The United Kingdom has come with a new points-based immigration mechanism where any UK- based business looking to recruit skilled EU or non-EU workers from January 2021 will have to obtain a Sponsor Licence. This licence is an approval accorded by the Home Office to an organisation to hire foreign workers in their firm. All the sponsors have certain obligations towards the Home Office that they need to fulfil, failing to revoke or downgrading the licence. In order to evaluate whether the company will be able to meet its sponsor duties, the Home Office might visit your office premises as part of the application process.
What Could Happen During a Compliance Visit?
When the UKVI compliance team visits you, they will assess that:
- Information that has been provided to the Home Office is accurate and complete
- You can offer employment at the Tier-2 skill level
- You are trading or operating legally in the UK
- There must be no reason that your company is a threat to the immigration control
- You are committed to complying with the duties of sponsor licence
You can expect the Home Office to go through your record keeping, reporting, immigration status monitoring process. They will review your documentation to make sure that you remain compliant. To make sure that all the documents are full-proof and procedures airtight, you can take the help of immigration consultancy services.
What are the Sponsorship Duties?
The Sponsorship licence holders are required to comply with the obligations set out by the Home Office under the points-based system. Hire an immigration consultancy services provider to help you with compliance.
Record Keeping: The sponsor must maintain a file of their existing tier-2 migrant employees containing all the documentation as specified by the Home Office.
Reporting: It is the duty of the sponsor to report the specific migrant activities to the Home Office within 10 days if:
- A sponsored candidate does not turn up for the first day on the job
- A sponsored employee is absent for 10 days from the work
- You terminate the sponsored employee
- There is considerable change in the employment status
- The employment of a worker is affected by TUPE or similar protection
Compliance: To prove that you comply with your obligations as tier-2 and tier-5 sponsor, you will have to ensure the following:
- You are genuinely operating in the UK
- You have to ensure that you maintain the correct documents on file for tier-2 and tier-5 workers
- Ensure that you update the changes related to your business or your migrant employees via the SMS portal
- You have to show that you possess the proper accreditation to conduct your business
- You have employed the skilled workers at an appropriate level and pay an adequate salary
- Make sure that the workers are capable of doing the job they are sponsored to do
- You only assign a limited certificate of sponsorship after you have met with the resident labour market requirements
- You stay abreast with the changes and updates in the sponsor licence processes and with the immigration laws
Immigration Consultancy Services at Osbourne Pinner
We have a team of experienced UK immigration solicitors who help clients with the application and compliance procedures of the Sponsor Licence. We advise clients on changes in the immigration laws and conduct an audit of the existing HR systems and documentation of the migrant workers so as to identify any errors or weaknesses.
 Osbourne Pinner has provided representation to our clients for corporate and business immigration. Our law firm also gives step-by-step guidance to the clients applying for UK visas. We are one of the best law firms in London, providing end-to-end support for matters related to immigration law.
How can the UK Immigration Solicitors at Osbourne Pinner help?
We have a team of experienced visa Solicitors that have years of experience handling matters related to all aspects of the UK Sponsor Licence application, Audit and Compliance process. We provide legal assistance to young and existing entrepreneurs looking to establish and expand their business in the UK. We help our clients to be compliant with the requirements of the Home Office.
Contact our immigration consultancy services for any further advice. If you require legal advice on any of the issues raised by this article relating to the Sponsor Licence compliance process then please do not hesitate to contact our expert team at Osbourne Pinner for more information on 0203 983 5080 or fill in the form for a call back. to book your consultation for help.
