New sponsor licence rules!

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 sponsor licence applications made on or after 6 April 2015.

The updated guidance outlines some significant changes to the way in which UK sponsors hire and retain migrant employees. The changes include a number of wholly new requirements for sponsor licence applications whilst expanding upon the duties and responsibilities to be undertaken by sponsors. Edits have also been made which further detail the circumstances within which a sponsor licence may be downgraded or revoked.

So what’s changed when applying for a new sponsor licence?

• Any prospective sponsor applying for a Tier 2 (General) or Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) licence is advised to contact Smith Stone Walters, as a whole raft of additional information about the applicant organisation and the post(s) that it wishes to fill is now required for this type of licence application.
• When considering your sponsorship application, not only will the Home Office consider any evidence which suggests you may be a threat to immigration control, but they will also now consider any evidence from a public body of your lack of compliance with their rules.
• You must be able to evidence that as a prospective sponsor you will be providing any migrant worker with an offer of genuine employment which meets the Tier 2 requirements and cannot be fulfilled by a resident worker.
• There are now additional reasons for which your application can be refused. They are as follows:
  • You did not meet the requirements in the category under which you applied.
  • You submitted false documents as part of your application.
  • You do not have the processes necessary to comply with potential sponsor duties.
  • You have an unspent criminal conviction.
  • You are legally prohibited from becoming a company director (unless this is due to being an un-discharged bankrupt).
  • You have no trading presence in the UK.
• Your application may also be refused should it be found that you have been subject to EU or UN sanctions.

Once the licence has been issued, how will our sponsor duties and compliance be affected?

The new guidance includes information on how sponsors should be prepared to conduct two right to work checks instead of one for each prospective migrant employee, following the introduction of Biometric Resident Permits as a migrant worker’s main evidence of their immigration status in the UK.

Sponsors should also ensure that they are compliant with the most recent salary threshold updates for Tier 2 General and Intra-Company Transfer employees.

If you are a sponsor of nurses, there are new reporting duties to take note of.  For example, you must now cease to sponsor the migrant employee should they fail to pass their OSCE within eight months of the start date on their Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). You must now also ensure that the start date on the CoS is either the date upon which they will start working for you or the date upon which they are scheduled to sit their OSCE exam, whichever is earliest.

Home Office compliance officers making a prearranged or unannounced visit to your organisation will now wish to inspect internal records and/or systems to ensure you are following your sponsor obligations and adherence to rules, along with the usual verification of your current sponsorship licence information, the checking of your compliance with your sponsor duties, and speaking to migrant workers and any employees involved in the recruitment of migrant workers.

Compliance officers may also now wish to conduct checks on other workers within your organisation in order to ensure that you are complying with your obligation to prevent illegal working.

If you are planning to apply for a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence or have any questions on how these changes could affect you current sponsor licence, 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.