannot use a Certificate of Sponsorship to sponsor a new worker.

Current Home Office sponsor guidance states that if the Home Office finds that a CoS assigned while the licence was B-rated was used to sponsor a new worker, the sponsor licence will be revoked.

CoS activity should therefore be subject to enhanced controls throughout the action plan period.

Recruitment personnel, HR teams and SMS users should all understand the restriction.

 

11. Ignoring Previous B-Ratings

 

The sponsor’s compliance history matters.

An organisation that has previously completed an action plan should establish where it sits within the Home Office limits on repeated B-ratings.

Current sponsor guidance provides that a sponsor can be B-rated and subject to an action plan no more than twice during the relevant four-year period.

If the sponsor has already been B-rated twice and again meets the criteria for downgrade, the current guidance states that the Home Office will revoke the licence.

Previous action plans should therefore be treated as an important part of the organisation’s ongoing compliance risk profile.

 

12. Confusing a Second Action Plan With a Second Chance to Complete the First

 

A further action plan is not simply an extension of an action plan the sponsor has failed.

If the organisation fails to satisfy the requirements of its existing action plan, the current sponsor guidance provides for revocation.

A second action plan can instead arise where the sponsor has completed the current action plan but the Home Office identifies other remediable compliance deficiencies.

This distinction should be understood from the outset.

 

 

Back to top

 

Section T: Sponsor Licence Action Plan Checklist

 

The following checklist provides a practical framework for managing the action plan period.

It should be adapted to the particular Home Office findings and the circumstances of the sponsor.

 

1. Immediately After Receiving the B-Rating

 

• Review the Home Office decision and action plan.
• Identify the reason for the downgrade.
• Record the action plan payment deadline.
• Arrange payment of the Home Office fee.
• Confirm the restrictions applying to the B-rated licence.
• Notify the Authorising Officer.
• Escalate the issue to appropriate senior management.
• Notify relevant HR and recruitment personnel.
• Place appropriate controls on CoS assignments.
• Identify sponsored workers with upcoming immigration deadlines.
• Preserve relevant documents and evidence.
• Confirm whether the organisation has previously been B-rated.

 

2. Initial Compliance Review

 

• Map every Home Office finding against the relevant sponsor duty.
• Identify affected workers and records.
• Determine whether each failure is isolated or systemic.
• Investigate the root cause of each deficiency.
• Conduct a wider sponsor compliance audit.
• Review sponsored worker files.
• Review Appendix D records.
• Review SMS records.
• Review reporting history.
• Review key personnel.
• Review SMS access.
• Review associated right to work processes where relevant.
• Review CoS controls.
• Review internal policies and procedures.
• Review whether similar issues were identified in any previous action plan.

 

3. Build the Remediation Programme

 

• Create a remediation matrix.
• Allocate an owner to every action.
• Set internal deadlines.
• Prioritise high-risk failures.
• Correct historic problems where possible.
• Redesign defective processes.
• Update relevant policies.
• Establish escalation procedures.
• Introduce management oversight.
• Identify training requirements.
• Record evidence requirements for each action.
• Establish senior management reporting.

 

4. Implement the Changes

 

• Introduce revised procedures.
• Correct personnel records.
• Resolve outstanding compliance issues.
• Train relevant staff.
• Brief managers.
• Update sponsor management controls.
• Implement revised reporting procedures.
• Strengthen CoS authorisation.
• Improve monitoring systems.
• Review SMS user access.
• Retain evidence of implementation.

 

5. Test the Remediation

 

• Sample sponsored worker files.
• Check SMS records against HR records.
• Test reporting processes.
• Review recent recruitment activity.
• Check right to work documentation where relevant.
• Review CoS assignments.
• Interview relevant managers.
• Test sponsored worker monitoring.
• Review training completion.
• Check compliance across different sites or business units.
• Record any failed controls and corrective action.

 

6. Prepare for Home Office Reassessment

 

• Review every action plan requirement individually.
• Confirm each requirement has been completed.
• Ensure supporting evidence is available.
• Resolve outstanding audit findings.
• Prepare an organised evidence pack.
• Conduct a mock compliance check.
• Test key personnel knowledge.
• Test manager knowledge.
• Review existing sponsored worker immigration deadlines.
• Review proposed CoS activity.
• Check that prohibited sponsorship activity has not taken place.
• Review whether other remediable compliance issues remain outstanding.
• Obtain final Authorising Officer or senior management sign-off.
• Consider whether the organisation is genuinely ready for reassessment.

 

The final readiness review should be evidence-based.

The question is not whether the organisation believes it has improved.

The question is whether it could prove those improvements to a Home Office compliance officer today.

 

Back to top

 

Section U: How DavidsonMorris Can Help B-Rated Sponsors

 

A sponsor licence downgrade requires immediate and structured action.

DavidsonMorris works with employers to manage sponsor licence compliance issues and respond to Home Office enforcement action.

For organisations that have received a proposed downgrade, B-rating or sponsor licence action plan, support can include:

 

• reviewing a Home Office proposed downgrade decision;
• preparing representations against a proposed B-rating;
• reviewing the final downgrade decision;
• interpreting the requirements of the action plan;
• identifying immediate licence and workforce risks;
• advising on restrictions affecting sponsorship;
• conducting sponsor compliance audits;
• reviewing sponsored worker files;
• reviewing SMS records and reporting;
• assessing Certificate of Sponsorship controls;
• reviewing key personnel and sponsor governance;
• identifying historic compliance failures;
• developing a remediation programme;
• preparing action plan remediation matrices;
• reviewing HR policies and procedures;
• supporting corrective action;
• training relevant personnel;
• preparing evidence of remediation;
• conducting mock Home Office compliance checks;
• preparing Authorising Officers and other key personnel for compliance scrutiny;
• assessing readiness for Home Office reassessment;
• advising on whether early reassessment should be requested;
• supporting employers during Home Office compliance activity; and
• advising where the sponsor licence is at risk of suspension or revocation.

 

The appropriate response will depend on the reason for the downgrade and the organisation’s wider compliance position.

Where a B-rating has already been issued, the priority is to establish quickly what the Home Office requires, whether other compliance problems exist and what needs to be completed within the action plan period.

For sponsors with existing sponsored workers, pending immigration applications or planned overseas recruitment, the workforce implications should also be reviewed immediately.

If your organisation has received a proposed downgrade, B-rating or sponsor licence action plan, contact DavidsonMorris for advice on the action required to protect your sponsor licence and work towards restoration of your A-rating.

 

Back to top

 

Section V: Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is a sponsor licence action plan?

A sponsor licence action plan is a formal Home Office remediation programme imposed when a sponsor licence is downgraded from an A-rating to a B-rating.

The action plan identifies improvements the sponsor is required to make before the Home Office will restore the licence to an A-rating.

A B-rating is a transitional status. The sponsor remains licensed but is subject to restrictions while completing the required remediation.

 

Why has my sponsor licence been B-rated?

A sponsor licence can be downgraded where the Home Office identifies compliance deficiencies that it considers capable of being remedied through an action plan.

Issues can involve record keeping, reporting, monitoring sponsored workers, SMS management, Certificate of Sponsorship controls, key personnel, HR systems or other sponsor duties.

More serious compliance failures can result in suspension or revocation rather than a B-rating.

 

Can I challenge a proposed B-rating?

Yes. Where the Home Office is proposing to downgrade an A-rated sponsor, the organisation will normally be given an opportunity to make written representations before the downgrade is finalised.

Current sponsor guidance provides for a 20-working-day period from the date of the Home Office letter in which to respond.

The sponsor can use its representations to address factual errors, provide evidence and explain why the proposed downgrade should not be imposed or why the Home Office’s conclusions should be reconsidered.

 

How much does a sponsor licence action plan cost?

The current Home Office fee for a sponsor licence action plan is £1,579.

The fee is separate from other sponsorship charges and any professional costs incurred by the employer in carrying out its remediation programme.

 

How long do I have to pay the action plan fee?

The sponsor will normally have 10 working days from the date of the Home Office notification to pay the action plan fee.

Employers should treat this as an urgent deadline.

If the sponsor fails to pay the action plan fee within the required 10-working-day period, the Home Office will revoke the licence unless the failure was due to circumstances beyond the sponsor’s control.

 

How long does a sponsor licence action plan last?

Under current Home Office sponsor guidance, an action plan is set for a fixed period of three months.

The sponsor should use this period to complete the required corrective measures, address the causes of its compliance failures and prepare evidence demonstrating that the improvements have been implemented and are operating effectively.

 

Can a B-rated sponsor issue a Certificate of Sponsorship?

Restrictions apply to the assignment of Certificates of Sponsorship while a licence is B-rated.

A B-rated sponsor cannot use a CoS to sponsor a new worker.

There can, however, be circumstances in which a CoS may be assigned to an existing sponsored worker who was already sponsored by the organisation before the downgrade and who needs and is eligible to make an application for permission to stay.

The sponsor should confirm that any proposed CoS assignment is permitted before proceeding.

 

Can I sponsor a new worker while B-rated?

No. A B-rated sponsor cannot use its licence to sponsor a new worker while the B-rating remains in place.

Current sponsor guidance states that where the Home Office finds that a CoS assigned while B-rated has been used to sponsor a new worker, the sponsor licence will be revoked.

This restriction should therefore be communicated immediately to recruitment teams, HR personnel and SMS users.

 

What happens to existing sponsored workers if the licence becomes B-rated?

A B-rating does not automatically terminate the immigration permission of existing sponsored workers.

Existing sponsored employees can generally continue working for the organisation while their permission remains valid and the conditions of their sponsorship continue to be met.

The employer must continue complying with its sponsor duties throughout the action plan period.

 

Can existing sponsored workers extend their permission while the sponsor is B-rated?

There can be circumstances in which the sponsor is permitted to assign a CoS to an existing sponsored worker who was already sponsored before the downgrade and who needs and is eligible to apply for further permission to stay.

The Home Office determines the number of Certificates of Sponsorship available for relevant extension applications during the action plan period.

The sponsor should therefore check the position before assigning the CoS.

 

What happens if I do not pay the action plan fee?

If the sponsor fails to pay the action plan fee within the required 10-working-day period, the Home Office will revoke the licence unless the failure was due to circumstances beyond the sponsor’s control.

Where an organisation no longer requires its licence and has no sponsored workers, surrender may be an alternative, but the Home Office procedure should be followed carefully.

 

What happens if we fail the sponsor licence action plan?

Failure to meet the requirements of the existing action plan will result in revocation of the sponsor licence.

A second action plan should not be viewed as an automatic second chance to complete the first one.

A further action plan can instead arise where the sponsor has completed the existing action plan but the Home Office identifies other remediable compliance deficiencies.

 

Can we ask the Home Office to restore our A-rating early?

A sponsor that believes it has completed all the requirements of its action plan may request an earlier Home Office compliance check.

This should only be considered where the organisation is genuinely ready for reassessment.

Before requesting an early check, the sponsor should ensure that corrective measures have been implemented, tested and supported by evidence.

The sponsor should not assume that the unused balance of the three-month period will remain available if an early reassessment identifies unresolved compliance problems.

 

Will the Home Office carry out another compliance check?

Yes. The action plan process provides for a further Home Office compliance check to assess whether the sponsor has completed the required remediation.

The check may be carried out onsite or digitally, depending on the circumstances.

The Home Office will normally conduct one compliance check in relation to the action plan but can undertake additional checks if further concerns arise.

 

Can the Home Office identify other problems during reassessment?

Yes. The Home Office’s compliance activity is not necessarily confined to the individual examples that led to the original action plan.

If wider sponsor compliance deficiencies are identified, these can affect the outcome of the reassessment.

This is why a B-rated sponsor should usually carry out a broader compliance audit rather than only correcting the specific examples contained in the action plan.

 

How do we regain an A-rated sponsor licence?

The sponsor needs to satisfy the Home Office that it has completed the requirements of its action plan and that there are no further compliance concerns preventing restoration of the A-rating.

This normally requires both substantive remediation and evidence showing that the revised controls are operating effectively.

 

How many times can a sponsor licence be B-rated?

Current sponsor guidance states that a sponsor can be B-rated and subject to an action plan no more than twice during any four-year rolling period in which it holds a sponsor licence.

The guidance further explains that the period is calculated from the date the licence was first granted and each subsequent four-year period.

 

What happens if we receive a second B-rating?

A second B-rating should be treated as a significant escalation in sponsor licence risk.

The organisation should review both the new compliance failures and the effectiveness of its previous remediation.

A further action plan fee will also be payable where another action plan is required.

 

What happens if we have already been B-rated twice?

Where a sponsor has already been B-rated and subject to an action plan twice within the relevant period and again meets the criteria for downgrade, current sponsor guidance states that the Home Office will revoke the sponsor licence.

A sponsor in this position should therefore treat any further compliance concerns as particularly serious.

 

Can the Home Office revoke our licence after an action plan?

Yes.

If the sponsor fails to comply with the action plan, the Home Office will revoke the licence. Sufficiently serious compliance failures identified during reassessment can also result in revocation under the applicable sponsor guidance.

There is no general statutory right of appeal against sponsor licence revocation, and a cooling-off period can prevent an immediate fresh sponsor licence application.

 

Back to top

 

Section W: Sponsor Licence Action Plan Glossary

 

Term	Meaning
A-Rating	The standard sponsor licence rating for an organisation that meets the relevant sponsorship requirements and can carry out normal sponsorship activity under the routes covered by its licence.
Action Plan	A formal Home Office remediation programme imposed when an organisation’s sponsor licence is downgraded to a B-rating. It identifies improvements the sponsor is required to make before its A-rating can be restored.
Authorising Officer	The senior person within the sponsoring organisation responsible for oversight of the sponsor licence and for ensuring that appropriate arrangements exist to meet sponsor duties and manage the activities of SMS users.
B-Rating	A transitional sponsor licence rating imposed where the Home Office identifies compliance deficiencies that it considers capable of being remedied through an action plan. A B-rating allows the organisation to retain its sponsor licence subject to restrictions while completing the required remediation.
Certificate of Sponsorship	A Certificate of Sponsorship, or CoS, is an electronic sponsorship record assigned by a licensed sponsor to an eligible worker for use in connection with an immigration application.
Compliance Check	Home Office activity used to assess whether a licensed sponsor is meeting its sponsorship obligations. A compliance check can involve examination of records and systems, interviews, digital enquiries, an onsite visit or a combination of these measures.
Compliance Visit	An onsite Home Office inspection of a sponsor or prospective sponsor used to assess compliance with sponsorship requirements. A compliance visit is one form of compliance check. Not every compliance check will necessarily involve a physical visit.
Home Office	The UK government department responsible for immigration control and the operation and enforcement of the sponsor licensing system.
Key Contact	The individual who acts as a principal point of contact between the sponsoring organisation and the Home Office in relation to the sponsor licence.
Level 1 User	A person authorised to carry out specified sponsor licence functions through the Sponsor Management System. Level 1 Users can have substantial responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the sponsor licence.
Level 2 User	An SMS user with more limited permissions than a Level 1 User. Sponsors can no longer appoint new Level 2 Users. Existing Level 2 Users must be converted to Level 1 or deactivated by 8 March 2027, after which remaining Level 2 accounts will be automatically deactivated.
Remediation	The process of identifying and correcting compliance failures and addressing the underlying systems or controls that allowed those failures to occur.
Sponsor Compliance Audit	A structured review of an organisation’s sponsor licence systems, records and working practices to identify whether it is meeting its sponsorship duties and where corrective action may be required.
Sponsor Duties	The ongoing responsibilities placed on licensed sponsors. These include duties relating to record keeping, reporting, monitoring sponsored workers and cooperating with the Home Office.
Sponsor Management System	The Sponsor Management System (SMS) is the Home Office online system used by licensed sponsors to manage aspects of their sponsor licence, report relevant changes and carry out sponsorship functions.
Sponsor Licence Downgrade	Home Office action changing a sponsor’s licence rating from an A-rating to a B-rating because compliance deficiencies have been identified and are considered capable of remediation through an action plan.
Sponsor Licence Revocation	Home Office action terminating an organisation’s sponsor licence. Revocation removes the organisation’s authority to sponsor workers and can have significant consequences for existing sponsored employees and future recruitment.
Sponsor Licence Suspension	Home Office action temporarily suspending a sponsor licence while compliance concerns are investigated or considered. Suspension is distinct from a B-rating and action plan.
Sponsored Worker	An individual whose immigration permission is based on sponsorship by an organisation licensed by the Home Office under the relevant immigration route.

 

Back to top

 

Section X: Useful Links

 

Employers dealing with a sponsor licence action plan should refer to the current Home Office sponsor guidance alongside any professional advice obtained in relation to their particular circumstances.

Useful official resources include:

 

Description	URL
Workers and Temporary Workers: Guidance for Sponsors – Part 3: Sponsor Duties and Compliance Home Office guidance covering sponsor duties, compliance action, licence ratings and action plans.	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workers-and-temporary-workers-guidance-for-sponsors-part-3-sponsor-duties-and-compliance
UK visa sponsorship for employers: Your licence rating GOV.UK guidance explaining A-ratings, B-ratings and sponsor action plans.	https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers/your-licence-rating
Compliance casework guidance Home Office operational guidance relevant to sponsor compliance casework and enforcement decision-making.	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compliance-casework-guidance
Points-based system sponsor compliance visits Home Office guidance on sponsor compliance visits and checks, including reassessment activity.	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-sponsor-management
Workers and Temporary Workers: Guidance for Sponsors the wider sponsor guidance collection.	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sponsor-a-skilled-worker
Appendix D: Keeping Documents – Guidance for Sponsors Home Office guidance on records and documents sponsors are required to retain.	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keep-records-for-sponsorship-appendix-d
Right to Work Checks: An Employer’s Guide Home Office guidance on conducting compliant right to work checks.	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checks-employers-guide
Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker the Immigration Rules governing the Skilled Worker route.	https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-skilled-worker
Home Office Immigration and Nationality Fees current official schedule of immigration and sponsorship fees.	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table

 

Home Office guidance, fees and sponsor compliance requirements can change. Employers should therefore ensure they are working from the current versions of the relevant guidance when responding to an action plan.

 

Back to top