A Y & J Solicitors is a multi award-winning UK immigration law firm, recommended by Legal 500 and based in central London.
We have been very successful in assisting thousands of clients over more than 10 years, including those who needed a sponsor licence (formerly Tier 2 sponsor licence) with a trust rating of 4.9/5 based on hundreds of reviews on TrustPilot and Google.
Since the announcement of the Skilled Worker route, we have also been assisting clients in obtaining a Skilled Worker sponsor licence (formerly Tier 2 General) to prepare them for the UK’s exit from the European Union.
We can help you too.
We are committed to not only assist you in your application for a sponsor licence but also to achieve long-standing compliance with all Home Office requirements. Despite the Home Office becoming increasingly strict about compliance, we continue to be successful in developing compliance procedures for sponsor licence holders.
We provide complete ‘hand-holding’ support that offers peace of mind, assurance and a better outcome. Our service extends to all aspects of sponsorship.
For many sectors – such as agriculture, tech, hospitality and finance – the ability to recruit talent from overseas is imperative to meeting customer demands, launching innovative projects and growing their business. Post-Brexit, a sponsor licence may be very much needed by many UK employers. Therefore, it is sensible to engage immigration experts who you can rely on to help manage your sponsor licence duties and responsibilities and keep you up-to-date with any changes to relevant regulations.
As outlined above, the type of licence and supporting documents you need to submit differ greatly depending on the type of business you run as well as the positions you have available. If, for whatever reason, a mistake is made on your application, a six-month cooling off period may be triggered to prevent you from making another application which may affect and delay your business plans.
At A Y & J Solicitors, our lawyers can provide full support and tailored advice to your organisation so you can remain compliant at all times, thereby giving you complete peace of mind.
The Home Office has published new guidance for sponsor licence applications. This reflects changes made to UK immigration rules in December 2020, notably, the replacement of the Tier 2 (General) visa route for sponsored employment with the new Skilled Worker visa route. From 1 January 2021, companies must have a valid sponsor licence in order to employ all skilled workers who do not have the right to work in the UK, including EEA and Swiss nationals and their family members, if they have not been granted settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
A sponsor licence (formerly known as Tier 2 sponsor licence) allows UK-based companies to employ skilled workers who are based overseas or within the UK (applicants can “switch” into the Skilled Worker visa from most other visa types, for example Tier 4 Student and Tier 2 visas).
Once the licence is approved, it will be valid for a period of four years with the option for renewal.
To be eligible to apply for a sponsor licence, your organisation must have a UK presence and be operating or trading lawfully in the UK. If you have multiple UK branches you may apply for one licence to cover all your linked UK entities – alternatively, you might apply for separate licences for each branch, depending on your circumstances.
If you are required to be registered with or inspected/monitored by a statutory body to operate lawfully in the UK, you will need to submit proof that you (and any branches covered by the licence) are registered with the appropriate body. You may also need to supply evidence that you hold the appropriate planning permission or local planning authority consent to run your class of business at your trading address.
The Home Office must be satisfied that you are able to offer genuine employment in a skilled occupation and that you will pay the correct rate of salary, as specified by the Home Office.
As part of your licence application, you are pledging to accept all of the duties associated with being a sponsor licence holder.
Private individuals are not normally eligible to be recognised as sponsors, but an exception applies if the individual is a sole trader who wishes to sponsor someone to work in their business.
We have an in-depth understanding of Sponsor Licence applications and are professional and results-focused. For assistance with any UK immigration law concerns, contact us. We’re here to help!
The fee for a sponsor licence depends on the size and type of organisation. This application fee is payable every time the sponsor renews their licence (every four years). Fees are usually reviewed annually by the Home Office which publishes them on its website.
Organisations classified as “medium” and “large” are required to pay a sponsor licence fee of £1,476. This fee would apply to all organisations which do not meet the definition of a “small” sponsor.
An organisation would normally qualify as a small sponsor if two of the following apply:
Registered Charities are also considered to be “small” sponsors.
Organisations classified as “small” sponsors are required to pay a sponsor licence fee of £536.
If you have already been granted a ‘Worker’ sponsor licence (formerly known as Tier 2 sponsor licence) and decide to add a subcategory, there would be no fee. For example, if you hold a Skilled Worker licence (formerly Tier 2 General) and would like to start sponsoring migrants under the Intra-Company Transfer route (formerly Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer), you’d simply need to submit an application through the Sponsor Management System to add a subcategory – no Home Office fee would apply.
Click here to know home office cost & Skilled Sponsor Licence in Details.
There are two sponsor licence ratings:
If you are successful in your sponsor licence application, you will be awarded an A-rating. This is the highest rating and is awarded by the Home Office to trusted organisations which have proved that they have the necessary systems in place to comply with sponsor duties.
A sponsor must maintain their systems and policies in order to maintain their A-rating. The Home Office may re-assess at any time and these compliance visits will determine if an organisation still meets the criteria for an A-rating.
If the Home Office finds that a business is not complying with sponsor duties, it may be downgraded to a B-rating. A B-rated sponsor will need to meet a time-limited action plan to regain their A-rating. If they cannot meet the requirements of the action plan within the specified timeframe, the licence will be revoked.
It should be noted that the Home Office can suspend/revoke a licence without taking the preliminary step of downgrading to a B-rating. The choice of action taken by the Home Office will depend on the seriousness of the breaches which have been identified.
To apply for a sponsor licence (formerly known as Tier 2 sponsor licence), a company is required to submit an application form online along with a minimum of four specified supporting documents as evidence of its trading presence in the UK, in addition to a covering letter to provide background information about the company.
Occasionally, the Home Office may require additional documents such as evidence of the company’s HR processes to assess whether the compliance requirements and sponsorship duties will be met. During an assessment of the licence application, the Home Office may also conduct a compliance visit at the company premises.
Our team can conduct a mock audit of your HR procedures prior to your formal application being made to identify any weaknesses and put in place an action plan to rectify them.
You will usually need to submit a minimum of four specified mandatory documents with the Skilled Worker (formerly Tier 2 General) licence application. The required document list is extensive and will depend on whether you are representing a public body, start-up, franchise or SME. Some easy to obtain documents may include:
If you are applying for the Intra-Company Transfer sponsor licence subcategory, you will also be required to submit evidence of common ownership between the company in the UK and the company overseas.
There are several types of sponsor licence and each type of licence will require different supporting documents to be submitted. Our team can advise on the type you need to apply for and provide a tailored document checklist for you.
Provided the requirements are met and the correct evidence is submitted, it is possible to apply for multiple subcategories of sponsor licence at the same time.
The Skilled Worker route is particularly designed for migrants who have been offered a job in the UK. This is the main immigration route for skilled workers from outside the UK, and from 1 January 2021 will apply to all EEA and Swiss nationals who wish to work in the UK unless they have been granted pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme or hold a valid frontier worker permit or other visa that permits work in the UK.
The ICT route is for migrants who have been offered a temporary position by their overseas organisation to work in its UK office. Unless the salary package is above £73,900, the employee must have been employed by the company for at least 12 months.
The proposed migrant will be subject to specific requirements in relation to their salary package in order to qualify under the ICT route. The maximum total stay permitted under this route is five years (in any six-year period) unless the salary package is above £73,900. The route does not lead to settlement as opposed to the Skilled Worker visa route. The job must be at RQF level 6 or above (graduate level).
It may also be possible to sponsor an overseas employee under the Intra-company Graduate Trainee route. This route is designed for individuals who are being transferred to the UK as part of a graduate training programme for a managerial or specialist role. The trainee must have been employed by the overseas company for at least three months before the date of application and the UK salary package must be at least £23,000 per annum.
Professional sportspersons and qualified coaches cannot be sponsored under the Skilled Worker route and must be sponsored under the separate Sportsperson visa (T2) route.
This licence is for those who have received a job offer within a faith community such as a minister of a religion or a missionary. Unless the role is in a senior position within the organisation, it must be a pastoral role (involving primarily pastoral duties). Roles such as teaching, media production or administration, within a faith organisation, may not qualify for sponsorship under the Minister of Religion route and the organisation may need to apply for a Skilled Worker licence instead.
A Certificate of sponsorship (CoS) is an electronic document generated on the Sponsor Management System (SMS) after a licence is granted.
In order to sponsor a migrant worker, the company must first request a Certificate of sponsorship from the Home Office through the SMS. Once this is granted, the company will need to assign it to the migrant worker they intend to sponsor to generate a unique reference number for the candidate to submit during their visa application.
Under new sponsor licence rules, the Home Office has rebranded its previous two types of CoS depending on the immigration status of the migrant worker:
These certificates are required for those who are based outside the UK and making an entry clearance application as a Skilled Worker.
Once you have identified a person you want to sponsor, you can apply for this on the SMS, and the Home Office usually aims to decide within one working day unless additional information is required. This is judged on a case-by-case basis.
Previously, sponsors were required to submit their request for a restricted CoS (now defined CoS) by the 5th of each month to receive a decision by the 11th of the same month.
The overall cap on the number of defined CoS the Home Office can grant annually has also now been abolished.
Note: Those who are in the UK as visitors will not be able to apply for a Skilled Worker visa within the UK and will need to return to their country of residence for submission. Therefore, they will require a defined CoS.
The annual allocation of undefined CoS runs from 6 April to 5 April each year. A sponsor can request multiple undefined CoS before the deadline on 5 April if they foresee a need to extend the leave of an existing employee or have identified someone they wish to sponsor who requires an undefined CoS (for example, someone “switching” visa category). If a sponsor is able to justify the need for the request, then the CoS will be granted from 6 April.
If you missed the deadline for renewal or require additional undefined CoS during the year, you may request an increase of allocation on the SMS. Again, you will be required to prove you genuinely need the CoS requested. The processing time for an increase of allocation is 18 weeks, however, priority service is available at an additional cost of £200.
Once an organisation acquires a sponsor licence, they become registered with the Home Office as a sponsor and can begin to issue Certificates of sponsorship (CoS) to skilled non-UK staff subject to meeting the requirements.
For many companies, being able to hire overseas skilled talent is essential to the successful operation and growth of their business. This is particularly so with the end of freedom of movement following the UK’s departure from the EU, meaning that a significant portion of the UK workforce would require sponsorship from January 2021 if they failed to secure their status in the UK before the deadline.
At A Y & J Solicitors, we have extensive experience of helping companies acquire and maintain their Skilled Worker sponsor licences.
Unless there was an error in the Home Office’s assessment of the application, a six-month cooling-off period would be triggered from the date of the refusal, meaning that another licence application cannot be submitted until the end of that period.
In some cases, if we believe there has been a mistake in the decision to refuse your application, we may submit a pre-licence error correction on your behalf. However, if the decision was not overturned after the pre-licence error correction, the only other option to challenge the decision would be to lodge a judicial review.
Our team can expertly advise and represent you in challenging a decision of sponsor licence refusal.
There are some circumstances where you may be prevented from applying or re-applying for a sponsor licence for a certain period of time, known as a ‘cooling off’ period.
Whether or not this applies will depend on the reasons for refusal and the length of a cooling off period will vary depending on the circumstances.
For example, if your application was refused because you were unable to submit requested information or documentation within a specified timeline (for reasons out of your control) you may be able to reapply without waiting.
In most cases, if a sponsor licence application you have submitted is refused, a six-month cooling off period will apply.
There are some circumstances where it may be longer. For example, if you have been issued with a civil penalty for employing an illegal worker, it would be 12 months from the date you paid the penalty in full. If you tried to reapply during this time, your application would automatically be refused.
Even if you have never applied for a sponsor licence before, it is very important to check if your business may be subject to a cooling off period before submitting an application for a sponsor licence.
To obtain a sponsor licence, UK employers need to follow the below steps:
It will be valid for four years with the option for renewal at the end of the fourth year. However, if the Home Office has any reason to believe that you did not comply with your sponsorship duties, your licence may be suspended or revoked.
The standard processing time for applications is 8 weeks. During the processing time, the Home Office may conduct a compliance visit at your office to ensure you are complying with your sponsorship duties.
Your application may be refused if you failed to demonstrate all sponsorship duties are complied with during the visit.
Before the submission of your application, our team may conduct a compliance audit for your HR system to ensure these duties are complied with and advise on any adjustments if needed.
Your application can be refused by the Home Office for a number of reasons. Some of the most common are:
This is not an exhaustive list. If your licence application was refused for reasons not listed above, we would require a copy of your decision letter to advise whether it is a challengeable decision.
Unless the person has another form of visa that allows them to work, such as those with a PBS dependant visa or a spouse visa, you are not permitted to the employ a non-settled worker without a sponsorship licence.
If you employ any illegal worker, you may face potential civil penalties as well as criminal convictions.
Each licenced company receives a unique sponsor licence number which can be found on the decision letter confirming the grant of the licence. This number can also be found on the licence summary page on the SMS.
The Home Office will take appropriate compliance actions if the existing sponsor is found engaging with behaviours non-conducive to the public good. The compliance action will depend on the gravity of actions or behaviour.
Unless there was an error in the Home Office’s assessment of the application, a six-month cooling-off period would be triggered from the date of the refusal, meaning that another licence application cannot be submitted until the end of that period.
In some cases, if we believe there has been a mistake in the decision to refuse your application, we may submit a pre-licence error correction on your behalf. However, if the decision was not overturned after the pre-licence error correction, the only other option to challenge the decision would be to lodge a judicial review.
Our team can expertly advise and represent you in challenging a decision of sponsor licence refusal.
I made three big mistakes that could destroy my application directly. But luckily, A Y & J Solicitors helped me to sort it out, and I got my Visa back now, which is totally out of my expectations.
I reached out to A Y & J Solicitors. They allocated excellent young Lawyers to my case. They took me through two parts of the process. The first part was how to achieve a Sponsor License.
We were able to do that successfully within record time. They helped me bring the Gentleman to come and work for Calibrant, which included transferring his Work Visa. I found that the service was personal & very helpful.
I realised as we went along that A Y & J solicitors are cut above the rest. They knew what they were talking about. They knew the law inside out.
Our Tier 2 Sponsor Licence application was successful in just 3 weeks. We received extremely professional and helpful service throughout our engagement. A Y & J Solicitors advised us correctly, and at the end, we achieved a great positive result. Many thanks again Yash/Sok Wei and Team for all your support. I would recommend A Y & J Solicitors very highly !!!
We at GNL has pleasure and privilege of having Yash Dubal , Senior Immigration Lawyer of A Y & J Solicitors at our office to discuss Sponsorship duties and have an open forums on multiple of questions we had on UKVI regulations on sponsoring and employing skilled migrant workers. We learnt great deal of critical aspects of Sponsorship responsibilities. We were able to clarify a long list of doubts/questions we had on regulations and sponsorship duties. Yash is very professional and he attended to every question we had regarding UKVI regulation with great detail and care. His attention to detail, focus, in-depth understanding of regulations and implications are without any parallels available in this industry. We feel privileged to have spent the day with him at our office and are looking forward to have future engagement with him. We recommend A Y & J Solicitors service to anyone who wish to sponsor skilled migrant workers in the UK.
A Y & J Solicitors has helped us great deal recently for us to retain our ‘A’ rating Tier 2 sponsor licence. They made all easy for us and we passed our audit with the Home office with flying colours. Being an IT company with Tier 2 Sponsor licence, we were blown away by the complex processes and policies to be implemented to be 100% compliant with the latest Home office’s requirement of Tier 2 sponsorship. It is hard to figure out as to what was enough and correct. It was very stressful to monitor Tier 2 migrants & specially the arrangement of the sponsored workers working at client site on ‘client contract’. A word of warning to other likewise companies, please do not take it easy. There is a lot for the Tier 2 compliance which you do not know that you really “do not know”. So in this case you need a specialist to make you understand first what you “do not know” then help you to fix that. If you are a company with a Tier 2 sponsor licence and want complete peace of mind maintaining your Tier 2 licence and retaining your NON-EU skilled staff then A Y & J Solicitors is the company to go to. They simply do not work as a consultant for me but they literally owned my problem. I cannot ask more than this. Thank you so much and my best wishes to A Y & J Solicitors. I have referred few of my acquaintances to A Y & J Solicitors for their ‘Tier 2 compliance audit’. We at NanoIT Solutions highly recommend A Y & J Solicitors, working with the team has been fantastic experience.
Background A care home, Company A, with over 800 employees serving clients around London lost their Tier 2 Sponsor Licence following a compliance visit from the home office. Company A was established over 20 years ago in the care industry had three non-EEA employees who were on a Tier 2 visa. All three employees were…
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This video covers ‘Introduction on Sponsor Licence Application’.
If you need Non-EU skilled employees to operate your business, you must apply for a Sponsor Licence. The Sponsor Licence program is part of the UK’s Points Based System that issues points to Non-EU applicants to determine if they will be permitted to work in the UK.
To qualify for a Sponsor Licence, you must be a genuine business or charity operating legally in the UK. The Home Office will look at the character of your company and the people you name on your application. You need to show that you can fulfill your Sponsor duties, and that the positions you need to fill cannot be filled from within the UK.
To begin your application, you must register with gov.uk and fill in the online application form. You will also need to post all required supporting documentation and information to the Home Office. You must be prepared for an onsite visit from a compliance officer, although this does not always occur. Approval for a Sponsor Licence is valid for 4 years.
If you require assistance in applying a strong Sponsor Licence Application, please contact us today. Our contact details are at the bottom of the video. We are happy to help. Thank you.
A Y & J Solicitors have very imminent lawyers who know their work. So if somebody is good at their work, they know what is required. So they made sure all the points that the Home Office flagged off, answered and provided documentation for every point, as many documents as we could, even if they had not asked for it.