Do you need to get a UK sponsor licence for a key new hire for your company? You may be in for a shock surprise when you try to navigate the applicable rules and requirements to obtain a Sponsor Licence. Generally, the Immigration Rules are not particularly 'user-friendly.' In fact, they're complex and full of legal jargon and references within references within references. So where do you begin?
Step one – is your potential employee eligible?
If you are interested in hiring foreign talent, you may very well start your sponsor license journey by considering the "Appendix Skilled Worker" to determine whether a potential employee is eligible. But you'll quickly find out that you will also need to read and understand the implications and connotations of "Appendix Continuous Residence", "Appendix Relationship with Partner", "Appendix English Language" and others – so you are back to square one.
However, if you have the time and the patience, you will eventually find the information you need. It's all in there. Somewhere in the Immigration Rules.
Step two – identify the applicable rules
If you want to hire migrant workers for your company, the very first question is what are the applicable rules and where can they be found? There is no mention of the Sponsor Licence scheme in the Immigration Rules, or in the Immigration Act or any other general piece of legislation, so where should you look?
The rules about Sponsor Licences are not subject to parliamentary debate or even scrutiny. they are published by the Home Office in the form of Policy Guidance and included in the Collection: "Sponsorship: guidance for employers and educators." This collection has 8 sub-categories and 48 separate documents or 'guidance'. And these are not easy to navigate.
Three criteria to potentially be granted a Sponsor Licence
In most visa categories in the Immigration Rules, the applicable requirements are divided in Validity, Suitability, and Eligibility requirements, and these are usually strictly objective. But a Sponsor Licence application is not structured in the same way, and the requirements tend to be more subjective than objective.
According to the Sponsorship Guidance Collection, before you are granted a Sponsor Licence the Home Office will need to establish that you:
- Are a genuine organisation.
- Are honest, dependable, reliable, and are not engaging (or have not engaged) in behaviour or actions that are not conducive to the public good.
- Are capable of carrying out your sponsor duties.
- Meet any relevant route-specific requirements.
- Otherwise meet the 'eligibility and suitability' criteria.
But how can you prove that you are honest, dependant, reliable, and capable? These requirements differ substantially from those of most visa requirements where you are, for example, expected to earn more than a certain amount clearly established in the Rules, or to have lived in the UK for a minimum number of years, depending on the route.
How to demonstrate that you meet the requirements
In Appendix A of the Sponsor Licence Guidance, the Home Office provides a full list of mandatory and optional supporting documents. However, these are rarely enough to satisfy the decision maker.
You will need to build a case around your application and explain why you need a licence, how you intend to use that licence, what kind of vacancies you have and how they make sense to your business model and needs, how you propose to supervise migrant workers, what kind of salary you are prepared to pay, and others.
In summary, you must provide sufficient information so the Home Office can be satisfied that your application is based on a genuine business need and is not just a strategy to facilitate migration to the UK.
The role of key personnel
Beyond the assessment of the genuineness of your business and application, the Home Office will also evaluate the character and suitability of the person or persons you appoint to manage your Sponsor Licence (authorising officer, level 1 user, and key contact).
To be considered as suitable by the Home Office your key personnel, as well as any director or anyone involved in the day-to-day running of your business, must not have any unspent criminal convictions for a 'relevant offence' as defined by Annex L4 of the Guidance on Workers and Temporary Workers/Part 1: Apply for a licence, or in general terms, any records of previous immigration breach.
These positions can all be occupied by the same person, or you may choose to allocate different responsibilities to different members of your team. However, this must be carefully done as different rules may apply as to their nationality, residence, and immigration status.
Potential outcomes
If the decision maker at the Home Office is persuaded that your business and proposed officers meet the criteria, your licence will be granted and you will be able to sponsor migrant workers through your Sponsor Management System, so they can apply for a work visa and come work for you. But that's not the end of the story – both the job and the candidate must then meet a new set of applicable criteria concerning the appropriate occupational code, the duties of the position, the proposed salary, expected qualifications, weekly hours, location, experience, English language skills, family members, and more.
If the Home Office determines that your business or any of the proposed officers do not meet the applicable criteria, whether because you are not deemed to have the adequate structure to supervise migrant workers, or because your business or your request are not considered genuine, or because any of the proposed officers fails to meet the suitability criterion, your application will be refused and you will not be able to hire migrant workers in the UK.
The importance of timely advice
If your application is rejected, an automatic 'cooling-off' period of 6 months will be imposed during which you will not be able to submit a new application.
While there is no right to appeal this decision, you may be able to successfully challenge a refusal by way of Judicial Review. However, this is costly and will keep you and your lawyers busy for several months.
Applications for a Sponsor Licence are highly technical and rigorously scrutinised. Careful planning, attention to detail, and thorough knowledge of the applicable rules and regulations, are essential to guarantee the best possible outcome. However, securing a Sponsor Licence is perfectly feasible and it may be very advantageous to your business as you will be able to recruit the staff you need from anywhere in the world.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.