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A UK employer wishing to employ workers from overseas must apply for and have a sponsorship licence from the Home Office.
There are different categories of sponsor licences one could apply for depending on their circumstances and requirements.
In order to make a successful application, the employers are required to establish that they have clean criminal record and there is no history of any breaches of any of the immigration rules by the employers.
The new immigration rules abolished the requirement for the employers to undertake resident labour market test (RLMT) by advertising the vacancy for 28 28 days. However, this does not eliminate the requirement to carry out the appropriate selection and recruitment procedures on part of the employers confirming the vacancy was genuinely available and the foreign skilled worker was the most suitable individual to fulfill the vacancy.
The fee for sponsor licence is determined by the Home Office with reference to the size of the organization applying for sponsor licence.
Small and Charitable organisations will be eligible for reduced fee of £536, whereas the medium and large organisations are subject to higher fee of £1436.
After the selection, the foreign worker will need a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) from his/her employer to apply for skilled worker visa to come to UK.
Our expert team of solicitors will assist with the preparation of your application and the documents to support your case. We have wide ranging experience in all immigration laws that might affect your settlement visa decision and will guide you every step of the way. We will ensure that your application is completed fully and that all supporting documentation is available so that we can strengthen your case and get your visa approved as soon as possible.
When submitting the application, the sponsor/employer will need to appoint a key role/primary user to operate the sponsor licence via online portal, which is known as sponsorship management system (SMS).
There are specific roles within the organization, which are appropriately designated for important management tasks as below:
The key contact: This will be the first and main point of contact by and with the Home Office.
Level 1 user: Level 1 user will be responsible for day-to-day activities and management of organisation’s licence.
Authorising officer: The role will be responsible for actions performed by the staff and representatives.
If the roles above are not carried out appropriately and in line with the policy guidance, the licence could be downgraded to a B rating from A rating which is allocated to every organization upon the successful application. In some cases where breach is considered to be serious, the licence can be suspended too by the Home Office.
Sponsor Licence may be renewed within three months of the expiry date of current licence. The renewal application is submitted through online Sponsor Management System (SMS) portal of the organisation. through this tool. In renewing Sponsor Licence, UKVI’s main concern is to check whether you have kept up-to-date and detailed records of your sponsored employees while holding your current Sponsor Licence.
