The Home Office has made several important changes to the Sponsor Guidance in its new 01/25 versions, heralded by a ministerial statement in December. The main changes are as follows:
Migrant’s contribution to sponsorship fees
The first important change is that Sponsors in the Skilled Worker route are now additionally prohibited from passing on
- all or any part of sponsor licence application fees (including associated administrative costs)
- Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) fees, to Skilled Workers they wish to sponsor
Previously, the prohibition applied to the Immigration Skills Charge only.
If a sponsor is found to have passed on the fees their sponsor licence may be revoked. Parts 1 and 2 of the Sponsor Guidance contain these updates, which apply from 31 December 2024.
“Associated administrative costs” are not clearly defined, but can be taken to include directly associated translation, certification and legal fees. The specific wording around “Skilled Worker” invites the question as to whether this also applies to Global Business Mobility (Senior or Specialist worker) applicants. The immigration minister confirmed in her statement that it will be extended to other routes, later this year.
Sponsorship in a personal capacity
Next, sponsors are now prohibited from using a sponsor licence to sponsor workers in a personal capacity. The Guidance gives two examples of this:
- where the sponsor is an individual or household and is not otherwise conducting business or providing a service in the UK, and
- where the workers would be employed by or engaged for the personal benefit of, an individual who works for the organisation, or a close relative or partner of that individual, and the role is unrelated to the organisation’s wider activities. There is a new refusal point in the caseworker guidance to highlight this.
The new Guidance states that sponsors who are found to have used this arrangement from 31 December 2024 will normally have their licence revoked - and if they have previously been permitted to sponsor workers in a personal capacity, they must not assign any further Certificates of Sponsorship to sponsor workers on this basis. Despite the previous lack of clarity on the point – which had been probed by immigration lawyers over time, frequently put to the Home Office and eliciting differing, usually vague responses – we can assume that those currently sponsored may remain so under their current CoS. There is silence on the potential impact on future ILR applications, but we must also assume that extensions requiring a new CoS are prohibited as they are for new would-be applicants. There is an exception for private servants in a diplomatic household, being sponsored under the International Agreement route.
Key Personnel
The Key Personnel roles of Authorising Officer, Key Contact and User have always been subject to some level of restriction on who may be appointed. The Home Office “considers” those nominated before approving them. The latest version clarifies that sponsors must not nominate Key Personnel who are legally prohibited from being a company director (for any reason, including bankruptcy), unless a court has given permission for that person to act as a director, or to promote or form a business, and acting as Key Personnel would not contravene that permission. There is a new refusal point in the sponsor guidance to highlight this.
Sponsors who apply for a licence on or after 31 December 2024 must ensure that at least one Level 1 User must be both (i) an employee, director or partner of the organisation and (ii) a settled worker. The guidance states that while persons with a licence applied for before 31 December 2024 can continue to follow the previous arrangement, this may change in the future. Sponsors are advised to appoint at least one Level 1 User who meets both requirements. The Guidance also states that Key Personnel must have a valid National Insurance number, unless they are exempt from requiring one.
Sponsor UK – a new IT platform
The Home Office’s new sponsorship IT system ‘Sponsor UK’, is being tentatively rolled out to a number of Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) sponsors. It will not have provision for Level 2 Users, so all Sponsor UK users must meet the Level 1 User requirements - see above.
Prohibition on sponsor as disguised Employment agency or business
Where the Home Office has reason to believe a prospective sponsor is acting, or will act, as an employment agency or employment business and intends to supply a worker it would be sponsoring to a third party as labour this will result in a mandatory refusal of the Sponsor Licence application.
This is an amplification of the long-established prohibition on “bodyshopping” which, the Home Office has concluded, had become too permeable to workarounds.
Genuine employment – capacity and intention
A sponsor must be both able to and intend to offer genuine employment that meets the salary and skill-level criteria of the Skilled, Worker, Scale-up or Global Business Mobility routes as applicable. Not being able to do will now result in a mandatory refusal.
The end of Biometric Residence Permits; vignettes and short-term visas
The Part 2 (Sponsor a worker) Guidance has amended the provisions around Biometric Residence Permits from the 31 October 2024 version. This is to reflect that an eVisa accessed through an individual UKVI account is the only proof of status that in-country applicants and EEA or Swiss national entry clearance applicants will now receive. Those applying for entry clearance who did not use the UK immigration: ID check app will still receive a vignette in their passport. Those applying for entry clearance of more than six months will get a 90-day short term entry clearance and will then need to create a UKVI account to access an eVisa. Those with entry clearance for less than 6 months will receive a vignette valid for the appropriate duration - and will not have an eVisa.
Route-specific guidance
Some of the route-specific guidance has been updated.
Sponsor a Skilled Worker Guidance provides that a Defined CoS must be assigned to a worker within 90 days of the date it was allocated to the sponsor, instead of three months.
It amends the category name for students in s a switchable route applying for Skilled Worker permission to Skilled Worker (Student course complete switching to Skilled Worker).
Amendments to the Sponsor a Global Business Mobility Worker Guidance includes adding details of the incorporation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
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