Sponsor licences are not subject to renewal requirements or expiration dates as of April 2024.
If you need help with your sponsor licence expired or are interested in hiring foreign labour, contact us now. Contact our immigration solicitors online or give us a call at 02033939272.
Sponsor licences are valid indefinitely and businesses are no longer obligated to renew them on a regular basis as a result of the new rules implemented by the Home Office from 6 April 2024.
Organisations can keep their sponsor licenses valid by just continuing to do what they normally would when sponsoring overseas employees.
The details on this page were created before the new rule went into effect, and they only apply to groups whose licenses were set to expire before April 6, 2024.
Employers are granted sponsor licenses by the Home Office for a duration of four years. The license will automatically expire if the employer does not initiate the renewal process well in advance of the expiration date.
The company’s Sponsor Management System (SMS) lists the expiring date of the license.
In accordance with the information provided in the SMS, the Home Office will send an email reminder to the organisation’s Authorising Officer (AO) and Level 1 user(s) before the license expires.
This type of message typically appears as:
Your sponsor licence was granted for an initial period of four years. We wish to inform you that this period will shortly come to an end and, unless you apply to renew your licence, it will expire on XX/XX/XXXX.
In 30 days, the function to renew your licence will become available in SMS. If you want to continue to sponsor migrants, we strongly advise that you apply to renew your licence as soon as you are able and in any event at least one month before your licence expires.
No action is required by you at this time. You will receive another email in 30 days, notifying you that you are able to apply to renew your licence and providing further details of the licence renewal process.
For more information, please refer to the sponsorship policy guidance and SMS user guides, which are available at:
UK Visas and Immigration
One important assumption about this notice is that it will be received and read by the right people at the company.
Maintaining accurate organisation contact information on the SMS is mandated by the Home Office’s sponsor guidelines, however in practice, this is not often followed.
The authorising officer (AO) may have departed the company and no new contact information has been entered into the system, or the SMS may contain the contact details of a former legal advisor. This means that the sponsor will not be reminded of the deadline or when their licence will expire because they will not receive the message.
When a sponsored employee applies for additional leave to remain with the Home Office, it is usual for the employer to learn that their sponsor licence is no longer valid. When reviewing the employee’s application, UKVI notices that the licence has expired and decides to take enforcement action against the sponsor.
Another concern is that the notice doesn’t fully explain the consequences of failing to renew the licence. Smaller companies, especially those without dedicated HR specialists or with only one sponsored employee, may not fully understand the seriousness of letting their licence expire and the potential repercussions.
When a sponsor’s licence expires, they lose the ability to issue new COSs, among other things. This document is given to the worker by their sponsoring employer so that they can apply for a visa and join the company.
If a sponsored worker’s employer’s licence expires, their leave will be severely limited. You will have less time to enter or remain in the UK. Workers are required to vacate the premises sixty days before the expiration of their visa, whichever comes first.
New visa applications are another alternative for employees whose employers’ licenses have expired. Finding a new sponsor to remain in the UK is a must for this.
If your sponsored employees do not respond quickly, they can be subject to legal consequences. Workers have been held for various reasons, such as trying to re-enter the UK without realising their employer’s licence had expired.
Once a tier 2 sponsor licence expires, their name will also be removed from the Register of Sponsors. All organisations in the UK that hold current sponsorship licenses are listed publicly in the Register of Licenced Sponsors. This list of sponsors was formerly called the Tier 2 list.
When you discover that your company’s tier 2 sponsor licence expired, fixing the license and any associated immigration issues can be a difficult, time-consuming, and often expensive process.
You must move quickly. To renew your licence, you may need to submit an expedited application to the Home Office; but, given the current situation, it could be wiser to apply for a new licence instead.
Factors such as your past licencing management practices, the current situation, and any other immigration-related concerns may significantly impact your next steps. As soon as you notice an issue with your licenses, consult an expert to determine the best course of action to protect your business from financial loss.
Additionally, your visa holder employee or employees will need to decide what to do next. They can either wait for their employer to resolve the expiration issue with the Home Office, or they can seek out permission to work with a new sponsor and apply for leave to remain again before their current curtailed leave expires. If that doesn’t work, they’ll have to leave the country.
All sponsor licence holders must be aware of the expiration date of their licence and take proactive steps to prevent it from lapsing. This responsibility is part of their broader duty to comply with immigration control regulations.
First and foremost, the HR director, SMS users, and AO all must note down when the organization’s licenses are due to expire. In the SMS summary, you can see the date. Do not depend just on reminders sent by the Home Office.
Do not wait until the last six months before your renewal is due to begin preparing your application. Although the application process won’t be accessible until 90 days before the license expiration date, it’s a good idea to gather all the necessary documents and have them ready to submit in advance. This will alleviate any stress and give you time to address any concerns before the license expiration.
To renew their licence, sponsors use the SMS. The Home Office may visit the company’s premises to perform a site inspection or ask for further paperwork or information after receiving the application; the sponsor has five business days to respond.
After that, the Home Office will decide whether to grant the renewal or, in case the sponsor is accused of noncompliance, to pursue enforcement measures. Lowering CoS allocations or downgrading, suspending, or revocation the licence are all possible penalties, depending on the seriousness of the violations.
Ensure that your business is always in compliance with all applicable licenses. Sponsor licenses are similar to other legal and regulatory obligations, such as self-certifying company finances, and employers should handle them similarly. In order to fulfil your responsibilities as a sponsor and to keep your status as a sponsor, you must acknowledge that the sponsor licence necessitates continuous management, attention, and knowledge.
Make sure to review all the facts on the SMS and keep your records up-to-date. Verify the details that were first sent to UKVI. Is it necessary to provide any updates? Verify that all sponsored employees are included, and that their information is accurate and current, in all sections of the company’s database, including those related to key staff and migrant labour.
There is a higher chance of noncompliance and possible penalisation by the Home Office when firms wait until a recruitment need arises to review their sponsor licence.
Case law highlighting the courts’ support for the Home Office’s enforcement action against employers’ failure to maintain accurate contact details in the SMS and the issuance of CoS with wrong details (such as an incorrect firm address) has been significant. The Home Office will not budge from its decision to revoke your licence since they view a failure to comply with this obligation as extremely serious.
If your UK Sponsor Licence has expired, our experienced immigration solicitors at Rees Clayton can guide you through the renewal process. We can assign a dedicated expert to work closely with your business and its representatives to ensure a smooth and efficient renewal procedure.
We can also advise on whether it would be more beneficial to apply for a new Sponsor Licence rather than renewing the existing one. Our services include:
Contact us today at 02033939272 for more information.
The duration of a sponsor licence is four years. In order to renew their license, sponsors must submit an application to the Home Office well in advance of the expiration date, which is at the end of this four-year period.
Depending on the conditions, the organisation may be able to renew the licence or may need to apply for a new licence. You can be sure you’re moving forward with the right decision for your company by consulting experts.
When renewing their sponsor licence, licenced sponsors often aren’t asked for any additional paperwork. But if the UK Visas and Immigration department needs any particular paperwork, they’ll send you a letter requesting it.
In this case, you have five business days to provide the necessary paperwork.
People who hold sponsor licenses may choose not to renew them if they do not intend to sponsor migrants in the future. Your licence will expire automatically if you deny renewal through your SMS account.
To request the renewal of your sponsor licence, you can use the sponsorship management system. This is explained in detail in the policy guidelines on the renewal procedure of sponsor licenses published by the Home Office.
