To recruit and sponsor migrant workers in the United Kingdom, the employing company shall require a licence of a sponsor to do so. Only those companies that meet the Home Offices standards toward eligibility and appropriate systems to supervise their migrant workers will be granted a Sponsor’s Licence.
To secure a UK visa sponsorship licence, you will have to make an application to the Home Office and pay the relevant fees as well. The Home Office will only grant a sponsor licence to a firm that can show the roles they are hiring for, and the workers they plan to sponsor, and meet the compulsory requirements as well. The firm ought to have HR systems in place that abide by tedious sponsorship compliance duties.
What is UK Visa Sponsorship?
Under the points-based immigration system in the UK, the major routes for non-UK residents living in the United Kingdom are the below-mentioned sponsored work visas:
- Skilled Worker Visa
- Temporary Worker Visas
- Global Business Mobility Visas
These types of visas require sponsorship by a licensed employer.
To hire workers under either visa, the employer is required to apply to UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) (the Home Office division that is responsible for UK immigration) for a sponsorship licence. The Home Office counts on the sponsorship regime for the prevention of illegal working and misuse of the immigration system.
Eligibility to get a Sponsor Licence
The first step towards getting a sponsor licence is checking that the business is eligible. To get a licence, a business cannot carry out the following:
- Unspent illegal convictions for immigration offences or certain other crimes (eg fraud or money laundering)
- Had a sponsor licence withdrawn within the last 12 months
Application form (and any other supporting document) will be assessed by UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI), who is likely to visit the premises of the business. This is done to check whether the business is trustworthy, honest, and can perform its duties without any hassle.
Types of Sponsor Licence
The type of sponsor licences businesses can apply for depends on whether the workers are categorized as
- ‘workers’ – they are being recruited for skilled or long-term employment
- ‘temporary workers’ – they are needed for specific types of temporary employment
What You Need to Know
To apply for a Sponsor Licence, organizations are required to prove that:
- They are a legitimate company operating legally in the United Kingdom
- Their major workforce named on the application is truthful, trustworthy, and loyal
- They are aware of and proficient at performing their sponsored duties i.e. they have the right human resources as well as recruitment systems and practices in place
- They are offering actual employment that meets the Tier 2 (General) skill level and apt rates of pay
Organizations are required to complete an online application and provide supporting documentation for meeting the mandatory evidential requirements. This should be supplied within 5 days of the initial application.
If you fail to submit all required documents will lead to an application being postponed or discarded and further costs being incurred.
Following the document receipt, the company is likely to be subject to a compliance visit from the Home Office, which shall evaluate whether or not to grant the licence.
