Employer Sponsor Duties and Compliance

Licensed sponsors have three categories of duty under the Home Office's sponsor guidance:

1. Reporting duties — Sponsors must report certain changes about sponsored workers to UKVI via the Sponsor Management System (SMS) within set timescales. Reportable events include: the worker does not start on the agreed start date; the worker's employment ends or changes significantly; the worker is absent without permission for more than 10 consecutive working days; and significant changes to the role, salary, or working location.
2. Record-keeping duties — Sponsors must keep certain documents and records for each sponsored worker, including: a copy of the worker's passport and visa; their National Insurance number; their current contact details; and records of attendance and absence. Records must be kept in a format that can be produced quickly to UKVI if requested.
3. Monitoring duties — Sponsors must have HR systems that allow them to monitor sponsored workers' immigration status, attendance, and compliance with visa conditions. They must take reasonable steps to ensure sponsored workers are not working in breach of their visa conditions.

UKVI conducts both announced and unannounced compliance visits to licensed sponsors. The purpose is to check that the sponsor is meeting its duties. Visitors may be UKVI staff or immigration enforcement officers. During a visit, they may:

• Ask to see records for specific sponsored workers;
• Interview HR staff about processes and procedures;
• Check payroll records, contracts of employment, and timesheet records;
• Speak to sponsored workers directly.

Cooperating with a compliance visit is not optional — obstruction or failure to provide requested documents can itself lead to licence downgrade or revocation. Sponsors should prepare for potential compliance visits by maintaining their records in good order at all times, not just when a visit is expected.

UKVI can take several actions against non-compliant sponsors:

• Downgrade from A-rating to B-rating — Sponsors on a B-rating cannot assign new Certificates of Sponsorship and must pay for a compliance action plan. Most sponsors are downgraded rather than immediately revoked for first-time issues;
• Suspension — The licence is suspended pending a fuller investigation. No new CoS can be assigned during suspension;
• Revocation — The most serious outcome. All sponsored workers' visas may be curtailed, giving them 60 days to find a new sponsor or leave the UK. The revoked sponsor faces a cooling-off period before reapplying for a licence.

Sponsors should also be aware of their obligations under the Right to Work regime — the separate (but related) requirement to check that all employees (not just sponsored workers) have the right to work in the UK before starting employment. A failure in right to work checks can lead to civil penalties of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.

The right to work regime under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (IANA 2006) is separate from, but closely intertwined with, sponsor licensing obligations. Every employer in the UK — not just licensed sponsors — must check that each employee has the right to work before their employment commences. Failure to carry out a compliant check, or employing someone known not to have the right to work, exposes the employer to a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker from 13 February 2024 (the penalty was increased from £20,000 by the Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) (Amendment) Order 2024). Repeat breaches can result in criminal prosecution of the employer and individuals involved.

For sponsored workers, the right to work check is carried out using the Home Office online checking service (the "employer check service") at gov.uk/view-right-to-work. The worker generates a share code from their UKVI online account, and the employer enters the share code alongside the worker's date of birth to see the worker's immigration status and work conditions in real time. This online check provides a statutory excuse against civil penalty — meaning that if the check is carried out correctly and the result shows the worker has the right to work, the employer is protected even if it later turns out the worker's status was fraudulently obtained. Paper document checks remain valid for British and Irish citizens (who can present a passport, national identity card, or birth certificate with NI number), but the online route is mandatory for workers whose right to work is time-limited and who hold eVisa digital status.

Sponsors must also carry out follow-up right to work checks for time-limited workers before their permission expires. The Home Office recommends setting up a reminder system in HR processes to flag when repeat checks are due. A missed repeat check — where the worker's leave expires and the employer does not verify the renewed status — is a compliance failure that can result in civil penalty and, for licensed sponsors, a downgrade or suspension of the sponsor licence. UKVI audits compliance against both the right to work regime and sponsor duties concurrently during compliance visits, so employers who hold sponsor licences face a dual compliance obligation that must be managed systematically.