03 Apr What is a sponsor compliance check?
Home Office’s compliance checks for sponsoring companies are either meant to ensure that the prospective sponsors are qualified to be issued with a license or if they have a licence, that they remain compliant with their duties.
Pre-licence compliance visit
According to the Guidance for sponsors Part 1, L8.15.-8.19., the Home office will undertake a visit or an interview either remotely or physically if necessary.
L8.15. We use risk assessments to guide our compliance activity and focus that activity on the areas of highest risk. If we know little about you, are concerned about the evidence you have provided, or if information or evidence otherwise comes to light that causes us concern, we will make further checks. These could include checks with other government departments and/or a compliance check.
If you, as a prospective sponsor, were to fail to show your ability to fulfil the sponsorship duties during the checks, your application would likely fall for refusal. The compliance officer will judge and score upon the company on each of the following:
| Human resources systems | Whether you have HR systems in place that allow you to know when a sponsored worker has not turned up for work or can alert you when their current permission is coming to an end. |
| Convictions and civil penalties | Whether or not you have an unspent criminal conviction for a relevant offence (as defined in Annex L4) or have been issued with a relevant civil penalty. |
| Migrant compliance | Whether you are employing any workers, sponsored or not, who are in breach of the conditions of their immigration permission – for example, a student who is working more hours than they are allowed to. |
| Employment | Whether you can offer employment which meets the criteria for the relevant immigration route (such as genuine vacancy, salary and skill-level). |
The Home Office will grant your license if you meet all the criteria above and if there are no other refusal grounds (set out in Annex L1, L2 and L3).
Post-license checks
The Home Office must ensure that sponsors act in accordance with the immigration law, guidance, wider UK law and the wider public good.
C7.3. We will continually monitor sponsors’ compliance and take action against those who:
- pose, or may pose, a threat to immigration control
- breach their sponsorship duties, or otherwise fail to comply with the Immigration Rules or Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor guidance
- are convicted of criminal offences or issued with certain civil penalties (such as those for employing illegal workers)
- have engaged or are engaging in behaviour or actions that are not conducive to the public good
A compliance check can be taken when there is a reasonable suspicion that you have breached the duties. This could be on an announced or an unannounced basis. This will likely involve:
- asking you for additional documents or information
- verifying documents and information you have provided
- visiting you on-site
- conducting a digital compliance inspection which involves interviewing you via remote video conferencing facilities
- making checks with other government departments, agencies or local authorities
- considering any other information or evidence that comes to light – for example, during the course of considering applications from your sponsored workers or through allegations from members of the public
You are obliged to cooperate with the authority and provide any requested information regardless of whether you have received any notice.
During the visit, the compliance officer may:
- verify your sponsor license details – this may include taking photographs of the location and the premises from which you are operating your business
- verify any information of sponsored workers/migrants
- check you are complying with all your sponsor duties or will be able to comply if they interview you before your licence application has been decided.
- check the records and make sure that you abide sponsor regulations.
- conduct checks on other workers or anyone else associated to ensure you are complying with related laws
- speak to any sponsored workers, including any workers you may have previously sponsored
- speak to any of your employees or colleagues involved in the recruitment of sponsored workers
As a sponsor license holder, you must be prepared and action the following:
- Periodic review of your compliance and make sure the records and documents are all up to date.
- Check if you have all the details of Authorising officer, Level 1 and Level 2 users and Key contact are correct in place
Depending on different kinds of issues arise set out in Anne1, 2, 3 of Sponsor guidance part 3, you will be notified in a letter of the decision of the audit, which could be:
- Downgrade from A to B
- Suspend your license
- Revoke your license
Your license and ratings will be retained if no issues are found.
Contact Our Immigration Team
For expert advice regarding any aspect of the UK visa application, please contact our immigration team on 0203 384 3075
