Your ultimate guide to Sponsor Licence Compliance pitfalls
An interactive exploration of the significant challenges, administrative burdens, and high-stakes risks faced by UK businesses holding a sponsor licence to employ foreign workers.
A Perfect Storm of Non-Compliance
Recent years have seen an unprecedented surge in Home Office enforcement. A combination of complex, ever-changing rules and increased scrutiny has created a treacherous landscape for employers. Even minor administrative errors can now trigger severe penalties, threatening business operations and the livelihoods of sponsored employees.
The Licence Lifecycle: A Journey of Hurdles
From the initial application to the threat of revocation, every stage of the sponsor licence journey is fraught with complexity and potential pitfalls. This section breaks down the key challenges employers face throughout the lifecycle of their sponsorship responsibilities. Click on each stage to learn more about its specific pain points.
Select a stage to see details
Details about the selected lifecycle stage will appear here.
Does the Home Office Expects you to be a de-facto immigration officer?
According to them, sponsor licence is not a right but a privilege. This is why maintaining a sponsor licence requires constant vigilance and adherence to a strict, evolving set of duties. The chart below shows the dramatic increase in enforcement actions, while the cards highlight the primary compliance areas where businesses most often falter. Failure in any of these areas can lead to severe consequences.
Enforcement Actions: 5-Year Trend vs. Recent Surge
Here are the six common causes for sponsor licence revocation and suspension?
Right to Work Checks
Meticulous and timely checks are legally required for all employees, not just sponsored workers. Errors in process or record-keeping are a major red flag for auditors.
Record-Keeping & SMS
Sponsors must maintain detailed, up-to-date records for each sponsored worker. All significant changes must be reported via the Sponsor Management System (SMS) within strict deadlines.
Reporting Duties
Failure to report changes in a worker's employment (salary, role, location, absence) within 10 working days is one of the most common and serious compliance breaches.
Genuineness Test
The role must be a genuine vacancy that meets the required skill and salary levels. The Home Office actively investigates roles that appear to be created solely for immigration purposes.
Policy Changes
Immigration rules are volatile. Sponsors are responsible for keeping abreast of all changes to salary thresholds, eligible occupation codes, and general sponsor duties.
Unannounced and Digital Audits
The Home Office can conduct compliance visits with little or no notice, and now days are doing digital compliance checks. Businesses must be "audit-ready" at all times, with all necessary documentation immediately accessible.
Sponsorship fees Calculator
Use the calculator below to estimate the primary costs for your organisation.
Sponsorship Cost Estimator
Estimated First-Year Costs
Note: This is an estimate and does not include visa application fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge, or legal/advisory fees.
When You Do Not Need to Pay
You will not have to pay the charge if you’re sponsoring someone with one of the following occupation codes:
- ✓ chemical scientists (2111)
- ✓ biological scientists (2112)
- ✓ biochemists and biomedical scientists (2113)
- ✓ physical scientists (2114)
- ✓ social and humanities scientists (2115)
- ✓ natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified (2119)
- ✓ research and development managers (2161)
- ✓ other researchers, unspecified discipline (2162)
- ✓ higher education teaching professionals (2311)
You also might not have to pay the charge if you’re sponsoring a worker who was assigned a certificate before 6 April 2017 - there’s more information in the immigration skills charge guidance for sponsors.
You will not need to pay the charge for any of the worker’s dependants, for example their partner or child.
If you’re sponsoring someone to switch to a work visa from a visa that allows them to study: You will not have to pay the charge if they switch to either a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa and then extend their stay on the new visa.
What are the consequences of a revoked sponsor licence?
The consequences of a revoked sponsor licence extend far beyond the business itself. For sponsored workers and their families, the sudden invalidation of their visa can be a devastating event, creating immense uncertainty and personal turmoil. Their right to work, and often their right to remain in the UK, is directly tied to their employer's compliance.
"If a sponsor's licence is revoked, the worker's visa is curtailed. They typically have 60 days to find a new sponsor, switch to a different visa category, or leave the UK. It's a period of intense stress and uncertainty for individuals who have built their lives here."
6 ways to avoid the sponsor compliance pitfalls
Given the high stakes and complexity, many UK businesses turn to specialist HR and immigration consultancies to manage their sponsorship duties. Of course, you can do these on your own. At IRS HR, we believe that HR sponsor compliance should be easy, affordable, and comprehensive. IRS HR ensures compliance, and provides peace of mind, allowing businesses to focus on their core operations.
Compliance Confidence
Stay Home Office audit-ready 24/7 with automated alerts for visa expiry, Home-office sponsor licence compliance inspections and 50 plus migrant documents checklist.
Reduced Admin Burden
Digitise the complex paperwork, record-keeping, and SMS reporting to a dedicated team, freeing up valuable internal resources.
Cost-Effective Solution
Access comprehensive HR and immigration expertise at a fraction of the cost of two different HR and compliance software .
Easily manage all your sponsor duties
Right-to-work evidence, absences and location updates. IRS HR tracks key dates, and surfaces live status at a glance. Know where your hybrid or mobile employees are working from, and remain stress-free.
Geofence-Based Time Tracking for UKVI-purposes
Employees clock in/out via geolocation—no manual entries needed. Moreover, work hours automatically calculated for sponsor compliance reporting
Peace of Mind
Gain the assurance that your sponsorship responsibilities are always in front of you, and you are always up-to-date with the latest rule changes.