Businesses planning to bring in or hire foreign workers in a UK-based firm need to obtain a Sponsor Licence for UK Employers. As a holder of a sponsor licence, you are required to fulfil all obligations and duties related to sponsoring a migrant worker, specifically – compliance with obligations, adherence to immigration laws, and preventing intentional misconduct. Our central theme of the blog is “what is sponsor Licence Suspension & how to deal with it”, because Sponsor licence is a crucial factor for businesses in the UK.

If a sponsor violates the terms of their sponsor licensing, they lose their licence. When a sponsor loses their UK Sponsorship licence, it can cause issues for both the sponsor and the foreign workers employed by the organisation.

Our experts have revealed some typical reasons for a UK Sponsor Licence Suspension!

• Threatening immigration control;
• Providing false information on the sponsor licence application;
• Inadequate recruitment practises
• Not performing sponsor duties;
• Not adhering to UK immigration laws;
• Not maintaining organised records (of migrant employee’s contact information);
• Incorrect use of or completion of a Certificate of Sponsorship

The Home Office sends out a notification of suspension along with a cause or reasons for suspension.

The organisation will no longer be permitted to issue any certificates of sponsorship (CoS) and also won’t be permitted to sponsor any new potential workers while the suspension is in effect.

Any CoS that was issued prior to the suspension but was still being processed would be suspended until the Home Office has completed its investigation and reached a decision.

Nevertheless, companies must maintain compliance with the sponsor responsibilities throughout your suspension as well.

The subsequent actions are crucial. A Sponsorship Licence suspension may cause you as a Sponsor Licence holder to consider things such as – How will this affect sponsored immigrants’ visas, how to tackle the circumstances created due to this cancellation and how long will it take to fix this problem?

You have two options after receiving a notice of Sponsor Licence Suspension:

• Respond to the accusations by contesting the evidence and requesting the license’s reinstatement.
• Accept the accusations and state how you will handle the violations as your response.

• If your sponsorship licence is revoked or suspended, you must reply to the Home Office within the specified time period, usually 20 days. If you don’t, your licence can be taken away.
• The Home Office will conduct additional research based on the status of your answer before reaching a decision.
• Your licence is likely to be reinstated, either as an A-rating or B-rating, if the Home Office accepts your defence.
• The organisation will have a lot of work to do if restored with a B-rating; they will be issued an action plan that must be followed to regain the position of an A-rated sponsor.
• Depending on the breaches, the action plan’s specifics will change.
• You must demonstrate adequate improvement within a given timeline – 20 days.
• Sponsor companies will be required to pay a certain fee for the action plan.

The deadline for submitting your response will be specified in the notification of suspension of the Sponsorship Licence. You have 20 days to request a review of the judgement and provide any defences you think are appropriate. The response must be provided to the Home Office in writing and include all necessary proof that will support your claim strictly within 20 days.