More reasons
to be compliant:
Tier 2 sponsor licence holders

27 May 2015

Expanding revocation rules for Tier 2 sponsor licence holders

The Home Office has updated the Sponsor Guidance for Tier 2 and Tier 5 and the changes therein are valid for all current licence holders, along with any successful sponsor licence applications made on or after 6 April 2015.

These changes see the Home office expanding the circumstances in which they reserve the right to downgrade or revoke a Tier 2 sponsor licence. As a sponsor organisation, it is wise to familiarise yourself with these changes and ask advice on how to avoid them.

Under which NEW circumstances could our Tier 2 sponsor licence be downgraded or revoked?

It has now been agreed that should you be found to be illegally employing migrant workers, not only will your licence be revoked but any future licence applications will also be refused.

If your organisation is found to be no longer able nor willing to continue to meet its sponsor duties, not only will it face a discretionary licence downgrade, but also the possibility of having its licence revoked altogether. Equally, if you fail to cooperate with or hinder a compliance visit, the Home Office will consider the revocation of your sponsor licence.

A sponsor licence is now subject to mandatory revocation should the organisation it belongs to fail to employ a resident worker who was found to meet the job requirements.

New conditions have been added to the list of justifications for the immediate revocation of a Tier 2 sponsor licence, such as if:

• You supply false information on a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS);
• You assign a CoS to a migrant and the salary on that CoS is different to the amount paid to that migrant;
• You use a CoS to fill a vacancy other than the one specified on the CoS you assign for that role; or
• You assign a CoS to a migrant and claim that the job was exempt from the resident labour market test when it was not.

If you have any questions on how these changes could affect you current sponsor licence or you are planning to apply for a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence in the near future, please do not hesitate to contact us here at Smith Stone Walters.

We can guide you through the process of securing and maintaining a sponsorship licence, along with supporting you through the complexities of recruiting migrant staff.

Share story