Author: St John

Sponsor Compliance Visits – What to Expect

A sponsor licence allows any UK organisation to sponsor non-resident workers within its organisation, be that a business, school, college, charity, sports club etc. In order to assess whether your organisation is eligible to apply for a licence and able to meet its sponsor duties the Home Office may wish to visit your premises as part of the application process, or indeed at any point throughout the initial four-year period of your sponsor licence. These visits, often referred to as sponsor compliance visits or sponsor audits, are intended to check your organisation has the appropriate HR recruitment systems and processes in place to effectively monitor a migrant workforce, and to ensure you are fulfilling your legal obligations as an employer.

In this article, we will look at the who conducts sponsor compliance visits on behalf of the Home office, why they take place and what happens before, during and after a visit. Plus, our immigration consultants share their top tips to help your business proactively maintain sponsor licence compliance.

What is a sponsor licence?

From January 2021 any UK business wishing to hire skilled EU or non-EU workers needs to gain approval to do so from the Home Office by applying for a sponsor licence. Once your organisation has obtained its sponsor licence you also need to maintain compliance with all Home Office requirements and proactively fulfil your sponsor duties.

What is a sponsor licence compliance visit

Sponsor compliance visits or sponsor audits are conducted by representatives from the Sponsor Licencing Unit of the Home Office either before making a decision on your application for a sponsor licence, or during the initial term of the licence which is usually four years. The visits usually involve an interview with the owner of the business or organisation and sometimes a physical inspection of the business.

A pre-decision compliance visit

A pre-decision compliance visit takes place after an application has been submitted where some of the information requires physical verification. The purpose of a pre-decision visit is to:

• verify the information provided in the licence application to ensure it is accurate and complete.
• ensure your business is genuinely trading or operating lawfully in the UK.
• establish you have a genuine need for a sponsor licence and you are able to offer employment to Tier 2 migrants at the appropriate skill and payment level.
• you are conversant and committed to comply with the prescribed sponsorship duties.

A post-decision compliance visit

A post-decision compliance visit will be scheduled where doubt has arisen about the willingness or ability of a sponsoring organisation to adhere to the relevant requirements. The purpose of a post-decision visit is to:

• audit your HR systems to confirm you have the appropriate human resource practices in place to meet your sponsorship duties and monitor your workers’ immigration status.
• check you are compliant with your legal responsibility as a sponsor to prevent illegal working, and check for any incidences of non-compliance.

What to expect during your compliance visit

A compliance visit will usually follow a prescribed format which should be clarified at the start by the visiting officers; although legal representation isn’t normally required, it makes sense to familiarise yourself with the relevant sponsor duties and requirements in advance and make an accurate record of the visit for reference. A Home Office compliance officer may want to:

• Verify information you gave in a sponsor licence application or a worker’s application.
• Take photographs of the business premises.
• Check you are complying with all of your sponsor duties, or will be able to comply if they visit you before your licence application has been decided.
• Speak to any current or previously sponsored workers. 
• Speak to employees involved in recruitment of sponsored workers.
• Inspect records and/or systems to ensure you are following your sponsor obligations and adhering to the relevant rules set out in Appendix D and the sponsor guidance published by the Home Office.

They may also conduct checks in advance on workers to ensure you are complying with your obligation to prevent illegal working, key personnel (ie owners, directors, managers or other employees in positions of responsibility and financiers involved in the running of your organisation) and with HMRC to ensure you are paying your workers appropriately and in line with the Immigration Rules and sponsor guidance.

Will I know the date of the compliance visit in advance

The Home Office may visit and conduct checks unannounced, or otherwise by appointment, at any premises where your sponsored workers carry out, or would carry out, their employment duties. In either case you should allow Home Office staff to access your premises upon request as refusal to grant entry could result in your sponsor licence application being refused, or your existing licence being revoked.

Our advice to any employers who have recently filed an application for a sponsor licence is to expect and pre-empt a visit from Home Office officials and familiarise themselves with their responsibilities and duties as a sponsor prior to such a visit. For existing sponsors, any changes to your business circumstances may also trigger a compliance visit such as.a change in business name, operating premises or a merger/takeover.

The sponsor license ratings (A vs B)

When your sponsor licence is approved, you will be granted either an A or a B rating, as you may expect the A rating is the one every employer should strive for. An A-rating will allow you to assign Certificates of Sponsorship to prospective employees to support their visa applications.

If you receive or are downgraded to a B-rating, you will not be able to assign Certificates of Sponsorship and will have to apply for and implement an “action plan” agreed with the Home Office to address any shortcomings identified in your HR processes. This may have a serious impact on business continuity and expert advice should be sought at this point to minimise disruption and costs to your commercial operations.  

Our top tips to achieve and maintain sponsor compliance

To help you identify the principal requirements and maintain compliance, we have prepared a summary of the areas to focus on when you are considering or preparing an application or have received your licence. These are usually the responsibility of the Key Contact or Level 1 or 2 user(s) who are appointed in the application process and should:

• Monitor the immigration status of your employees requiring permission to work on a routine and regular basis to prevent illegal working for which the penalty can be up to £20,000 per individual and the revocation of your licence.
• Record and maintain your sponsored migrant contact details including UK residential address, landline and mobile telephone numbers.
• Retain paper and electronic files for all of your sponsored workers.
• Track and report the attendance, absences or relevant changes in the circumstances of all your sponsored workers.
• Record any changes in key personnel involved in the administration of your sponsorship licence.
• Ensure the Sponsor Management System is updated when changes are made in respect of sponsored workers.
• Ensure any Certificates of Sponsorship issued are for genuine vacancies and that the proposed positions meet the relevant Home Office criteria in terms of the rates of pay and skill level.

Next steps for licenced sponsors

Immigration legislation, and specifically the rules governing the employment of foreign nationals, is currently one of the fastest moving areas of law in the UK; it therefore makes sense for you and/or your HR personnel to keep up to date as the penalties for failing to follow the relevant legislation are severe. Sanctions on your business can range from the downgrading or revocation of your sponsor licence to fines of up to £20,000 per person for employing those who require but don’t have permission to work.

So whether you’re applying for a new licence, renewing an existing licence, or simply want some reassurance that you’re doing everything by the book, it pays to reach out for professional legal advice.

Book a complimentary business immigration audit

At The Yellow Halo we specialise in business immigration and can assist you with any or all of the following:

• the sponsor licence application process including an initial assessment on eligibility
• sponsor compliance to ensure this is met and maintained
• HR training to ensure those responsible for dealing with this complex legal area are conversant with the relevant legislation
• Right to work checks to establish what a prospective employee is permitted to do and for how long.
• Home Office visits – pre or post decision to ensure these are conducted in accordance with statutory guidance.
• Submissions following suspension, revocation or downgrading of your licence rating including negotiating and implementing “action plans” drawn up by the Home Office.

Why not book a complimentary initial immigration audit of your business with one of accomplished immigration consultants? We can help you to ensure that you are maintaining compliance with your sponsorship duties and responsibilities following the approval of your sponsor licence. Please get in touch and let’s make your sponsor licence process as smooth as possible so you can concentrate on your business and its employees.

UK Work Visas: Types, Requirements & Expert Advice

With business opening up as COVID restrictions ease, the opportunities for employment in the UK have now started to increase. As of 1 January 2021, if you are not a British or Irish citizen, you must have a UK work visa granted by the Home Office in order to work in the UK.

Most of the employment-related immigration routes that will allow you to work in the UK are to be found within the UK Immigration Points Based System; this was introduced in 2008 and recently “refreshed” (December 2020), principally to align it with the new requirements on the eligibility of EEA workers to take employment in the UK following Brexit. In nearly all cases, foreign nationals will require sponsorship from a licenced employer in the UK through a Certificate of Sponsorship (the replacement for the “work permit”) based on an offer of employment. In this article, our immigration experts explain the key types of UK work visas and share their advice for obtaining the right one for your personal circumstances.

What are your options for working in the UK?

Under the current UK immigration rules the main employment related immigration routes requiring sponsorship are:

• Skilled Worker route (previously Tier 2 General)
• Health and Care worker Visa
• Intra-company Transfers
• Religious Community
• Elite Sportsperson or coach
• Youth Mobility Scheme
• Temporary Worker

Skilled Worker visa

This generic UK work visa route is for you if you have a job offer from a licenced employer in the UK and requires you to demonstrate that:

• you have a job offer (ie a Certificate of Sponsorship or COS) from a Home Office licensed sponsor
• your job offer is at the required skill level – RQF 3 or above (A Level and equivalent)
• the salary for your prospective job meets the required minimum threshold of £25,600 or the “going rate” for your job
• you speak the required level of English
• you can accumulate at least 70 points for your attributes

If you meet the relevant criteria and points threshold, you will obtain a Skilled Worker visa which can be extended and will eventually lead to settlement or permanent residency; it is also now possible to “switch” into this category in-country from a wider set of immigration categories.

New UK work visa options

A more recent addition to the employment specific routes which requires sponsorship is the Health and Care Worker Visa which allows medical professionals (i.e. a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional) to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care.

Intra-Company work visas

If you want to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job at your employer’s UK branch there are now 2 types of Intra-company visa you can apply for: the Intra-Company Transfer visa if you’re being transferred by your employer to a role in the UK and you’ve have worked for your employer overseas for more than twelve months (unless they’re going to pay you £79,900pa to work in the UK) and the Intra-company Graduate Trainee Visa which is for you if you are being transferred to the UK as part of a graduate training programme for a managerial or specialist role; you’ll need to have worked for your employer overseas for at least 3 months immediately before the date you apply.

How long you can stay in the UK with an Intra-company visa depends on which visa you’re applying for and how long your employer is sponsoring you for.

Other UK work visas

In addition to those UK work visas discussed so far, there are a number of industry or age specific immigration routes available. These are:

• Religious Worker visa: Under the Religious Worker category, you can apply for a visa as a Minister of Religion if you’ve been offered a job within a faith community (for example as a minister of religion, missionary, or member of a religious order) in the UK and you have a certificate of sponsorship for your job.
• Sportsperson visa: You can apply for a Sportsperson visa if you’re an elite sportsperson or qualified coach who’s been recognised and endorsed by your sport’s governing body as being at the highest level of your profession internationally and your employment will develop your sport in the UK at the highest level
• Youth Mobility Scheme: This has always been a popular short-term route and “gap year” option allowing those aged 18-30 from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, San Marino or Taiwan (or others who hold certain types of British nationality)to live and work in the UK for up to 2 years provided they have £2,530 savings.

Temporary UK work visas

You may be able to apply to work in the UK as a Temporary Worker in the following categories which all require sponsorship from a licensed sponsor:

• Creative and Sporting if you’ve been offered work in the UK as a sports person and you can make a significant contribution to your sport at the highest level in the UK or as a creative worker (ie an actor, dancer, musician or film crew member) if you can make a unique contribution to the UK labour market (eg you’re internationally renowned). You will need to be sponsored in both cases and should be able to support yourself financially or with the assistance of your sponsor.
• Charity Worker if you want to do unpaid work for a charity in the UK.
• Government Authorised Exchange if you want to come to the UK for a short time for work experience, training, an Overseas Government Language Programme, research or fellowship through an approved government authorised exchange scheme.
• Religious worker if you want to do religious work in a non-pastoral role for a religious order in the UK.

UK work visas that don’t require sponsorship

The following visa routes permit employment but don’t require sponsorship:

• Start-up visa for entrepreneurs who want to set up an innovative business for the first time in the UK; the business must be assessed by an endorsing body approved by the Home Office. This is not a route to settlement.
• Innovator visa for experienced business people with funds (at least £50k) to invest in a new, innovative, and viable business in the UK.
• Global Talent visa enables you to work as a leader in academia, research, arts, culture or digital technology.
• Investor visa is only for foreign nationals who want to invest £2m or more in the UK.
• UK Ancestry Visa is for Commonwealth citizens with at least one grandparent was born in the UK; this visa allows you to live and work in the UK for up to five years.
• Domestic worker visa is an option if you have worked for your employer for at least one year as a cleaner, cook, chauffeur, nanny or providing personal care and you plan to travel with to the UK with your employer, who should be a British citizen or Visitor, and leave with them within six months.
• Representative of an overseas business, you can apply for this visa if you’re either the sole representative of an overseas business planning to set up either a UK branch or wholly owned subsidiary or an employee of an overseas newspaper, news agency or broadcasting organisation posted on a long-term assignment to the UK
• Graduate Visa will allow graduates to remain in the UK for up to two years following the completion of their studies; this visa will replace the previous Post Study Worker Visa. There will be no requirement for sponsorship and applications will be opened from 1 July 2021

How to apply for a UK work visa in 5 steps

To make your visa application go as smoothly as possible we’ve prepared a simple five-step guide which can be applied to the key employment related visas:

1. Identify which visa route matches your circumstances and employment aspirations using our summaries.
2. Make an initial assessment of your eligibility through our summary of UK work visa requirements or book your free 30 minute consultation with an immigration expert at The Yellow Halo to confirm your eligibility and gain advice. Always consult with a good immigration lawyer for any immigration matter.
3. Complete the prescribed Home Office application form for your work visa route.
4. Collate the prescribed documentary evidence from the document checklist which can be found at the end of the on-line application form.
5. Submit and pay for your on-line application (and Immigration Health Service where relevant) and book your biometric appointment where you will have your digital photograph and finger scans taken, and where you can submit your supporting paperwork unless you have chosen to upload it through the online Home Office portal.

Of course, at  The Yellow Halo we can take care of the whole process for you! We’ll   save you hours of admin and ensure your application is completed accurately first time leaving you to hit the ground running in your new job.

How much does a UK visa cost?

Home Office application fees range from £610 to £1408 for a Skilled Worker (dependent on the length of stay proposed) to £1623 for an Investor and dependants. You may also need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge which amounts to £624 for each year of stay applied for or granted.

How long does the application process take?

Applications for UK work visas take approximately 3 weeks if you’re outside the UK and 8 weeks if you apply in the UK, but the Home Office rarely adheres to its own service standards for decision times so our advice is “don’t confirm your travel plans until you receive your decision”

We specialise in individual immigration advice

If you don’t know which immigration route to choose, how to apply or where to seek advice on UK work visa requirements and the application process, we’re here to help. At The Yellow Halo, we have combined years of experience assessing immigration applications on behalf of the Home Office with more recent experience gained in the private sector advising businesses and individuals on the requirements and application processes for the full range of immigration routes to enable us to provide clear, impartial advice and an end-to-end service. Please view our range of individual immigrations services and get in touch to discuss your individual needs and book your free 30 minute consultation with our immigration experts.