Insights
Preparing for a sponsor compliance visit
The records, systems and reporting duties the Home Office expects a licensed sponsor to keep.
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A compliance visit is not an audit of whether your business is well run. It is a check on whether you are meeting duties you accepted when the licence was granted, and it can happen with little or no notice.
What is actually examined
- Right to work checks, and whether they were carried out correctly and before employment started.
- Personnel files for sponsored workers, including contact details and absence records.
- Whether the role being performed matches the one on the Certificate of Sponsorship, including the duties and the pay.
- Evidence of genuine recruitment activity where it applies.
- The HR and reporting systems themselves, and who is responsible for them.
Reporting duties
Sponsors must report a range of changes within short deadlines: a worker who does not turn up, a significant change to duties or pay, a change of work location, early termination, and changes to the business itself such as a merger or a change of ownership.
These duties are ongoing rather than annual. A sponsor who reports everything accurately but three months late is in a worse position than one who has less to report.
The role has to match the paperwork
Roles evolve. Someone sponsored as one thing gradually becomes another, and salaries drift as responsibilities change. If the job being done no longer matches the Certificate of Sponsorship, that is a compliance problem even when everyone involved is content with the arrangement.
Sensible preparation
- Name the people holding each licence role, and check they are still with the business and still able to do it.
- Run an internal file check against the duties before someone else does.
- Make sure whoever answers the door knows who to contact, because a visit can be unannounced.
- Keep a written record of recruitment decisions while the reasons are still fresh.
If something is already wrong
Suspension stops you assigning new Certificates of Sponsorship, and revocation can end the permission of the workers you sponsor, which is a consequence for them as much as for the business. Sponsors are expected to report relevant changes within the required time, so a gap found internally should be dealt with promptly.
How WLIS can help
This article is general information. WLIS can help with straightforward sponsor licence applications and sponsorship-related applications within Level 1. If the Home Office has raised compliance concerns, suspended, downgraded or revoked a licence, we will signpost or refer you to an appropriately authorised adviser.
What we can and cannot help with
We provide advice and application assistance for straightforward immigration matters within our IAA Level 1 Immigration authorisation. Where a matter falls outside that authorisation — for example because it involves adverse immigration history, a discretionary or human-rights claim, an administrative review, an appeal or tribunal work — we will tell you and signpost or refer you to an adviser authorised at the appropriate level.
If an application is refused, we will explain whether a new straightforward application may fall within our Level 1 service scope. Where review, appeal, tribunal or other higher-level work is required, we will signpost or refer you to an appropriately authorised adviser.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) makes the final decision on every application. No immigration adviser can guarantee that an application will be approved.
Questions clients often ask
How much notice do we get?
Sometimes a short period, sometimes none at all. Pre-licence visits are often arranged, but a compliance visit to an existing sponsor can be unannounced. Preparation has to be a standing state rather than something done on notice.
What if our licence is suspended?
You cannot assign new Certificates of Sponsorship while suspended, and you are given the opportunity to respond to the concerns raised within the time the Home Office sets. That response needs an adviser authorised for that work, which is outside our IAA Level 1 authorisation, so take advice from an appropriately authorised adviser promptly.
Have a question about your own application?
General guides cannot cover every situation. Tell us what you want to apply for and we will confirm whether it is within our Level 1 authorisation.
The enquiry form is on this site and reaches us directly. Please do not send identity documents until we ask for them.