This page covers the following topics
Introduction
You have a number of severe responsibilities as a licenced sponsor in order to ensure adherence to the UK Immigration Rules and stop illicit work.
These responsibilities include assigning sponsored visa employees certificates of sponsorship (CoS), monitoring and reporting specific activities regarding sponsored workers, and more.
The Home Office’s online tool, the Sponsor Management System (SMS), is utilised by sponsors to carry out their daily licence management tasks and fulfil their compliance obligations. Applications for the licence to sponsor a skilled worker can also be sent through SMS.
The SMS must at all times be an accurate representation of your company and your sponsored personnel because the Home Office depends on it to make sure you are abiding by your compliance obligations as a sponsor licence holder.
Access to the Sponsor Management System (SMS)
Who can access the Sponsor Management System (SMS)?
Employers must possess a current sponsorship licence to sponsor employees under any of the following routes:
- UK Skilled Worker Visa
- Global Business Mobility – UK Senior or Specialist Worker Visa
- UK Tier 2 Minister of Religion Visa
- UK International Sportsperson Visa
- UK Charity Worker Visa
- UK Creative Worker Visa
- All the UK Global Business Mobility Visas
- UK Government Authorised Exchange Visa
- UK International Agreement Visa
- UK Religious Worker Visa
- UK Scale-up Visa
- UK Seasonal Worker Visa
Purpose of Sponsor Management System (SMS)
For what purpose is the Sponsor Management System (SMS) used?
In general, the Sponsor Management System (SMS) can be used to carry out a variety of licence-related tasks, such as:
- Managing or replacing your key personnel
- Updating the information on your Sponsor Licence
- Managing or renewing your Sponsor Licence and services
- Creating and assigning Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS)
- Renewing your allocations
- Requesting additional CoS reporting tasks pertaining to your sponsored employees
Create and assign Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)
Either Level 1 or Level 2 users may establish and assign CoS within the Worker or Temporary Worker routes. The user should choose “Create and assign” from the Workers screen, choose the route and any category from the drop-down menu, and then choose the appropriate option to create sponsorship certificates one at a time or in batches.
The user should fill out the migrant’s personal information, the information for the task they will be performing, and any other pertinent information on the “Create a CoS screen” for a single CoS before choosing “Save” and “Assign.” Before being brought to the payment screen to assign the CoS, a declaration must also be marked to signify acceptance with the terms and conditions.
The user should input the batch name for a batch of CoS on the ‘Create and assign CoS’ screen. Before inputting the migrant worker’s personal information, there is an option to add pre-populated employment facts to save time when creating many certificates. Once finished, a single transaction can be used to allocate and pay for the batch.
