Preventative Measures to Avoid Sponsor Licence Revocation: Best Practices for Employers!

The United Kingdom is one of the top countries that allows migrant workers to work under a UK employer. However, due to the complex immigration rules and regulations of the United Kingdom, they require a sponsorship to enter this country. Competition in the daily business industry is increasing rapidly, and UK employers also want to hire skilled professionals for their firms worldwide. But to hire overseas talents, UK employers require a sponsor licence and to keep employing non-UK workers, they need to avoid the chances of sponsor licence revocation. In this regard, seeking professional help from immigration lawyers in the UK can be beneficial for you to understand the complexity associated with this licence.

On the other hand, this licence comes with intense responsibilities, and a licence holder must fulfil them to keep their licence safe from revocation. Licence suspension and revocation can have severe consequences on your business operation. Revocation can prevent you from employing foreign workers, and your present overseas employees will also no longer be able to work for you. It can negatively impact your business image in the global marketplace. To avoid the chances of revocation, it is essential that you must stay compliant with your sponsor duties. Today, in this comprehensive piece of information, we have mentioned preventive measures to avoid sponsor licence revocation. We have also included some essential practices that can help you keep your licence safe from revocation as an employer. 

An Overview of Sponsor Licence & Its Responsibilities

Before we delve into practices, it is essential to have an overview of this licence and its associated responsibilities. The UK government offers this licence to UK employers for hiring migrant skilled workers. As per the latest updates in the sponsor licence policies, the hiring process is now based on a UK points-based system. You can only employ those migrant workers who acquire a required point based on their skills, qualifications and proficiency in the English language. Now, if we talk about the responsibilities, a licence holder must have a robust human resource system to keep records of their hired employees. Besides that, it is also crucial to manage their compliance duties and inform the UK Home Office about every significant change in their company. The UK visas and immigration run audits to check whether the sponsor is fulfilling their duties or not. During this audit, they might revoke or even suspend your licence if they find any discrepancies related to your sponsor duties. In our next section, we have mentioned a few practices that can help an employer to stay compliant with sponsor duties and responsibilities. 

Follow These Practices to Stay Compliant with Sponsor Duties

Here in this section, we have mentioned some of the beneficial practices that can help you stay compliant with UK immigration rules and regulations for a sponsor. Following these guidelines can save you from sponsor licence revocation. 

• First and foremost, it is essential to execute regular internal audits. Your human resource department must align with UK visas and immigration requirements during their recruitment process. Analysing non-compliance factors before the Home Office compliance visit is beneficial to avoid chances of licence revocation. The HR department must be proficient in checking compliance and record-keeping issues. 
• Sponsor licence holders must follow an accurate record-keeping process. You must have all the historical and present information and data of your migrant workers from the day they landed in the United Kingdom. Keep their contact information, residential address, passport and other relevant information in place. You must have an employee handbook or biometric system to maintain their attendance. You must end their sponsorship if an employee doesn’t show up at work for more than ten days. 
• The UK Home Office is quite particular about sponsor duties, especially getting informed about every particular piece of information. As a UK sponsor, you must know when and which changes should be reported to the UK Home Office. If your migrant employees change their residence or contact numbers, you must update the UKVI with the latest information. Any specific changes related to your company, such as a change in office address, employee responsibilities, or changes in salary thresholds, are subject to inform the UK Home Office. This information should be reported to the UKVI within the specified timeline. 
• To stay compliant with your sponsor duties, it is essential to keep updated with all the latest immigration policies that may affect your sponsor licence. Sometimes, it can be easy to know all the latest updates without the help of immigration lawyers in the UK. Consider seeking legal advice that can help you understand all the latest changes and also help you fulfil your sponsor duties. There are some renowned legal firms in the United Kingdom, such as A Y & J Solicitors. They have an experienced and knowledgeable team of immigration solicitors who can assist you with the entire process and keep you updated with all the latest changes in the policy. 
• There should be a responsible person who can directly connect with the UK Home Office. You must assign a key personnel who will be responsible for being in touch with the Home Office. This person will be responsible for handling the compliance visit of the UK visas and immigration. They will cooperate with the Home Office to fulfil their request during the audit or compliance visits. 

• UK employers need to keep informing the UK Home Office about every essential information through a sponsor management system. The SMS should be updated with each and every essential information about your organisation or migrant workers. 

In conclusion, we can say that these practices can keep you ahead in the game and keep away all the hurdles from your path. You can keep your licence safe from revocation by following above mentioned practices. Staying compliant with sponsor duties is the ultimate way to avoid the chances of revocation. Following every rule and regulation of the UK Home Office, maintaining accurate records, and updating your sponsor management system religiously are the ways to avoid chances of revocation. 

Passionate about the legal realm? Unleash your expertise by becoming a guest writer for us! If you have a blog, you can write for us legally and join our community of legal enthusiasts sharing valuable insights