UK immigration lawyer

Smith Stone Walters specialises in UK immigration, offering expert assistance in corporate transfers and individual visa applications. Our tailored approach merges professional know-how with a personal touch, guaranteeing a smooth, stress-free journey for every client, from start to finish.

Using SIM to manage visa expiry dates

25.02.2022

Managing visa expiry dates is an intrinsic part of any immigration programme. In the UK it goes as far as being written into formal guidance with regards to being a compliant a sponsor: visa or ‘leave’ expiry dates must be recorded by employers, monitored regularly and reminders set at 30, 60 and 90 days before the expiry date is met. The quite prosaic manner in which the guidance is set out makes it clear to sponsors that visa expiry dates must not be missed at all costs.

The repercussions? Well, the Code of practice on preventing illegal working sets out the potential ramifications for a non-compliant sponsor, which include a fine of up to £20,000 per worker, revocation of a sponsor licence (which in turn curtails all existing sponsored visas and prevents the sponsorship of any new workers) and of course the reputational damage of this information being publically available on the Government website.

Managing visa expiry dates is a key functionality afforded by SSW’s unique immigration case management software, Smarter Immigration Manager (SIM).

How can SIM help with monitoring visa expiry dates?

Smarter Immigration Manager (SIM) assists employers in ensuring they have the necessary expiry information on file. For any application processed by SSW, the case cannot be completed on our system until an expiry date is recorded. This is non-negotiable – the system simply won’t let us proceed without it.

Furthermore, our experienced caseworkers processing the applications know the relevant expiry date to insert, after all there are sometimes three or more when it comes to UK visas: the Certificate of Sponsorship work end date, the vignette expiry date and the BRP expiry date.

For cases not processed by SSW, perhaps where an employee has been hired with a self-sponsored (such as an Ancestry or Spouse) visa in place, the system allows for upload of this expiry information for ongoing management by SSW, thus making it a one-stop-shop for all expiry date management, not just sponsored work visas.

What are the benefits?

One of the many advantages of using SSW to manage visa expiry dates is that in conjunction with SIM, you get the expertise of the caseworker reviewing the expiry date. Is it the Certificate of Sponsorship, the vignette or the BRP that should be recorded when tracking the relevant date? This is where your caseworker uses their expertise to record the correct date. Before a ‘case’ can be completed on SIM, it must have an expiry date affixed to it, further enhancing its ability to ensure this important metric is recorded.

SSW runs expiry reports on behalf of clients at recommended intervals agreed by both parties. Equally ad hoc reports, filtered by all manner of variables can be run at any given moment. For example, filtering to specific business units or teams allows a business to identify the upcoming visa renewal costs for that particular group.