If UK Visas and Immigration considers that you are breaching your sponsorship duties and pose a threat to immigration control, you may be subject to a sponsor licence suspension while they make further enquiries.

Sponsor Licence Suspension

If your sponsor licence is suspended, you will not be able to sponsor new migrants and your business will be removed from the public register of sponsors for the suspension period. However, your current sponsored migrants will be unaffected.

Reasons for suspending a sponsor licence include, failing to keep appropriate records for sponsored migrants, unlawful salary variations or that an authorising officer is inappropriately qualified to assume his or her position.

You must continue to comply with all sponsor duties throughout the period of suspension. If your licence is due to expire during the period of suspension, you will still need to apply for a Sponsor Licence Renewal if you want to keep it.

Once UKVI has completed its enquiries, they may reinstate your licence, downgrade it or revoke it.

What else do I need to know about a Sponsor Licence Suspension?

If you have received notice that your sponsor licence has been suspended by UKVI, you will have 20 working days to seek a review of the decision. Your response must be made in writing and set out, with supporting evidence, which grounds you believe to be incorrect and why.

The Home Office will make a final decision based on your written response, so it is important that all mitigating arguments are clearly set out.

Once UKVI has completed its enquiries, they may reinstate your licence, downgrade it or revoke it.

How our immigration solicitors can help

We understand that receiving a sponsor licence suspension decision can be disruptive, costly and distressing for both employers and sponsored workers.

Our immigration solicitors work with sponsors to secure reinstatement of their sponsor licences following sponsor licence suspension decisions, ensuring that a robust case is presented to UKVI addressing any issues raised in suspension letters.

We pride ourselves on being approachable and proactive in understanding and meeting our business clients’ needs. We are a highly driven team, dedicated to providing clear and reliable immigration advice directly to UK employers as part of a professional and friendly service.