UK Employers’ Guide To Sponsorship Licence Applications

What is a Sponsor Licence?

A sponsor licence gives a UK company permission to hire Non-British migrant workers from overseas and within the UK.

If a foreigner wants to work in the UK, they need a work permit from the UK Immigration and Visa office. The organisations who are employing foreigners also need a special permit to sponsor these workers. The sponsor licence can only be issued to organisations and not individuals.

Companies with sponsor licences can support residents of the EEA and EU looking to work in the UK. Such systems are implemented to prevent the mistreatment of immigrant workers coming to the UK.

Securing this sponsor licence can be a tedious and lengthy process, involving documents and fees that the sponsoring company must submit. The documents and all relevant fees are paid to the UK Home Office. They will grant a sponsor licence to the organisation only if the company meets the eligibility requirements and have the ability to carry out sponsor duties, in addition, the company needs to display the vacancies and the employees they plan on hiring for the position.

Why is it Important to Get a Sponsor Licence if you Want to Hire Workers from Overseas?

Since Brexit, EU nationals who seek employment in the UK after 1st January 2021, can no longer work freely. They have to be sponsored and provide a visa to work in the UK. For a UK company that wants to hire someone from the EU who does not have a settled status, the UK employer must have a valid sponsorship licence to sponsor them.

In addition to this, due to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, many organisations in the UK have been suffering from staff shortage issues as they struggle to find skilled labourers from the domestic market, their solution is to look for skilled labourers from outside the country or people who are non-British citizens.

Sponsoring workers from overseas can be tricky. When companies choose to hire these workers, they must comply with all UK worker and immigration laws to avoid sanctions. Failure to comply with the sponsor licence duties may lead to hefty fines and penalties for the company.

Which Roles Can Be Sponsored for a Skilled Worker Visa?

A Skilled Worker Visa enables a person to enter and reside in the UK to do an eligible job with an approved employer.

The individual must qualify for 70 points to obtain a skilled worker visa. They can be awarded 50 points if they can speak English and already have a job offer from an approved employer for a skilled job.

The sponsor licence holder can determine if the role can be sponsored as a skilled worker visa by the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code given out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Once the code has been identified, the vacant job should be cross-referenced with the list of eligible jobs under the Skilled Worker route.

Not all roles can be sponsored as a skilled worker visa; skill and salary levels differ between sponsoring a skilled worker and other types of work visa.

Sanctions for Non-compliance

Sponsoring non-UK resident workers requires a strong knowledge of the law and rules regarding immigration to the UK. The Home Office can decide to investigate all sponsor licence holders before, during or after granting the licence to ensure compliance. Sanctions for non-compliance with UK law can vary depending on the severity of the situation.
If your licence is downgraded, the sponsor licence holder must pay UKVI for an action plan of all the issues the company must remedy before getting their licence back. Companies with revoked licences may be banned from applying for a new licence for six to twelve months. This cool-off period allows the company to take a more proactive approach when remedying the present issues.

New Rules For Right To Work Checks

Employers need to be aware that from October 2022, there are new rules for the ‘right to work’ in the UK. Employers have to conduct a ‘right to work’ check on all new employees through one of the three methods specified by the Home Office to be considered a “valid check”.

All UK employers need to conduct ‘right to work’ checks before bringing new staff onboard. This is to ensure that individuals are not disqualified because of their immigration status and also for employers to prevent illegal employment.

Failure to conduct ‘right to work’ checks as an employer might result in illegal employment and could face a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per worker.

Under the new rules, there are three types of ‘right to work’ check methods:

• 1. Manual ‘right to work’ check

Manual checks are mainly for people from List A, such as British citizens or people who have an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).

Employers need to check if the employee’s documents are genuine and whether it represents them. The employer needs to meet the employee and make sure that the photo is a match and they have the right to work in the UK. All corresponding documents must be a match and still valid.

The employer needs to keep a copy of all relevant documents such as Passports or ILR cards, here is the list. All copies of documents obtained should be stored securely for at least two years after the employee has left.

• 2. A ‘right to work’ check using Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) via the services of an Identity Service Provider (IDSP)

Employers can also use IDVT via the IDSP to complete the digital identity verification element of the ‘right to work’ process. This method only applies to British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport (including Irish passport cards).

To conduct the ‘right to work’ checks, the employer needs to complete the identity verification of the employee through the IDSP, as recognised by the Home Office.

The Home Office recommends that employers use IDSP checks with certified providers. You can find a list of certified IDSP providers here.

The employer needs to make sure that the photographs and the employee’s details from the IDVT check are consistent with the individual they are employing.

Following the check, the employer needs to retain a copy of the IDVT identity check for the duration of employment and two years after the employee has left.

• 3. Home Office online ‘right to work’ check

For employees with a biometric residence permit (BRP), EEA biometric residence card (BRC) and Frontier Worker permit (FWP) or electronic visa (E-visa), employers have to use the Home Office ‘Online right to work checking service’ to check employees’ right to work.

The employer needs to obtain the ‘Share Code’ generated by the new employee, date of birth and employee’s immigration status. This then will tell employers how many hours the employee can work per week.

Once again, the employer needs to keep a record of all the employee’s relevant documents for the period of employment and additional two years after the employee has left.

At the same time, if the potential/existing employee is on a ‘limited period’ visa, the employer must also perform a follow-up check to determine when the employee’s (original) visa is valid.

In conclusion, if you’re going to have new employees coming onboard, remember to conduct ‘right to work’ checks (as above). This is to ensure that the ‘right to work’ checks have met the requirements of the Home Office.