They applied themselves, were rejected, and had three weeks before their new hire's start date

A construction-technology software company filed its own sponsor licence application. The Home Office rejected it in May. By July they had a Belgian account executive due to start in three weeks and no licence.

At a glance

• Client: Software company building project planning and coordination tools for construction and infrastructure
• Matter: Sponsor licence, full service, after a self-filed application was rejected
• Prior rejection: 16 May 2026, fee refunded, no cooling-off period applied
• The deadline: New hire's start date, 6 August 2026
• Instructed: 17 July 2026, on the day of first contact

How they found us

They contacted us and instructed us on the same day, and asked for a senior fee earner to be assigned.

The challenge

• The company had already applied for a licence itself and been rejected in May. The fee was refunded and no cooling-off period applied, so a second attempt was possible, but a second failure would have been costly.
• The hire they needed to sponsor was already working under another arrangement and due to start with them on 6 August.
• The company's directorship sat in Australia, so the authorising officer had to be someone else.
• They wanted both this application and the subsequent worker application expedited.

What we did

• Took over after the client's own failed attempt. With a senior fee earner assigned as requested, on a full-service basis rather than application-only.
• Fixed the authorising officer position. Confirmed the London-based co-founder, a UK citizen, as a suitable authorising officer rather than the overseas directors.
• Advised on expediting realistically. Home Office priority on both the licence application and the subsequent sponsorship and visa stage, with the processing realities set out rather than promised around.
• Scoped the second stage separately. The worker application quoted per applicant, so the company knew the full cost of the hire, not just the licence.

Why it matters

The sponsor licence application looks like a form. Companies with capable operations teams reasonably assume they can do it themselves, and many can. The ones who cannot usually find out when a rejection arrives with a start date already in the diary.