What are sponsor duties and how to ensure compliance?
A UKVI sponsor licence allows you to meet your organisation’s staffing needs by offering access to a global talent market. However, it’s important to understand that being registered as a licenced sponsor comes with a series of responsibilities known as ‘sponsor duties’.
You must ensure that you remain compliant with your duties for the duration of your licence, which requires an understanding of the immigration rules and guidance. Additionally, you must be able to understand how to correctly manage the licence and when to take action to avoid non-compliance.
Audits, conducted both virtually and in-person, are a common tool used by the Home Office to verify that sponsors are complying with their duties. During an audit, the Home Office will look through the organisation’s HR systems to ensure that they are adequate. You can expect to receive an audit either before the licence is granted or renewed, or anytime during its validity.
Reporting changes relating to your sponsored workers’ circumstances must be done on the SMS system within 10 working days. Examples of such changes include:
Other changes you must report
If you have any information that suggests that any worker you are sponsoring may be engaged in terrorism or criminal activity, you must contact the police.
For each sponsored worker you must keep the following:
Additionally, you must retain evidence of any recruitment activity you have undertaken. If you did not advertise the role, you must be able to explain how you recruited the worker.
In order to, remain compliant with this duty, you must ensure that you:
You must ensure that you or your business are not engaging in behaviour or actions that are not conducive to the public good. The Home Office will not license organisations who’s actions and behaviour are non-conducive. Such actions and behaviour include but are not limited to:
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