Guide to Sponsor Licence Application 2022
What is Sponsor Licence for UK employers?
The end of UK free movement and change to the Immigration rules from 1 January 2021, all EU and non-EU nationals coming to UK to work must be sponsored by a licensed employer with a valid sponsor licence. As an employer in the UK, you will need a sponsor licence to employ most types of overseas workers from the outside UK. This includes Iceland, EU, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland entered the UK after 31 December 2020. The sponsor licence for an organisation does not only employ overseas workers with paid jobs but also includes unpaid works such as running charities.
UK employers need to know how to secure a UK visa sponsorship licence if their employee’s visa expires. To apply for a UK visa sponsorship licence, you will need to make an application to the Home Office and pay the relevant fees which you can find out on the Gov.co.uk website.
What is eligibility for an organisation?
The Home Office will only grant a sponsor licence to an organisation that shows the role they are recruiting for, and the workers they are intended to sponsor is necessary and has met all the requirements from Home Offices. The company must also have an HR system in place that comply with sponsorship compliance duties.
To get a sponsor licence as an employer, the employer cannot have:
Unspent criminal convictions for immigration offences or other certain crimes such as money laundering.
The employer has never had a sponsor licence revoked in the past 12 months of the business
This is the basic requirement for employers to know their eligibility. If they have been granted with sponsor licence, the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will visit the applicant organisation to check whether the applicant is trustworthy and capable of carrying out duties.
What is job suitability mean for the employer?
The employers will need to make sure they have met a suitable rate of pay and skill level as well as meet other requirements needed for the visa application. There are different types of workers which the going rate of pay and skill level are different.
The types of workers are listed as below:
A skilled worker
A health or care worker
An intra-company worker
A worker on a government authorised exchange
A seasonal change
A worker on a government international Sportsperson visa
A worker on an international agreement
A creative worker
A charity worker
A minister of religion or religious worker
What types of Sponsored licences?
There are two types of sponsor licence, and the licence you need will depend on whether the works you want are:
Skilled or long-term employment
Temporary workers- Specific types of temporary employment
The employer can apply for the sponsor licence of more than one or both types of workers depending on the needs and requirements needed to be met from the Home Office.
Work Licence
The Work Licence will allow employers to sponsor different types of skilled employment that can be for short term, long term, and permanent roles.
The type of work licence can be split into:
Skilled Worker
Into-company visa
Minister of Religion
International Sportsperson
Temporary worker Licence
The temporary worker Licence will allow the employer to sponsor workers on a temporary basis including Job-shadowing and volunteering. However, the employer will only get a temporary worker licence for specific types of employment and visa. The types of Temporary worker Licence can be split into
Creative Worker
Charity Worker
Government Authorised Exchanged
International Agreement
Seasonal Worker
How Alstern can help?
Immigration laws and rules are constantly changing at all times. This is important to get the latest information. Our Immigration lawyers have years of experience in Sponsor licence applications for UK employers and even dealing with complex applications with a high success rate. We follow up the changes of immigration law and rules that ensure every single sponsor licence application meet the latest requirements from the Home Office.
For more information, please contact us on 020 3923 9188 or email Info@alstern.co.uk.
