Sponsor Licence Management Services
Once a business has obtained its sponsor licence to recruit and sponsor overseas workers, it is easy to let sponsor licence reporting and recording duties and compliance issues slide, especially when your HR team is short staffed or key personnel are absent or you are handling a complex employment grievance and you are putting all your efforts into avoiding an employment tribunal hearing.
Immigration solicitors are great at saying it is best to keep on top of sponsor licence compliance as otherwise you face the risk of Home Office unannounced audits, sponsor licence suspension, action plans to upgrade your licence, and in the worst case scenario, the revocation of your sponsor licence. However, juggling sponsor licence compliance with the daily toil of running a business can be overwhelming.
In this article, our business immigration lawyers look at the option of sponsor licence management services for hard pressed sponsoring employers trying to navigate the UK sponsor licence system.
UK Online and London Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For sponsor licence application and management advice call the London immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
The purpose of sponsor licence compliance
When you secure a sponsor licence it is on the basis that you will comply with the Home Office imposed sponsor licence reporting and recording duties. These sponsor licence duties are standardised and apply to all companies with a sponsor licence; whether you are large or small, or sponsor one restaurant manager in a London restaurant, or employ highly specialist research staff from overseas, or thousands of sponsored staff. Often it isn’t until you have started your first skilled worker sponsorships that you realise exactly how onerous the Home Office compliance requirements are.
The bottom line to your business is that you have to comply with your sponsor licence duties because you need to recruit workers from overseas due to the UK recruitment crisis and skills shortage. Having a sponsor licence is a fundamental part of that process. However, sponsor licence compliance can make your business feel as if it is acting as an unpaid Home Office official (or big brother) because of the required level of reporting on skilled worker visa holders in order to help the Home Office combat illegal immigration and to ensure companies do not employ people who do not have the right to work in the UK.
If you know that you don’t have the manpower, or the inclination to manage your sponsor licence, without putting your sponsor licence at risk because of your time constraints or other pressures, then call the Sponsorship Licence lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 for a quote for our bespoke sponsor licence management service.
It’s worth investigating sponsor management services as a hassle free option and potentially a long term cost saving measure because sponsor licence management means your licence won't be at significant risk of a renewal refusal, suspension, downgrade and action plan, or the ultimate sanction of revocation.
Whilst all those penalties sound draconian (and they are) the biggest impact on your business may be your being prevented from recruiting any additional skilled worker visa applicants whilst your sponsor licence is suspended or being forced to let go of your existing sponsored workers because you won't be able to continue to employ your sponsored staff if your sponsor licence is revoked. Don’t think that an immediate new sponsor licence application is the answer. That won't work as the Home Office impose a cooling off period after a licence has been revoked and during that period you can't apply for a new licence.
How can OTS Solicitors Sponsorship Licence lawyers help?
Our Sponsorship Licence lawyers are experts in all things sponsor licence related and can help you with:
- Preliminary information on the sponsor licence application process to check if a sponsor licence application is the best route for your business and the most appropriate timing for the application
- Pre-application sponsor licence audit to get your HR systems sponsor licence compliant so there is less chance of your application being refused
- Advice on the selection of key personnel to manage the sponsor licence and, if you plan to manage your sponsor licence yourself, sponsor licence training for key personnel
- Sponsor licence application preparation, including making sure all the correct paperwork is supplied in support
- Submitting a priority request application if you want the Home Office to deal with your application quickly
- Assisting you with the sponsor process, from recruitment record keeping to checking job occupation codes to the allocation of the certificate of sponsorship
- Ongoing compliance with the sponsor licence reporting and recording duties
- Advising on potential for announced and unannounced Home Office audits
- Sponsor licence renewal applications
- Advice on sponsor licence downgrades from an A rating
- Sponsor licence action plans and compliance to get back to an A rating
- Sponsor licence suspension and revocation
- Sponsor licence applications after a previous licence has been revoked
- Employment law
Whilst our Sponsorship Licence lawyers are excellent business immigration solicitors who can quote immigration law and rules and regulations with their eyes shut, we focus on giving you the best sponsor licence advice you need without all the legalese and advice that is tailored to your firm’s preferred mode of operation so your sponsor licence doesn’t become a major headache but a real benefit to your organisation.
UK Online and London Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For help with sponsor licence applications and sponsor licence management call the Sponsorship Licence lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.