Sponsor Licences for Self-Sponsorship for the Skilled Worker Visa
If you are interested in self-sponsorship, and you have set up a UK company as a vehicle to do so, then the next step in the Self-sponsorship Visa route is for your company to apply for its sponsorship licence.
In this blog, our Immigration Solicitors run through the three-stage application process for your self-sponsorship on the Skilled Worker Visa.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For immigration advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
The three stages in self-sponsorship for a Skilled Worker Visa
The three-stage self-sponsorship process involves:
- Set up a business in the UK
- Get a sponsor licence for your business
- Apply for a Skilled Worker Visa once the business has allocated you a certificate of sponsorship
Applying for a sponsor licence for a self-sponsorship business
When you have set up a company with a view to your self-sponsorship on a Skilled Worker Visa it is vital that you provide all the necessary company start-up documents as part of your sponsor licence application and prove that your company is a genuine trading business.
If you apply for your sponsor licence without first getting all the company paperwork in order the likelihood is that your application will be refused leading to a delay in your being able to apply for a Skilled Worker Visa through self-sponsorship. Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers can help with legal advice on the company requirements and put you in touch with business advisors to help you set up the company.
Once the company has been set up it does not need to have been trading for a minimum period or meet a turnover threshold before you can apply for the company sponsor licence.
Your company applying for a sponsor licence
Any company applying for a sponsor licence needs to have:
- The right company paperwork
- Appointed appropriate people as key personnel
- Suitable systems and procedures in place to manage the sponsor licence
Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers can help you with each of these points and once you have secured your sponsor licence we can provide ongoing Legal Training or a full Sponsor Licence Management Service.
The paperwork needed for the company is likely to be closely scrutinised by the Home Office if the business is newly set up as the Home Office will be concerned to check that the company is genuine and not created as a means to sponsor yourself and others on Skilled Worker Visas when there are no genuine jobs on offer.
The key personnel
Key personnel need to be appointed to manage the sponsor licence as part of the pre-application work. After the sponsor licence has been granted you can add a Sponsorship Licence Lawyer as your level one user to manage the sponsor licence for you.
The key personnel are:
- Authorising officer – the person in the company with ultimate responsibility for the sponsor licence
- Key contact – the main point of contact between the company and the Home Office
- Level 1 user – the person responsible for the day-to-day management of the licence
One person can be appointed to do all the key personnel roles but they must be a British citizen or be settled in the UK and they must be based in the UK. They must also meet other suitableness eligibility criteria, such as not having a criminal record for some types of offences.
Key personnel need to be an employee or office holder in the business. You won't qualify to be part of the key personnel team until you acquire settlement (Indefinite Leave to Remain status or British citizenship) so you will need advice on the initial key personnel and your options once your sponsor licence has been granted. For example, after your licence is granted appointing Sponsorship Licence Lawyers as your key personnel and getting them to provide a professional Sponsor Licence Management Service or appointing an additional level two user to help with the routine administration of the sponsor licence.
Who to appoint and when to substitute the appointees with a Sponsor Licence Management Service can appear complicated but our Business Immigration Solicitors can talk you through each step.
Suitable systems and procedures
Having suitable systems and procedures to manage your sponsor licence is not as complicated as it may sound. It is crucial to have rules and policies in place to ensure that your sponsor licence management is stress-free and Home Office compliant. For example, you will need to record all changes of address for sponsored employees and report unauthorised absences of sponsored workers to the Home Office using the sponsor licence system. This means you need robust systems in place to record the information but the system doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated and there is no requirement to invest in the use of an HR portal.
Self-sponsorship on a Skilled Worker Visa
Once you have secured your sponsor licence for your company your attention can turn to allocating a certificate of sponsorship so you can then apply for your Skilled Worker Visa. The certificate of sponsorship is a reference number that gives the Home Office official assessing your application the information needed to see if your job is suitable for a Skilled Worker Visa.
The job must:
- Be genuine employment
- Be a job that meets the Skilled Worker Visa eligibility criteria – eligible jobs have a standard occupational classification code allocated to them. For example, standard occupational classification code 1111 is for company chief executives and senior officials. Alternatively, you could be a company director and be employed by the company in a job such as standard occupational classification code 1221 hotel and accommodation manager or proprietor. There are numerous job options each with a standard occupational classification code
- Pay the minimum salary threshold of either £38,700 or the going rate for the job, whichever is the higher of the two figures. Depending on your age or qualifications the minimum salary threshold can be reduced so it is worth taking immigration legal advice on the minimum salary requirement for your circumstances and the standard occupational classification code
As a Skilled Worker Visa applicant, you must:
- Be aged 18 or over
- Meet the skill level for the job. You do not necessarily need academic qualifications but you must have the required skills or experience to do the job
- Meet the English language requirement by either sitting an English language test or through exemption because you are from an English-speaking country or have a suitable qualification that exempts you from sitting the test
- Meet the maintenance requirement – you need to be able to demonstrate that you have held at least £1,270 in your account for at least 28 days before the date of your Skilled Worker Visa application
- Meet the general eligibility criteria to enter the UK. For example, not refused entry because of your previous immigration record or prior criminal conviction
- Pay the Skilled Worker Visa application fee and immigration health surcharge
How can OTS Solicitors help you apply for a sponsor licence and Skilled Worker Visa?
If you decide that self-sponsorship is the best route for you (rather than the UK Expansion Worker Visa, Global Talent Visa, Innovator Founder Visa or employer-sponsored Skilled Worker Visa application ) then we can support you through:
- Offering guidance on company formation and the legal documents required and introducing you to business advisors for practical advice and support
- Providing a pre-sponsor licence audit to check you have the right systems in place before you apply for the sponsor licence
- Advising on the appointment of key personnel
- Applying for your sponsor licence
- Advice on Home Office priority services to speed the application process up
- Advice on the Skilled Worker Visa eligibility criteria and certificate of sponsorship allocation
- Submitting your Skilled Worker Visa application
- Advising and submitting Dependant Visa applications for your family
- Immigration Legal Training for your key personnel
- Sponsor Licence Management Services
- Sponsor licence troubleshooting
- Employment law services
- Advice on Indefinite Leave to Remain and British citizenship
Our Immigration Solicitors ensure personalised assistance throughout every step of your journey to self-sponsorship in the UK.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For immigration advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
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