The three actions
When the Home Office believes a sponsor has failed its duties, it has three ways to act. It can downgrade the licence from an A-rating to a B-rating. It can suspend the licence while it investigates. Or it can revoke it. Each follows a letter that sets out the concerns and, usually, gives a short period in which to respond. What you do in that period often decides the outcome.
Why the Home Office acts
Action follows a compliance visit, an audit, a tip-off, a worker’s complaint, a failed right to work check or a concern about a certificate of sponsorship. Common causes include:
- Missing or incomplete records, such as copies of passports, contracts or right to work evidence.
- Failure to report changes, for example a worker who left, a change of job title or salary, or a change of key personnel, within the time allowed.
- Paying a sponsored worker less than the certificate says, or employing them in a different role.
- Sponsoring a role that is not genuine, or that does not meet the skill level or salary rules.
- Allowing someone to work who does not have permission to do so.
- Weak internal controls: no one clearly responsible for sponsorship duties, or key personnel who do not understand them.
Downgrade to a B-rating
A sponsor with a B-rating cannot assign new certificates of sponsorship, but can still issue certificates for workers it already employs who want to extend. To return to an A-rating it must follow an action plan set by the Home Office, which costs £1,579. The fee must be paid within 10 working days of being told of the downgrade, or the licence is lost. If the plan is completed and nothing else needs improving, the A-rating is restored. If other improvements are needed, a second B-rating and a new plan follow, with the fee again. A licence can have only two B-ratings: if improvements are still needed after the second plan, it is revoked.
Suspension
Suspension stops all sponsorship activity while the Home Office decides what to do. The sponsor cannot assign certificates, and the Home Office may tell the sponsored workers that their sponsor is under investigation. This is the stage at which a good response can change the outcome: evidence that the concern is mistaken, or has been dealt with, may lead to the licence being reinstated.
Revocation
A revoked licence ends the sponsor’s ability to employ workers who need sponsorship. The Home Office will normally curtail the leave of each sponsored worker, giving them a limited period, commonly 60 days, to find a new sponsor or leave the UK. There is no appeal. A business can reapply, but not for at least 12 months, and for 24 months if it has been revoked more than once. A new application must start afresh. Some failings, such as ceasing to trade or employing illegal workers, can lead to revocation with little or no chance to put things right.
How to respond
- Read the letter and note the deadline. It is often short, and a late reply may not be considered.
- Establish exactly what the Home Office says went wrong, and gather the evidence that answers it: the records, the contracts, the payslips, the explanations.
- Answer each allegation in writing, in order, with the evidence for each. Do not argue in general terms.
- Say what has changed. If the failing was real, explain what has been done to make sure it does not recur: new systems, trained staff, a named person responsible for each duty.
- Be accurate. An answer that is inaccurate or incomplete can turn a downgrade into a revocation.
Challenging a decision
There is no appeal to a tribunal against a decision to suspend, downgrade or revoke a sponsor licence. Where a decision was caused by a caseworker’s mistake, or documents were not considered, you can ask for it to be reviewed, and we can prepare that request and the evidence behind it. A review cannot be sought just because you disagree. We do not conduct court proceedings. If a case needs one, we will tell you at the outset and you would need a litigation solicitor.
The effect on your workers
Workers are not at fault but bear the consequences. Where a licence is revoked or suspended, a sponsor should tell its workers plainly and early, and help them to find new sponsors where it can. Those who lose their sponsor generally have 60 days to apply for a new visa with a new sponsor.
Applying again
After a revocation a business can apply for a new licence after the waiting period, but the Home Office will look hard at what went wrong and what has changed. A new application should show the new controls working, not just describe them. See sponsor licences and sponsor duties.
