Sponsor Licence Application
Applying for a Home Office Sponsor Licence is not as straightforward as one thinks as the Home Office have tightened the rules.
Firstly, you must demonstrate that you actually need a sponsor licence and your business infrastructure is compliant.
If your initial sponsor licence application is refused, you cannot reapply for a further 6 months.
Your organisation may be audited by the Home Office prior to the sponsor licence being issued.
Select the visa tabs below to learn more
Understanding what a Sponsor Licence is
Unless you fully understand what a sponsor licence is, the Home Office is unlikely to issue you one or if audited, revoke it
The sponsor licence was first introduced in November 2008 under the points-based system. Our company was approved by the Home Office to provide support to UK business that needed to apply for a sponsor licence to employ workers under Tiers 2 and 5 plus, engage students under Tier 4.
Since 2008, we have we audited Start-Ups, SMEs, Local Government to Corporate businesses all needing help them structure their HR compliance, apply for their first sponsor licence and SLA to help them stay compliant
Request an email response or book your free 30 minute telephone consultation and see if we can help you
If you are a registered UK organisation you can apply for a Home Office Sponsor licence to engage non-EEA nationals as workers or as students.
Sponsor licence applications falls under two areas:
- Employers
- Training Establishments
Sponsor licence applications are not as straightforward as they use to be as the Home Office are now carrying out more stringent HR checks before they issue a licence. If you are a regulated training institute, the rules are even tougher, this is because so many training institutes had their sponsor licence revoked for non-compliance.
It is essential that you meet the sponsor guidelines and your HR system is in place. You have to demonstrate you can meet the 5 key areas of HR.
In the majority of organisations we have audited from SME to Blue Chip, we have yet to find one compliant client and in some cases it is just a few tweaks but many need a complete new HR processes implemented to just meet the home Office guidelines.
Whether you think HR is in perfect order or not, we will do a full check to be on the safe side.
Our aim is not to change the way you run your business HR but to simply inform you where you are non-compliant. It is not the Home Office rules in many cases by employment law. Having a complaint HR also prevents HMRC investigations, losing at the Employment Tribunal and other regulating bodies you may be compliant upon to hold your business licence.
When the Home Office compliance officers audits your HR, you could be refused/lose your licence:
- if your initial application (6 month penalty before you can apply again)
- B-Rated if you already hold a sponsor licence (Up to 3 months suspension)
- Suspend if you already hold a sponsor licence (20 days notice to challenge to be revoked letter)
- Revoked if you already hold a sponsor licence (All Tier workers/student cease working/studying)
To obtain a sponsor licence, you must be A-Rated if you are a UK employer and if you are a training institute, you need to fall under one of these:
- Embedded college offering pathway courses
- Higher Education Institution (HEI)
- Independent school
- Overseas Higher Education Institution
- Private provider
- Publicly funded college.
To learn more about Tier 2 and Tier 5 approved sponsors click here
and for Tier 4 sponsors click here.
If the Home Office approves the sponsor licence, it is issued for 4 years and then you need to repay the fee to renew it for a further 4 years.
Sponsor Licence Types
How to apply for a Home Office sponsor licence and learn the different types youcan apply for
Employers
Phase 1
If a RLMT was carried out, the UK organisation must have recorded all applicants applying to the job vacancy and log the reasons why not initially acceptable, record who were shortlisted, log interview notes and why non-EEA national applicant was successful.
Phase 2
The UK organisation must take a screen grab of the job advert and URL link and log it with the applicants applications, CVs, covering letters and interview notes.
Phase 3
If the UK organisation cannot source a suitable UK settled worker, they can than apply for a sponsor licence application under the following Tiers:
- Tier 2
- Tier 5
The UK organisation can apply for their sponsor licence
and they must provide as part of their application at least 4 original documents. It is likely you need to submit more even if the Home office does not ask for them initially, they will once you submitted your application and this simply delays your application decision.
Below is a guide to the type of documents you may have to provide as part of your sponsor licence application:
- Employers Liability Insurance*
- Latest Audited or Annual Accounts (bound, stamped and certified)*
- HMRC Pay As Your Earn (Pension Opted In or Out)*
- HMRC VAT approval letter or latest VAT return
- Bank letter confirming when your business account was set up and you are still banking with them
- Evidence ‘Linking’ Head Office & Branches to one SL
- Most recent business bank statement(s)
- Charity Licence
- CQC approval
- Educational license
- FCA regulated licence
- Firearms License
- Gambling license
- Government license such as SIA, CAA, FCA etc.
- Health & Safety/Food Hygiene
- Import/Export license to trade overseas
- ISO certificates
- Menus and wine lists if your business serves food and drink
- Vehicle license/insurance
- Brochure of your business that you hand out to your clients
- Hierarchy chart**
- Job advertisements that you used and needed to hire Tier 2 or Tier 5 non-EEA nationals
- Property ownership/lease agreement*
- Any other legal documents you might need to operate/trade in the UK.
*Mandatory documents, other documents might be mandatory depending what the UK organisation does.
**This document should list in order all staff employed, their full names, job titles, nationalities, NI numbers, visa status and visa expiry dates if applicable.
Training Institutes
If the UK organisation is a regulated training organisation, they can apply to sponsor non-EEA nationals wanting to study in the UK.
When the Home Office evaluates this type of organisation, they want to know if you intend to educate children ( 4-17 years of age) or adults (post -16 education).
We have two sub-Tier:
- Tier 4 Child
- Tier 4 General
When a sponsor licence is submitted, the Home Office will want clarification the organisation is a genuine education provider that has acceptable educational quality standards, and is operating lawfully in the UK, complying with all appropriate rules and regulations.
The Home Office will also look at the organisation policies and processes, including how student attendance is monitored, to ensure it will be able to fulfil its sponsorship duties.
Home Office will expect an Educational Oversight body will make an assessment of your operations and their report will ascertain if 'fit and proper' to educate students.
Note: Academies and state-funded schools, including those with sixth forms, cannot hold a Tier 4 licence or sponsor students under Tier 4.
If the Home Office approves the sponsor licence, the UK organisation is given Probationary Sponsor status when it is first granted a licence. A Probationary Sponsor must demonstrate that it can fulfill its sponsorship duties, will continue to do so, and can be trusted to hold Tier 4 Sponsor status. When a Probationary Sponsor applies for, and passes, its first annual Basic Compliance Assessment, it will be given Tier 4 Sponsor status.
Higher Education Institution (HEI) publicly funded colleges and independent schools are already subject to statutory education inspections. If they achieve the required rating in these inspections, they will in most cases meet the Tier 4 Educational Oversight requirement (read the section titled ‘Statutory education inspections). Other educational quality inspections, for example inspections by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) for Specific Course Designation, cannot be relied upon for Tier 4 purposes.
To learn more about Tier 4 go to this key links:
Virtual Certificates
What is a virtual certificate, what are the purpose of the certificate and how many can I have?
In 2008 when the Home Office introduced the points-based system, they use to issue work permits in hard copy format but in November 2008 with the introduction of Tier 2 and Tier 5, the Home Office introduced a cloud-based platform which UK organisations access. The cloud-based platform was called a Sponsorship Management System (SMS).
Purpose of the SMS?
The SMS is a platform where UK organisations can request and manage virtual certificates which are known as:
- Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) - Tier 2 and Tier 5 only
- Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) - Tier 4 only
CoS TYPES
Tier 2 General
If the non-EEA national is permitted to apply for a visa within the UK and if the visa type falls under Tier 2 General, the UK organisation can request Unrestricted CoSs. The Home Office will only issue CoSs where the UK organisation can prove they have carried out a RLMT or if the CoSs are exemption from the RLMT.
If the person required to be employed is outside of the UK and requires a Tier 2 General visa, the CoS type required is Restricted CoS (RCoS). The UK organisation cannot request this type of CoS when they submit their sponsor licence application. If the sponsor licence is approved, then the UK organisation can then apply for RCoSs.
Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (IcT)
If a Tier 2 IcT CoS is required, they fall under standard CoS and can be requested when the UK organisation applies for their sponsor licence. No RLMT is required but a 'link' (UK entity link to the overseas entity) must be submitted when the sponsor licence is applied for. This type of visa is usually applied from outside the UK unless the non-EEA national is in the UK on a Representative of an Overseas Business visa and needs to switch into a Long-term Staff Tier 2 IcT.
Tier 2 Minister of Religion and Tier 2 Sportsperson
Both of these visa types falls under standard CoS allocation. These visa types can be applied for within the UK if the non-EEA national holds the right visa type and can apply for an entry visa.
Tier 5 types:
- All Tier 5 visas fall under standard CoSs:
- Tier 5 (Temporary Worker - Charity Worker) visa
- Tier 5 (Temporary Worker - Creative and sporting) visa
- Tier 5 (Temporary Worker - Government Authorised Exchange) visa
- Tier 5 (Temporary Worker - International Agreement) visa
- Tier 5 (Temporary Worker - Religious Worker) visa
- Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) visa*
*Only certain non-EEA nationals under the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme require a standard CoS.
What if I need a CoS not requiring a RLMT and one that does?
You can apply for your sponsor licence but if you apply before the RLMT is complete, the Home Office will not issue you that CoS. If the non-RLMT CoS is very urgent and you cannot afford to wait, you can always apply for a priority CoS once the sponsor licence has been granted. Currently the Home Office charges a priority fee of £200 for this service.
A CoS, it is a virtual document with a unique reference number that confirms the Tier 2 or Tier 5 working conditions. Without a CoS a Tier 2 or Tier 5 visa cannot be approved.
TRAINING INSTITUTES
Tier 4 Students
Not all non-EEA nationals wanting to study in the UK require a CAS. A CAS is similar to a CoS, it is a virtual document with a unique reference number that confirms the Employer or Training Institute has accepted that non-EEA national for work or studies. Where a CAS is required, a Tier 4 visa cannot be approved.
The ones that do must obtain this before applying for their visa. The ones who do not need a CAS must obtain a letter from the approved training institute confirming they accepted the non-EEA national for studies.
Tier 2 & Tier 5
How does the Home Office grade sponsor licence to organisations to employ overseas nationals?
We have the following types of this sponsor licence for Tier 2 and Tier 5:
- First application for a sponsor licence
- Sponsor licence renewal
- Sponsor licence B-Rated (Action Plan)
- Sponsor licence suspended
- Sponsor licence revoked.
First application for a sponsor licence
If you are applying for a first time Tier 2 or Tier 5 sponsor licence, you have no adverse history with the Home Office. If any staff within the UK organisation who has a criminal offence which includes speeding offences, must declare them if they are to become the:
- Authorising Officer
- Key Contact
- Level 1 User
- Level 2 User.
Authorising Officer
The Authorising Officer does not have automatic access to the organisation Sponsorship Management System (SMS). If the Authorising Officer needs access, they must be set up as a Level 1 or Level 2 User. This will mean they will have two roles, Authorising Officer and Level 1 or 2 User.
An Authorising Officer must be an employee of the organisation. The Authorising Officer is accountable for ensuring the assigned Key Contact and Level 1 and Level 2 Users are competent to manage workers employed and the use of the SMS and dealing with the Home Office.
If the Authorising Officer leaves the organisation employment or, they prefer to appoint someone else, their SMS must be updated within 10 working days (ideally immediately) and sign-off a form that is sent to the Home Office for their approval.
Key Contact
The Key Contact does not have automatic access to the SMS. This role allows the Home Office to contact this person if they need to visit the organisation’s premises or need clarification. Home Office can also contact the Authorising Officer and Level 1 User(s).
Level 1 User
A organisation must have at least one Level 1 User assigned to their SMS. If not, UKVI could revoke the organisation sponsor licence for non-compliance. Level 1 User has full access to do actions within their SMS.
Level 2 User
The organisation does not have to appoint a Level 2 User. If they did, this User would be limited to the actions they can do within their SMS.
See below section called
G4I
Support, it explains more in detail what a Level 1 and Level 2 can do within the SMS and how the organisation can appoint G4I to be a Level 1 or level 2 User under a Service Level Agreement.
If the initial application is refused, the UK organisation cannot submit a fresh application for 6 months or challenge the refusal unless the UK organisation has proof the Home Office made errors in their decision.
Sponsor licence renewal
If the UK organisation holds a valid sponsor licence, it will need to be renewed once 4 years has passed from the approval date. This means the UK organisation pays the Home Office a renewal fee for a further 4 years. This is all done within the organisation SMS.
If the organisation decides not to renew their sponsor licence and they have staff employed still under Tier 2 or Tier 5, those staff will no longer be permitted to work for the organisation once the initial sponsor licence has expired regardless if the Tier 2 or Tier 5 non-EEA national still has a valid BRP or not.
Sponsor licence B-Rated
If the Home Office decides to inspect (Home Office compliance officer Announced or Unannounced) the UK organisation 5 key areas of HR, if they find find minor infringes, the Home Office are likely to downgrade the organisation sponsor licence to B-Rated. This means no new CoS can be issued to new or existing non-EEA nationals whilst the UK organisation fix whatever issues were raised. In most cases the UK organisation has 3 months before they revisit and see if the issues been fixed. If the Home Office are not satisfied or the UK organisation receives another B-Rated in the future, this is likely to be 'Revoked' status. If you receive B-Rated status, you should contact us for support.
Sponsor licence suspended
If the Home Office decides to inspect (Home Office compliance officer Announced or Unannounced) the UK organisation 5 key areas of HR, if they find find more serious infringes, the Home Office are likely to 'Suspend' the sponsor licence. The UK organisation will have 20 working days to respond to the Home Office letter. If the UK organisation fails to convince the Home Office on the points raised then the sponsor licence is 'revoked'.
Sponsor licence revoked
If the UK organisation sponsor licence is revoked, this is not very good. This means any Tier 2 or Tier 5 non-EEA nationals employed, their employment must cease immediately.
There is no right of appeal if the UK organisation sponsor licence is revoked but it is possible to go down the Judicial Review route but this is likely to be expensive as the courts views are, holding a sponsor licence is like a gift, you have to cherish that gift but if you fail to cherish that gift then why should you keep it hence having it revoked.
A solution to this is very simple. Do not breach the rules from day one.
See below G4I Support for our end-to-end support package.
Tier 4
How does the Home Office grade sponsor licence to training institutes to educate overseas national?
As stated under Tier 2 and Tier 5, a Tier 4 sponsor falls under the same
- First application for a sponsor licence
- Sponsor licence renewal
- Sponsor licence Track 1, Track 2 and Action Plan
- Sponsor licence revoked.
First application for a sponsor licence
If you are applying for a first time Tier 4 sponsor licence, you have no adverse history with the Home Office. If any staff within the UK organisation who has a criminal offence which includes speeding offences, must declare them if they are to become the:
- Authorising Officer
- Key Contact
- Level 1 User
- Level 2 User.
Authorising Officer
The Authorising Officer does not have automatic access to the organisation Sponsorship Management System (SMS). If the Authorising Officer needs access, they must be set up as a Level 1 or Level 2 User. This will mean they will have two roles, Authorising Officer and Level 1 or 2 User.
An Authorising Officer must be an employee of the organisation. The Authorising Officer is accountable for ensuring the assigned Key Contact and Level 1 and Level 2 Users are competent to manage workers employed and the use of the SMS and dealing with the Home Office.
If the Authorising Officer leaves the organisation employment or, they prefer to appoint someone else, their SMS must be updated within 10 working days (ideally immediately) and sign-off a form that is sent to the Home Office for their approval.
Key Contact
The Key Contact does not have automatic access to the SMS. This role allows the Home Office to contact this person if they need to visit the organisation’s premises or need clarification. Home Office can also contact the Authorising Officer and Level 1 User(s).
Level 1 User
A organisation must have at least one Level 1 User assigned to their SMS. If not, UKVI could revoke the organisation sponsor licence for non-compliance. Level 1 User has full access to do actions within their SMS.
Level 2 User
The organisation does not have to appoint a Level 2 User. If they did, this User would be limited to the actions they can do within their SMS.
See below section called
G4I
Support, it explains more in detail what a Level 1 and Level 2 can do within the SMS and how the organisation can appoint G4I to be a Level 1 or level 2 User under a Service Level Agreement.
If the initial application is refused, the UK organisation cannot submit a fresh application for 6 months or challenge the refusal unless the UK organisation has proof the Home Office made errors in their decision.
Sponsor licence renewal
If the UK organisation holds a valid sponsor licence, it will need to be renewed once 4 years has passed from the approval date. This means the UK organisation pays the Home Office a renewal fee for a further 4 years. This is all done within the organisation SMS.
If the organisation decides not to renew their sponsor licence and they have students under Tier 4 still studying, they will no longer be permitted to study for the organisation once the initial sponsor licence has expired regardless if the Tier 4 non-EEA national still has a valid BRP or not.
Sponsor licence Track 1, Track 2 and Action Plan
If the Home Office decides to inspect (Home Office compliance officer Announced or Unannounced) the UK organisation and they suspect non-compliance, the Home Office would normally follow this process:
Compliance Track 1
If the Home Office suspects the UK organisation is suspected of minor sponsor licence fringes, they go down this route first. The Home Office will write to the organisation, allowing them 20 days to respond. During this investigation the organisation can still assign CASs.
The Home Office will agree in writing an action plan with the organisation and the Home Office will expect the action plan to be followed.
Compliance Track 2
If the Home Office suspects the UK organisation is suspected of serious sponsor licence breaches, they will skip Compliance Track 1 and go straight to Compliance Track 2. In the majority of cases, the organisation will be removed from the Tier 4 Register of Sponsors whilst the Home Office investigates. During this time, the organisation will not be permitted to issue any CAS, and may be subject to other restrictions on its licence, but must continue to meet its sponsorship duties and the requirements of Tier 4 Guidance for Sponsors. The Home Office will write to the organisation to explain the course of action that is being pursued.
Once the Home Office has finished its investigation, the Home Office will start the 'revocation' process and it will allow the organisation 20 days to respond. During this investigation the organisation cannot assign CASs and issued other restrictions.
Action Plan
The purpose of the action plan is to give an organisation some time to rectify breaches that fall short of a serious breach or collective of other breaches. The Home Office will set out in the action plan what the organisation must do to get compliant. The Home Office will charge the organisation a fee for the action plan. If the action plan is not paid or the organisation does not respond to the action plan, the sponsor licence will get revoked.
Sponsor licence revoked
If the UK organisation sponsor licence is revoked, this is not very good. This means any Tier 4 non-EEA nationals studying, their studies must cease immediately.
Before the Home Office revokes a sponsor licence, the organisation has 20 days or longer to respond to the Home office letter.
There is no right of appeal if the UK organisation sponsor licence is revoked but it is possible to go down the Judicial Review route but this is likely to be expensive as the courts views are, holding a sponsor licence is like a gift, you have to cherish that gift but if you fail to cherish that gift then why should you keep it hence having it revoked.
The ban for Tier 4 revoked licence is two years (unless exceptional circumstances comes into play) whereas Tier 2 or tier 5 is one year.
A solution to this is very simple. Do not breach the rules from day one.
See below G4I Support for our end-to-end support package.
G4I Support
G4I can provide your organisation the specialist support it needs to obtain a sponsor licence
In 2008 when the Home Office first introduced the sponsor licence, G4I was one of the Home Office appointed support companies. We were listed on their website with 73 other law firms and UK organisations could contact these firms for support. G4I would go the UK organisations premises, validate the their HR system, look at illegal employment, recommend appropriate changes and issue an action plan. Then we would help them apply for their sponsor licence tailored to their organisation needs.
Did you know you can appoint G4I to do some or all of the following:
- Audit your HR (see if you comply to the 5 key areas)
- Provide you a detailed report on any non-compliance HR areas
- Guide you on how to process a compliant RLMT
- Help you prepare your documentation for the sponsor licence application
- Help submit the sponsor licence application
- Be added as your organisation Key Contact to help handle Home Office calls
- Be added as Level 1 User (see below what we can do for you) or
- Be added as Level 2 User (see below what we can do for you)
- Provide the following training programmes to the organisation appropriate staff:
- Points-based system training
- Preventing illegal employment (right to work checks)
- Sponsor licence training
- Carry out annual audits to ensure compliance is in order
- Process any Tier 2, Tier 4 or Tier 5 visa applications
- Provide templates for the organisation and any Tier 2 non-EEA national s to use
- Consult on employment documents including B2B contracting.
Think of G4I as your external HR, we are here to keep you fully compliant not just with Home office but in general with employment law and other compliance.
A level 1 user can:
- add Level 1 and 2 Users and remove them;
- assign CoSs to Tier 2 and Tier 5 workers or Tier 4 CASs to students
- ask for the organisation CoS or CAS annual allocation to be increased;
- update the Home Office via the organisation SMS of their workers when their work changes otr students;
- use the 'change of circumstances' section to ask the Home Office to record SL compliance changes in their workers' or students circumstances;
- report worker/student activity to the UKVI (such as telling the UKVI if a worker/student goes missing, does not attend their job or course of studies);
- withdraw the workers CoS or students CASs;
- manage the organisation site addresses; and
- amend User details.
A Level 1 User can search for a CoS/CAS, view all assigned CoSs/CASs, see the ones that were used, expired, withdrawn and started but unassigned. When a new Level 1 User is added to the organisation SMS, the request is sent to the UKVI. If the UKVI approves the request, the UKVI will send confirmation to the Authorising Officer and Level 1 User. Each Level 1 User will have their own User ID. When adding a new Level 1 User, their password will be sent directly to them and User ID to the Authorising Officer. If the organisation wishes to remove a Level 1 User, they can deactivate one or more in the system by one of their approved Level 1 Users. If the organisation only have one Level 1 User, they cannot deactivate that User until a new Level User has been added.
When G4I are asked by the UK organisation to update their SMS, we email them a screen shot of any changes made within their SMS. This is the proof the actions were done plus this evidence can be used when challenging the Home Office threat of B-Rated/Action Plan, suspension or licence revoked.
A Level 2 user can:
- assign CoSs to Tier 2 and Tier 5 workers and CASs to Tier 4; and
- report worke/student activity (for example, if they leave their job/studies end or do not arrive for work/studies).
- A Level 2 User can only search for CoSs/CASs that they have entered.
- A Level 2 User can be a temporary member of staff supplied by an agency.
G4I offers fixed costs on all services offered so you know in advance our costs.
Sponsor Licence Support Rate Card
- Sponsor Licence site visit audit £500 plus travel costs
- Sponsor Licence site visit training £500 plus travel costs
- Sponsor Licence application £500.00 (all Tier 2 excluding IcT and Tier 4 which is £750)
- RLMT support £125.00 per job vacancy (Only Tier 2 and Tier 5)
- Service Level Agreement (Sponsor Licence Level 1 User Support) costs:
- 1-50 employees/volunteers or students £750.00
- 51-100 employees/volunteers or students £1000.00
- 101-250 employees/volunteers or students £1250.00
- 251-500 employees/volunteers or students £1500.00
- 501-1000 employees/volunteers or students £2500.00
- 1001 plus employees/volunteers/students TBC
- Visa application rate card.
As part of our support services, any non-EEA nationals the organisation would like our help with visa applications, we will give them our 4 level support.
