Sponsor Licence suspended? We've seen the devastating impact these suspensions or revocations can have on a business. Teams are torn apart, profits plummet, and timelines continue to be pushed. That's why our solicitors work with businesses looking to avoid or correct these decisions. We'll ensure you're complying with all Sponsor Licence requirements and know exactly what to do when your sponsor licence is suspended or revoked.
At A Y & J Solicitors in London, we have successfully guided numerous clients through the complexities of their Sponsor Licence being suspended or revoked, providing them with effective solutions and peace of mind in challenging times. Our immigration solicitors are ready to answer your questions, review your processes, and make sure your business is set up for long-term success.
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Had notification of a visit from the Home Office? How A Y & J Solicitors can help.
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Yes. The Worker Sponsor Licence was formerly referred to as the Tier 2 Sponsor Licence. The Tier 2 General Work Visa was also replaced by the Skilled Worker Visa. Contact us today if you’re looking for help with a Skilled Worker Sponsor licence (that has been suspended or revoked).
Following a compliance visit from the Home Office, concerns may be expressed by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). These concerns may result in a down-graded licence, suspension, or revocation of a licence. The most common concerns result from improper or non-existent Resident Labour Market Tests (RLMT) when they were required, poor record keeping and reporting, insufficient recruitment practices, or poor HR policies and procedures that are required in order to comply with one’s sponsorship duties.
An organisation’s Sponsor Licence can be suspended (Tier 2 Sponsor Licence suspended) if UKVI has concerns that a sponsor may be breaching their sponsor duties or otherwise poses a threat to immigration control, and a mandatory revocation ground does not apply.
The reasons for the Sponsor Licence suspension will be issued in writing, and you will have a chance to respond. UKVI may decide to investigate the matter further. If a suspension letter is issued, you will still be provided with an opportunity to respond to the reasons for the suspension.
If you receive a suspension notice, contact us immediately. Our lawyers will review the contents of the notice and provide expert advice as to how you should respond.
A Sponsor Licence can be revoked (Tier 2 Sponsorship cancelled) in response to a breach that is listed as a mandatory ground for revocation and/or a severe compliance breach.
Where a discretionary reason for revocation applies, the Home Office may first suspend the licence and provide the opportunity for your organisation to respond to the UKVI’s concerns before deciding whether to revoke it. If a sponsor’s licence is revoked, the organisation will not be able to apply for a new licence until 12 months have passed since the date of the revocation letter.
The Home Office requires licensed sponsors to meet and maintain certain obligations throughout the period of their Sponsor Licence. In the event the Home Office believes and finds that you have failed your duties as a sponsor, a decision may be made to suspend your Sponsor Licence.
Should your organisation’s Sponsor Licence be suspended, you will not be able to assign Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) under any categories. As part of the Home Office procedure, your company will also be removed from the register of sponsors during the suspension period.
Despite your Sponsor Licence being suspended, your company must continue to meet its sponsorship duties. In the event your company’s Sponsor Licence is due for renewal during the suspension time, the Authorising Officer should make the renewal application online using the Sponsor Licence Management System.
The status of your company’s sponsored workers currently working for your organisation will not be affected when your Sponsor Licence is suspended unless the Home Office decides to revoke your Sponsor Licence.
In the event your organisation fails to address the issues listed in the suspension letter and your licence is revoked, your organisation is no longer able to offer sponsorship to overseas workers. Furthermore, following the revocation of your company’s Sponsor Licence, the Home Office will curtail the leave given to the migrant workers who are currently working for your organisation. The sponsored migrant workers will normally have their leave curtailed to 60 calendar days. If they have fewer days than this remaining on their visas, such action will not take place.
You will lose your sponsored migrant workers, and they will either have to find another sponsor to sponsor them, make another visa application in the UK, or leave the UK.
Organisations that have had their Sponsor Licence suspended (Tier 2 Sponsor Licence suspended) have 20 working days to respond to a notice from the Home Office.
A Sponsor Licence can be mandatorily revoked (Tier 2 Sponsorship cancelled) if the sponsor:
Note: This is not an exhaustive list. Get in touch with us today if you have additional questions.
If you fail to respond to the suspension letter within 20 working days, your company’s Sponsor Licence will be revoked (Tier 2 Sponsorship cancelled).
There is no right to appeal against a decision to revoke a Sponsor Licence, and as a sponsor, you will not be able to make a new Sponsor Licence application until the end of the cooling-off period, 12 months from the date the licence was revoked. However, you may be able to challenge the decision via the Judicial Review process should there be merits.
If your sponsor licence has been suspended, usually, you will be given 20 working days from the date of issue of the suspension letter to address any concerns raised by the Home Office. You should address each and every concern raised by the Home Office to help you reinstate your sponsor licence.
Yes, absolutely. The organisation should prepare a robust response to the concerns raised in the suspension letter by the Home Office to challenge it successfully to reinstate the sponsor licence. The Home Office offers 20 working days for the organisation to address any concerns raised in the suspension letter.
Sponsor licence suspension requires immediate attention to address any points raised by the Home Office within 20 working days while preparing the representation; we advise dealing with every point very diligently and providing appropriate explanations and mitigating circumstances with corroborating evidence wherever possible. If you fail to restate the sponsor licence suspension stage, the sponsor licence will likely be revoked. If the sponsor licence is revoked, you will lose the ability to sponsor overseas skilled staff and lose existing sponsored migrant workers in your business.
The sponsor may lose their licence if they fail to address concerns raised by the Home Office at the suspension stage. If you lose the sponsor licence, then there will be a cooling off period of a further 12 months before you can reapply for a sponsor licence. It is, therefore, extremely important to reinstate the sponsor licence by providing comprehensive representation at the time of suspension.
The sponsor licence gets their sponsor licence suspended for failing to meet the sponsorship duties, including but not limited to:
Once approved, the sponsor licence remains valid for 4 years; after this period, you must apply for a renewal to continue sponsoring migrant workers for your business.
If you are a sponsored migrant and your sponsor loses the sponsor licence, then you could still continue working with the sponsor till your curtailed visa expires. By or before your curtailed visa expires, you should regularise your status in the UK.
There is no immediate implication on sponsored migrant workers if the sponsor has their sponsor licence suspended. However, during the suspension period, the sponsored worker cannot extend their skilled worker visas.
Based on our 15 years of experience dealing with sponsor licence matters, we advise our clients to take every concern the Home Office raises in the suspension letter very seriously. We advise and help our client address these concerns pragmatically to ensure we address them to satisfy the Home Office and meet the sponsorship duties of the sponsor. We have experienced that many organisations have failed to meet their sponsorship duties, which has resulted in sponsor licence suspension, but with our professional guidance, experience and expertise, we have managed to assist them in navigating through this complex challenge of reinstating their sponsor licence from suspension. We advise our clients to go through each and every consent rate raised by the Home Office. We take thorough instructions, gather all relevant information surrounding the issue, and then help our clients to address every concern by advising them to get the relevant corroborating evidence. We also share experience-based strategies to help them reinstate the sponsor licence.
Generally, you hear back from the Home Office with the decision within one to two months from the date of your response to the Home Office. The Home Office may request further information each time after submitting this response.
Sponsor licence suspension does not affect visa workers straight away. The sponsored migrant workers can continue working with the sponsor while the sponsor is dealing with the sponsor’s licence suspension matter. However, the sponsored migrant worker would not be able to extend their visas while the suspension matter is being considered by the Home Office.
If you ignore a sponsor licence suspension notice, then the Home Office will make a decision in the absence of any further information to revoke the licence.
Even if you believe you have made mistakes, we encourage you to seek professional legal advice in relation to the sponsor licence suspension matter. The lawyer can assess the situation differently in making you restore the sponsor licence if possible.
Getting a sponsor licence suspension is very critical for the business. You may fail to reinstate the sponsor licence, lose the ability to sponsor skilled workers from overseas and lose all your existing sponsored migrant workers. That could affect the business’s day-to-day operations by losing the skilled staff within the business and, at times, the business up to the extent of shutting it down.
Generally, you get 20 working days to respond to a sponsor licence suspension.
Sponsor licence action plan cost £1,476
Rather than accepting the sponsor licence suspension, we advise the organisation to respond within 20 working days to any sponsor licence suspension notification by addressing every concern raised by the Home Office within the suspension letter with corroborating explanations and evidence.
At A Y & J Solicitors, our team has an in-depth understanding of Sponsor Licence suspensions and revocations and achieves an incredibly high success rate for our clients. In each case, we provide clients with excellent customer service and a transparent fee structure with no hidden charges or extra costs. We offer caring service throughout the entire process, from your initial consultation until the decision on your challenge to the sponsor licence suspension/revocation
We can accommodate our clients in a variety of ways, including in-house consultations at our central London office or online/telephone/Skype meetings. Our lawyers also know a handful of international languages, including Hindi & Gujarati, Romanian, Albanian and Italian.
