UK Sponsor Licence Suspense & Revocation- Impact, Reasons and What to do next

UKVI may suspend an organisation’s sponsor licence while it makes further enquiries if it believes that the licence holder is breaching their sponsor duties and/or poses a threat to the UK's immigration control, or is engaging in actions or behaviours not conducive to the public good.

On the other hand, UK sponsor licence revocation is when UKVI permanently withdraws a company’s sponsor licence, which means the company can no longer sponsor migrant workers. A sponsor licence can be revoked for various reasons, for example, if UKVI finds serious or repeated breaches of sponsorship duties by the licence holder.

Sponsor licence suspension 

The UKVI has powers to suspend a sponsor licence where it alleges an organisation has failed to manage its sponsor licence correctly and to comply with its sponsor’s duties. 

If any of the circumstances (listed below in the section of reasons for revocation of a sponsor’s licence) arise, UKVI either immediately/normally/may revoke their licence or suspend their licence pending further investigation or consideration.

In certain circumstances (where UKVI will normally or may revoke a licence), UKVI will first consider downgrading a licence. However, it may decide to suspend their licence without first downgrading it. This could be the case where there has been sustained non-compliance on the part of the sponsor over a period of time, or where there have been a number of breaches which are minor, but, taken together, indicate a more serious or systematic failing.

Impact of suspension on the sponsor

The organisation with a suspended licence will not be able to assign any CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) to migrant workers while their licence is suspended. They must continue to comply with all sponsor duties and any other requirements throughout the period of suspension of their licence.

If a licence is suspended, it is suspended in all routes in which the organisation is licensed, and its entry from the public version of the register of sponsors will be removed during the suspension period.

Workers being sponsored at the time of the suspension, and those with valid permission to enter or stay, will not be affected, until or unless UKVI decides to revoke their employer’s licence.

If UKVI decides not to revoke a sponsor’s licence, it will lift the sponsor licence suspension and reinstate their entry on the register of sponsors on GOV.UK.

The organisation whose sponsor licence is suspended has 20 working days from the date of the UKVI's written notification to respond to UKVI’s letter. This is their opportunity to seek a review of UKVI’s decision to suspend a licence and to set out any mitigating arguments they believe exist. The organisation must respond in writing and set out, with any relevant supporting evidence, the reasons/grounds they believe to be incorrect and why. They may be given more time to respond if UKVI is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances. There will be no oral hearing.

If UKVI finds any additional grounds for the suspension of the organisation’s sponsor licence during that 20-day period, including any additional information obtained during the course of interviews or discussions with workers to whom the organisation has assigned a CoS, UKVI will write to them again, giving them another 20 working days to respond to the additional reasons.

If UKVI does not receive a response within the time allowed, it will go ahead with whatever action it believes is appropriate and tell the sponsor of its decision in writing.

Appropriate action may include one or more of the following:

• re-instating the sponsor licence with an A-rating

• re-instating the sponsor licence with a B-rating (and issuing the sponsor with an action plan)

• preventing the organisation from assigning any new CoS

• preventing the use of any assigned, but unused, CoS

• revoking their sponsor licence

UKVI will inform the organisation of its final decision within 20 working days after receiving their response, unless the consideration is exceptionally complex or it is waiting for information from a third party, such as another government department. In this case, the organisation will be informed of the delay.

Any action taken as a result of UKVI’s decision will take effect from the date of the decision letter it sends to the organisation. 

How suspension affects the migrant workers

If a worker applies for a visa supported by a valid CoS, the organisation assigned them before their licence was suspended, or if they support a worker’s application for ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain – also called “settlement’), UKVI will not decide their application until the reason for suspension has been resolved, unless the application falls for refusal on other grounds.

If a worker has already been granted entry clearance to the UK based on a CoS assigned by the organisation before their licence was suspended, they will still be allowed to enter the UK and start working for the organisation, provided UKVI does not revoke the licence by the time the worker travels. All workers should check the status of their sponsor’s licence on the sponsor register before travelling.

While the organisation’s licence is suspended, the function to replace their Key Contact or AO (Authorising Officer) and add a new Level 1 User automatically will also be suspended if such provisions that UKVI had previously granted on their sponsor licence.

What happens if the sponsor licence is reinstated

If the organisation’s licence has been suspended and it does not later get revoked, UKVI will reinstate it either as an A-rating or a B-rating.

Those with their licence reinstated with a B-rating will not be given a further 20 working days to reply, as this process will have been completed during the period their licence was suspended.

Re-instatement with a B-rating means the organisation must comply with an action plan. UKVI may also reduce, or set to zero, the number of CoS the organisation is allowed to assign.

Revoking a sponsor licence

Sponsor licence revocation means the organisation holding a sponsor licence loses its licence, or in other words, it is the formal cancellation of a UK employer’s sponsor licence by UKVI due to serious non-compliance or breaches of immigration rules.

Reasons why a sponsor licence will/will normally be/may be revoked

Certain circumstances will/ will normally/may lead to an organisation’s sponsor licence being revoked. However, UKVI may first choose to suspend or downgrade/suspend a licence before revoking while it considers the matter. 

Some of these circumstances include the following. Please note that the list below is not exhaustive. 

• The organisation/sponsor with a sponsor licence stops to have (or never had) a trading presence

• They stop to fulfil the requirements of the route (s) in which they are licensed

• There is a serious and/or systematic breach by the organisation of their sponsor duties

• The organisation fails to co-operate with a compliance check, where required, or delay compliance activity.

• They pose a threat to the UK’s immigration control

• The organisation/AO/Key Contact/Level 1 or Level 2 Users have been convicted of a relevant criminal offence or issued with a specified civil penalty

• They are engaging in or have engaged in actions or behaviour that are not conducive to the public good

• UKVI identifies, after they have granted a licence, that the organisation knowingly provided false information on, or in support of, their licence application, and had they given the correct information, UKVI would have refused their application

• The organisation has been issued with 2 or more civil penalties for employing Illegal workers, and they remain liable for the penalties once their objection and appeal rights have been exhausted; and the civil penalty for at least one of those workers remains at the maximum amount once the organisation’s objection and appeal rights have been exhausted

• The organisation does not send any documents or information requested by UKVI within the given time limit.

• The sponsor has been downgraded from an A-rating to a B-rating and has not met one or more of the requirements of their action plan within the specified period.

• They provided false information in any application for, or request to assign, a CoS, or a request to renew their annual CoS allocation. 

• The role undertaken by a worker they have sponsored does not match one or both of the following:

• The occupation code on the CoS, the sponsor assigned to the worker 

    • the job description stated on the CoS that the sponsor assigned to the worker

• The sponsor is an employment business/agency, or is acting as one, and they have supplied a worker that they are sponsoring to a third party as labour.

• They sponsor, or try to sponsor, a migrant worker for a role that does not fulfil the minimum salary threshold, skill level threshold, or other eligibility requirements of the role of the specific route the worker is being sponsored on. 

• The sponsor pays a sponsored worker less than they said on the worker’s CoS, and:

• They have failed to notify UKVI of the change in salary; or
• the reduction in salary is not otherwise permitted

• The sponsor is employing a worker (whether sponsored or not) who is subject to immigration control and:

  • does not have permission to enter or stay in the UK; or

  • is working in breach of the conditions of their visa, and the applicant could reasonably have been aware of this breach. 

• The sponsor has given a false statement/ information, or has not given information that they held to UKVI or any other Government Department when required.

• The sponsor has previously been named as ‘Key Personnel’ at a sponsor where:

  • the sponsor's worker or temporary worker licence has been revoked within the last 12 months (or last 24 months if it was revoked more than once while the applicant was named as Key Personnel); or

  • the sponsor has been named as Key Personnel at more than one sponsor that has had its sponsor licence revoked within the last 24 months; or

  • the sponsor's worker or temporary worker licence application has been refused within the last 6 months

Impact of revocation on the Sponsor 

If UKVI decides to revoke one’s licence, it will write to the licence holder to inform them of this. The organisation cannot appeal against the revocation decision, and they will not be allowed to apply for a sponsor licence again until 12 months or more have passed since the date UKVI notified the sponsor of the revocation (or 24 months if the sponsor has had their licence revoked more than once).

The sponsor whose licence is revoked loses the legal right to sponsor migrant workers.

Impact of a sponsor licence revocation on sponsored workers

1. If the worker is already in the UK

Those in the UK, when their sponsor gets their licence revoked:

• will have their CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) cancelled

• will have their visa limited to 60 days (or however long they have left on the visa if it’s less than 60 days)

The worker will have to leave their job and leave the UK unless they apply for a new visa application within that time.

If the worker was in any way involved in the reasons why their sponsor lost their licence, their visa will be withdrawn, and they will have to leave the UK immediately.

2. If the worker is outside the UK

All workers should check the status of their sponsor’s licence on the sponsor register before travelling.

Those outside the UK who applied for a visa will have their visa refused if their sponsor’s licence is revoked.

Those who have a visa but have not travelled to the UK will have their visa cancelled, and they will not be allowed to enter if they travel to the UK.

 How can Visa and Migration help?

We are a well-known UK Visa agency in London. We have the expertise and experience in providing support to both employers and migrant workers navigate the challenges arising with a suspended or revoked sponsor licence.
We understand the pain caused by a sponsor licence suspension or revocation. We guide employers through the following:

• Understanding the reasons why your licence was affected, 

• Helping you in staying compliant with your sponsorship duties, and 

• Offering clear steps you can take to resolve the situation. 

Visa and Migration also support you in planning for the future, including clear strategies for reapplying for a sponsor licence, while ensuring your business avoids further penalties. 

On the other hand, for sponsored workers/employees, we help you by providing clear and practical advice on how your UK work visa may be affected, including your visa’s curtailment periods and your options for moving to a new licensed sponsor or exploring alternative UK visa routes to stay legally in the UK. 

Our focus is on offering actionable solutions and safeguarding both employers’ and workers’ interests.

For expert advice and queries, you can call us at +44 (0)20 3411 1261 or write at info@visaandmigration.com