Contact our offices
Make an enquiry
How can we help?
Stephensons has a team of specialist regulatory lawyers who provide advice and representation to individuals and businesses in relation to licensing laws and requirements, including sponsor licences with the UK Home Office. Our specialist lawyers have extensive experience of acting for clients across a number of sectors including healthcare, adult social care and education.
Our specialist regulatory lawyers understand the pressure on businesses to ensure strict compliance with the relevant legislation, guidance and licenses, particularly across the health, adult social care and education sectors. Our specialist lawyers regularly act for health, social care and education providers in relation to inspection reports, enforcement action and appeals before the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted and understand the impact that a suspension of a sponsor licence can have on the ongoing successful operation of a health and social care or education business.
If your sponsor licence has been downgraded, suspended or revoked, it is extremely important to seek immediate advice from a specialist solicitor before you take any action. Defending you and your business is our primary concern. If you require assistance, please contact our specialist lawyers on 0161 696 6250. Alternatively, please complete our online enquiry form and a member of the team will contact you directly to discuss your case.
A sponsor licence is granted by the UK Home Office to a UK company or organisation (‘sponsor’) which permits them to sponsor foreign workers to come to the UK to work or study. A licence is usually granted for a period of four years and is recorded on a public register. The Home Office can downgrade, suspend or revoke the licence if a sponsor fails to comply with their sponsorship responsibilities.
Sponsorship licences are granted across many different sectors including but not limited to:
A sponsor licence enables the hiring of skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, including non-UK nationals. Companies who hold the license are known as “sponsors”. A sponsor can apply for a licence for skilled or long-term employment (‘workers’) and/or for temporary employment (‘temporary workers’). Once an A-rated sponsor licence is granted, the sponsor can assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a foreign worker. This will be downgraded to a B-rated sponsor licence when a sponsor fails to meet their sponsor responsibilities.
Sponsorship is not something that will automatically be granted, and several duties need to be upheld which can be summarised as:
The Home Office can suspend a sponsor’s licence if there are grounds to suspect that they have:
The most common reasons for the suspension of a licence include:
During a period of suspension, a sponsor’s entry on the public register will be removed but the sponsor must continue to comply with their sponsorship duties. The sponsor will also be unable to assign any new Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) during this period but current sponsored workers will not be affected.
The Home Office will write to a sponsor outlining their reasons for the suspension of the licence and in some cases, a full investigation will be instigated if further evidence is required. A sponsor will then have 20 working days from the date of the written notification to make written representations against the suspension.
This is an opportunity for a sponsor to seek a review of the decision to suspend, provide any relevant information or evidence to challenge the decision to suspend, and/or set out any mitigating arguments. It is vital that a sponsor robustly addresses every allegation made in detail and provides extensive supporting documentary evidence in support of their response in order to stand any prospect of being successful in their challenge.
Where further reasons for the suspension of the licence are identified, the Home Office will write to a sponsor setting out those further reasons and a sponsor will be given a further 20 working days to respond to these additional reasons.
The Home Office will then make a decision on the most appropriate action, which can include:
The Home Office’s final decision will be issued within 20 working days of receiving the sponsor’s response, unless the matter is complex or requires further investigation or information from a third party. There is no further right of appeal against this decision.
The Home Office can also decide to revoke a licence immediately where certain circumstances apply.
It can be very challenging to keep on top of the requirements of a licence and the ever-changing legislation and guidance. Many sponsors may therefore find their license is downgraded, suspended, or revoked at short notice, which can impact the ongoing validity of a business; its reputation; and its permission to continue to sponsor new and existing foreign workers. If you receive notification of a downgrading, suspension or revocation, it is therefore important that you seek specialist legal advice as soon as possible and before taking any action. Call our specialist lawyers today on 0161 696 6250 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of the team will contact you to discuss your case.
Our specialist lawyers represented a successful homecare agency operating from multiple locations who had applied to the CQC to register additional office locations after successfully obtaining a number of care contracts. The provider recruited staff from overseas under a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) sponsorship licence but during the course of the application, the UKVI sponsorship licence had been suspended and subsequently revoked. The provider successfully challenged the revocation and the licence was reinstated to suspended pending an investigation. The CQC therefore issued a Notice of Proposal to refuse the application on the basis of concerns surrounding the ratio of staff on a Certificate of Sponsorship compared to permanently employed staff; their ability to ensure the continuation of support in the absence of a sponsorship licence; their contingency plans; and their recruitment practices.
Our lawyers were instructed to make robust representations against the proposal, detailing their robust contingency plans and the measures taken by the provider to address any current or longer-term staffing shortages in the event that their licence was not fully reinstated, as well as their extensive recruitment efforts. After the submission of these representations and before a decision was made, the provider’s sponsorship licence was subsequently reinstated by UKVI. Our lawyers therefore made further robust representations on the proportionality and necessity of the continued refusal of the application on this basis. As a result, the proposal was withdrawn and the new locations were registered immediately.
loading staff
A sponsor licence is granted by the UK Home Office to a company or organisation which permits them to sponsor foreign workers to come to the UK to work or study. A sponsor can apply for a licence for skilled or long-term employment (‘workers’) and/or for temporary employment (‘temporary workers’). Once a sponsor is granted an A-rated sponsor licence, the sponsor can assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a foreign worker. This will be downgraded to a B-rated sponsor licence when a sponsor fails to meet their sponsor responsibilities.
In order to apply for a sponsor licence, a sponsor must meet certain criteria. The sponsor must not have had a sponsor licence revoked in the previous 12 months and must not have any unspent criminal convictions for certain offences, including immigration offences and other offences outlined in Annex L4 of the Home Office’s ‘Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors, Part 1: Apply for a licence’.
A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is not an actual document, but an electronic record which is assigned to a foreign worker by a sponsor in the UK confirming that the sponsor is sponsoring the worker for a particular job role. The CoS allows the foreign worker to apply for a work visa.
There are two types of CoS. A ‘defined’ CoS is for skilled workers applying for a visa from outside of the UK and an ‘undefined’ CoS is for skilled workers applying to stay in the UK or for all other workers applying to enter or stay in the UK.
A sponsor can assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a foreign worker who they want to sponsor if they are eligible to do so and they are satisfied that the particular foreign worker meets all relevant immigration requirements. The sponsor must also agree to abide by their sponsorship requirements.
If an application for a sponsor licence is refused, there is no right of an appeal but a sponsor can either:
Before your sponsor licence is downgraded from an A-rating to a B-rating, the Home Office will write to a sponsor to outline their proposal and the reasons why. A sponsor will then have 20 working days to respond in writing. Any written representations made must be supported by robust evidence. The Home Office will then communicate their decision in writing within 20 working days of receiving the sponsor’s response. A further 20 working days to respond may be given where further evidence comes to light before a final decision is made.
Where a sponsor licence is revoked, any sponsored workers' visas are usually reduced to a period of 60 days, or the duration remaining on their visa (whichever is less). The sponsored worker must then find a new sponsor; make a new visa application; or leave the UK.
New CIW rating system for care homes and domiciliary care services in Wales
Since 1st April 2025, all care homes and domiciliary care services in Wales are now inspected against a new ratings system by the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). These ratings are similar to how the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rate homes and domiciliary...
If you have been referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), you may be feeling anxious and uncertain about what lies ahead. As specialist NMC solicitors, we understand how daunting this process can be. The NMC’s fitness to practise process...
Regulatory defence - staff reorder
