Tier 2 Sponsor Licence Compliance Home Office Visits to Retail / Restaurant Business

As political pressure to crack down on illegal workers increases, the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is sending out more compliance officers to conduct inspection on retail, restaurants and other businesses with Tier 2 Sponsor Licences. Many of these inspections are unannounced, with a zero tolerance for non-compliance, any breach of the Sponsor Licence duties and responsibilities can lead to devastating commercial consequences

A Y & J Solicitors is committed to help Sponsor Licence holders preparing for immigration compliance before UKVI inspection visit. The repercussions of non-compliance are severe, this include the risk of having your Tier 2 Sponsor Licence being suspended, revoked or downgraded.

We understand how busy employers and HR directors are, and therefore we actively assist companies to meet that HR policies and procedures related to UKVI compliance.  Therefore, if immigration officials pay your organisation an announced / unannounced visit, you can be confident that your business is compliant with the recent UKVI rules and regulation related to Tier 2 Sponsor Licence.

Do you need help with a Home Office Inspection Visit?

How Can You Avoid Non-Compliance Which Could Lead to Your Business Failing a Sponsor Licence Compliance Inspection?

Obtaining a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence is a challenging and rewarding process which can open up opportunities for organisations to recruit talent from outside the UK.  As part of your application, you may have already met your first UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) compliance officer for a pre-licence visit.  Once you hold your Sponsor Licence, you can expect to receive a compliance inspection visit at any time – often without notice.

No excuses are tolerated by UKVI for non-compliance.  Non-compliance can lead to a loss of talented workers and an inability to hire skilled workers in the future.  It can also damage your professional reputation.

The courts are often reluctant to overturn UKVI revocations where there has been a clear breach of compliance.  Judges are keen to reinforce the view that a Sponsor Licence is a privilege, not a right.

Avoiding these damaging effects requires extensive knowledge and experience dealing with Sponsor Licence matters.  A Y & J Solicitors have been working with retail, hospitality, and e-commerce organisations for many years and possess the resources and knowledge required to assist our clients to achieve full compliance.

Do you have a way to calculate the sponsor licence UK cost?

Yes! Use our calculator below to calculate your sponsor licence visa cost.

Please answer the questions and you will be able to calculate the approx cost for The sponsor licence –

 

Why Do Some Retail, Restaurant, and E-commerce Businesses fail UKVI Sponsor Licence Compliance Visits?

Many organisations fail to meet Tier 2 Sponsor Licence compliance duties and responsibilities, some of the reasons are listed below:

  • The Sponsor Licence holder is providing migrant workers to a third party
  • They have failed to provide current and past contact details for all migrant workers
  • There is insufficient tracking of worker attendance, lack of documentation, or poor record-keeping
  • They have not updated the status of migrant workers or provided accurate information as to their work location
  • There is a lack of evidence of conducting Residence Labour Market Testing (RLMT) for positions filled by migrant workers
  • There has been poor procedural support for the management of leave for migrant workers.

There are no exceptions for Sponsor Licence holders who are found to be non-compliant in one or more areas.  Being unprepared for an Home Office inspection visit is unacceptable, even if it is unannounced.  It can put a great deal of stress on Sponsor Licence holders, especially smaller companies who do not have large HR departments.

A Y & J Solicitors Offers Customised Sponsor Licence Compliance Audit

The experts at A Y & J Solicitors have experience helping retail, restaurant, and e-commerce companies successfully operate as fully compliant Sponsor Licence holders.  We have developed a Sponsor Licence Compliance Audit that will identify any areas of concern before the Home Office raise them.  Our comprehensive solution also identifies the actions needed to fix problems before they become compliance issues.

The below areas will be investigated thoroughly in our compliance audits:

  • Reporting and recordkeeping as it relates to your industry
  • Proper systems for managing all aspects of leave for your sponsored workers
  • ‘Right to Work’ checks
  • Genuine Vacancy
  • Residence Labour Market Tests (RLMT)
  • Proper systems for the storage and updating of all contact details for your sponsored workers

A Y & J Solicitors Sponsor Licence Compliance Audit Service

We have substantial experience with Sponsor Licence matters.  Whether you are a retail, restaurant, or e-commerce business, you will find this audit empowers you to be prepared for a UKVI Inspection. The result is certainty that you remain compliant with immigration requirement and your sponsored skilled workers can retain their positions.

The immigration law experts at A Y & J Solicitors excel at providing award-winning customer service and positive results for clients.  We have also been instrumental in helping many businesses reinstate their suspended and revoked Tier 2 Sponsor Licences.   If you find yourself in this situation, we are here to help you in your compliance inspection and/or retain your Tier 2 Sponsor Licence.

Almost all Sponsor Licence holders are committed to complying with Home Office rules and regulations.  Unfortunately, smaller businesses can be overwhelmed with day-to-day business operations and unintentionally neglect their Sponsor Management System (SMS) or miss an important regulation change.  Therefore, having a regular mock compliance audit is recommended to ensure your HR systems are up-to-date and you remain compliant

Failure to keep records for the specified period is a common reason for retail, restaurant, and e-commerce organisations to fail compliance checks.  In most cases, you must keep copies of documents for the duration of the employment and one year post-termination.

A Y & J Solicitors’ Review

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.

GNL

A sigh of relief after Tier 2 sponsor licence restored. The day our Tier 2 sponsor licence was revoked, we had a nightmare as to how we would keep up with our Non EU skilled staff within our business. We were very fortunate to have engaged A Y & J Solicitors as our lawyers to help us with the Tier 2 sponsor licence revocation. Initially, it appeared that the job would be impossible as the Home office had prepared very strong revocation letter but with A Y & J Solicitors expert help we have our Tier 2 sponsor licence back. Our NON-EU skilled work force have been saved. They know their job well and we would recommend them to all employers and businesses who require legal assistance in relation to their NON-EU skilled staff and Tier 2 matters.

We are in hospitality industry and hold Tier 2 sponsor licence which has been reinstated after a revocation by the Home office. I must say that A Y & J Solicitors played a vital role as our legal adviser and helped us not only save our highly skilled work force but saved the entire business. I would thank the lawyers at A Y & J Solicitors and would recommend very highly to any business who requires advice/support in relation to Tier 2 sponsor licence matter.

Success Story on Sponsor Licence Compliance Visit – Retail / Restaurant

On October 17, 2017 | In Sponsor Licence Suspension | By
A Y & J Solicitors

Suspended Tier 2 Sponsor Licence Reinstated Successfully – Travel Industry

Company C is a leading travel company which has been trading in the UK for over 20 years; providing a high-quality service to a huge variety of groups and individuals visiting the UK from China. These groups comprise High Net Worth Individual and Business delegates. As the company’s targeted market is in China, their staff…

Video on Sponsor Licence Compliance Visit

Tier 2 Sponsor License Guidance
Intro to Sponsor Licence

Compliance duties, reporting, record keeping, and renewals.

Sponsorship Licence Compliance Duties for Sponsor Licence Holders

We are a specialised UK immigration law firm.

I will talk about Sponsor Licence compliance Duties in this video.

As a Sponsor Licence holder you are responsible for complying with your sponsorship duties as set out by the Home Office.

If any rules/regulations change (which is likely) it is your responsibility to keep yourself informed, and act on any changes as needed.

Your sponsorship Licence duties include but not limited to reporting and record keeping.

You should report within a specific deadline significant changes within the company that includes but not limited to ‘change of address’, ‘merger/acquisition’, ‘TUPE transfer’.

You should also report information on sponsored worker such as but not limited to, changes in job title/job duties or salary, change of the work location and certain absences.

You must have a system you use to check your workers can legally work. Each licence holder is responsible for monitoring immigration status and prevent illegal working.

When the time approaches, you must also apply for a renewal of your Sponsor Licence so it remains up-to-date.

We strongly advice businesses to remain complaint with their sponsor licence compliance duties.

If you require legal advice in relation to sponsor licence matter, please contact us today. Our contact details are at the bottom of the video. We are happy to help. Thank you.

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