UK companies need to be able to sponsor migrant workers in order to fill open positions and make up for skill gaps in their own workforce.

The licences for sponsors are good for 4 years. If you have a sponsor licence, you will need to renew it with the Home Office before the expiration date of your current licence. If you don’t, you could lose your right to sponsor foreign workers.

Your support licence will be good for another 4 years if your application to renew it is accepted.

In reality, the Home Office pays more attention to requests to renew sponsor licences than to requests to issue new licences. Because the group should have done what its backer asked while it had the licence, this is what happened.

So, immigration officials use this chance to fully look into a company’s immigration compliance processes, methods, and paperwork, as well as to make sure that the company’s migrant workers are legal.

How to check your sponsor licence expiration date

The date you applied for your sponsor licence can be seen on the SMS. This date should be written down and shared with everyone who works with licence keys so that it doesn’t get missed.

The importance of renewing your sponsor licence

Sponsor licences automatically expire at the end of the 4-year validity period unless successfully renewed. 

An expired licence or refused licence renewal can result in serious consequences for businesses.

Without a valid licence, your organisation will no longer be permitted to sponsor foreign workers. You can neither hire more sponsored workers nor continue to employ your existing sponsored workers until you have a valid licence in place.

In effect, this means that while unlicensed, you will no longer be lawfully employing your sponsored workers, and as illegal workers, their visas risk being curtailed.

When do you make sponsor licence renewal application?

Around 120 days before the licence expires, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will write to sponsoring organisations to tell them that they need to renew. They will do this again every 30 days until the last month, and finally two weeks before the licence expires. But it is still the supporting organization’s job to make sure they send in their application to renew their licence on time.

UKVI says that applications to renew a licence can be sent in at least three months before the current licence expires. On the organization’s Sponsorship Management System (SMS), you can find out when the earliest you can send in your renewed application is.

Sponsor licences are good for 4 years, unless they are given up or cancelled. Most of the time, though, you can apply to renew your pass not long before it expires. Your support licence will be good for another 4 years if your application to renew it is accepted.

On the “Licence summary” screen of your sponsorship management system (SMS) account, you can see when your licence expires and when it can be renewed for the first time. By law, a sponsor can apply to renew their licence three months before it finally runs out.

You don’t have to have been given the licence renewal by the due date; the Home Office only needs to see that you sent them your application through SMS.

How long does the sponsor licence renewal process take?

After sending in an application to update your sponsor licence along with any other paperwork that UKVI asks for, it may take a few weeks before you get an SMS telling you that your application has been approved. Sponsors should know that the Home Office will do a very thorough check of the group and its sponsorship compliance in order to decide on the renewal application.

The time range can also get longer if UKVI decides to do a compliance visit before the renewal.

To keep the processing time as short as possible, make sure that all of your HR and personnel systems, records, and processes are up to date and that the renewal application and all supporting papers are complete and correct.

If there are no problems with your application to update your sponsor licence, you should hear back in 8 weeks.

However, and this is very important, if you apply for a sponsor licence renewal before the expiration date of your current licence, your licence will be briefly extended while your application is being reviewed.

In your SMS account, go to the “Applications and renewals tracking” page and follow the progress of your application to renew your sponsor licence.

How many times can you renew your licence?

There are no limits on how many times your group can update its sponsor licence. As long as a company stays eligible and meets the requirements to sponsor foreign workers, it can keep renewing its licence and permission to hire them.

How much is the sponsor licence renewal fee?

The fee to renew your sponsor licence will depend on whether your organisation is classified as a small or charitable sponsor or a medium or large sponsor.

Under Home Office guidance, an organisation is classified as a small company if the following apply:

• Annual turnover of no more than £10.2 million
• A balance sheet total of no more than £5.1 million
• No more than 50 employees on average

How to prepare for your sponsor licence renewal

Since the licence can’t be kept from expiring after its due date, we suggest that sponsors start getting ready for the renewal process as early as possible. This will give you time to find and fix any problems before you have to submit the renewal form. This will also make sure that the licence continues to cover the same things and is legal.

We recommend that you look at the extension six months before the date it expires, based on our experience. This will give you time to do a full audit and find areas of risk and possible noncompliance that need to be fixed before you send in your application and let the Home Office look closely at your business.

By being ready and sending in your application as soon as the window opens, you can also make sure that there are no problems or delays, and there may even be time to fix them before the licence ends.

The Home Office uses the renewing application to make sure that sponsors continue to follow the rules for as long as their licence is valid.

When filling out the application to renew, don’t guess about what is needed or whether you are eligible.

Think of the refresh as a brand-new application. The Home Office changes the official sponsorship guidelines all the time, so make sure that the licence requirements and rules you are working with are the most up-to-date ones.

You should also check the information you’re sending in twice to make sure it’s correct and true to your company. For example, are you still a small employer?

Sponsor licence renewal process

Sponsors must use their SMS account to fill out an application and pay the required fee online in order to renew their licence.

You can renew your licence as a Level 1 authorised user by filling out an online application using your SMS account, making a statement, and paying the right fee.

When you want to renew a sponsor licence, you have to show that your company is still meeting the requirements of the route in question and doing what it’s supposed to do as a sponsor. However, when the Level 1 user first requests to renew, they will normally only need to choose the right fee, sign a statement saying that the information they gave is correct, and then make the payment.

Once UKVI gets the application for a sponsor licence renewal, they may ask the sponsoring company for more information and/or paperwork. Before making a choice, UKVI may also choose to do a pre-renewal compliance visit.

The key sponsor licence renewal steps are as follows:

Step 1: Level 1 user logs on to SMS 

To make the renewal application, a nominated Level 1 User will need to log onto the SMS. On the Licence summary, applications and services screen, go to Licence renewal.

Step 2: Select the size of organisation 

You then need to select the appropriate renewal fee i.e. small or charitable sponsors or medium or large sponsors.

Step 3: Complete the sponsor declaration 

On the Licence renewal declaration screen, input the date, your name, and your position in the organisation, and tick the declaration box.

Step 4: Pay the correct renewal fee

On the Licence renewal payment screen, complete the payment process

You have to pay the appropriate application fee. The rate differs by the size of the organisation, and you should check your classification at the date of the renewal application, as this may have changed in the four years since making the previous licence application.

Step 5: Submit the renewal 

Complete the submission sheet, which you should also print off for your organisation’s records.

Sponsor licence renewal supporting documents

The caseworker from the Home Office may sometimes ask the sponsor for more business-related paperwork about the group. This could be any of the documents mentioned in Appendix A of the sponsor guidance, as well as any other documents that have to do with the organisation.

As part of the organization’s ongoing sponsor compliance processes, these documents should be easy to find.

Sponsors who are licenced to operate in certain areas and on certain routes must provide new copies of certain papers when their licences are renewed. For instance, people who want to sponsor workers on the International Sportsperson route must show proof of support from a sports governing group.

An international organisation, diplomatic or consular mission, or person sponsoring temporary workers under the International Agreement route will also need a letter signed by the head of the mission, consulate, or organization’s office in the UK to say that they agree with the licence renewal application and want to keep sponsoring workers under this route. This letter also needs to say that they agree to the sponsorship requirements so that the Home Office can enter their property “and” agree to the limited waiver of diplomatic immunity and privileges so that the Home Office can do any compliance activity that is outlined in the published guidance.

You have 5 business days to send any extra papers to UKVI. If you don’t, your licence could be downgraded, suspended, or revoked, and your sponsor licence renewal could be turned down.

What is the streamlined sponsor licence renewal application process?

Some companies may be able to use the “streamlined” sponsor licence renewal process, which makes the process go more quickly.

If this method has been used before and the group has been successful with at least two sponsor licence renewal requests, the Home Office caseworker can do fewer checks before deciding to grant the renewal request.

There will be no need to do the following checks:

• A look at the company and its finances
• Looking over your certificate of funding
• Taking a look at the licence system
• Looking at the records of visits to the sponsor management system and any open change requests
• Going over risk profiles, making sure they are correct, and checking their credentials, registration, and any other trade checks
• Having a compliance visit from a Home Office official, if needed

What happens after the renewal has been submitted?

The Home Office will start checking that the organisation still meets the licence requirements as soon as they receive the renewal application. This means that they will make sure that the organisation can still legally operate in the UK, be a licenced sponsor, and do its job to the required standards. UKVI will compare the information you give them with information they have from the Home Office and other places, like Companies House.

As part of the renewal application process, all sponsorship certificates given by the company under the licence will also be looked at, along with the organization’s need for a sponsor licence.

What is a Home Office renewal inspection?

Before making a decision on a repeat application, the Home Office can go to a sponsor’s home and look around.

Because of this, UKVI may decide to visit your business when you ask to renew your sponsor licence. If you haven’t had a compliance check in the last 4 years, this is probably what will happen.

If the Home Office has asked to visit your business as part of the process of deciding whether to renew your sponsor licence, it is very important that your company continues to do what it says it should do in the online sponsor guidance. This includes any changes that may have been made to the guidelines since you were given your licence. Sponsors should always make sure they know the latest rules.

When UKVI is thinking about a repeat application, they will often do a compliance visit. A visit can be planned ahead of time or at the last minute. So, before applying to renew a sponsor licence, organisations should make sure they have done all of their reporting and keeping records responsibilities and can show proof of this if asked.

It is especially important for organisations that have not been inspected on-site before, especially when they first applied for a licence, to be ready for an inspection when they come to update their licence.

The goal of a compliance check is to find out if the organization’s sponsorship systems and procedures are sufficient and meet the needs and duties of a licenced sponsor. The person in charge of immigration will be looking for:

Check your HR and employee policies, processes, and paperwork.
Check to see if you are taking the right steps for compliance, like Right to Work checks.
Make sure you are doing what you need to do to report.

Officials from the Home Office can ask to see HR and personnel files and systems during the review.

Additionally, they can talk to your sponsored workers to compare information on their COS, such as pay, working hours, location, and responsibilities.

During the check, if the Home Office finds any problems or violations with compliance, they may decide not to renew the licence.

What if your licence renewal is approved?

If your licence gets approved, the company will be able to hire new and current foreign workers as long as you keep up with the ongoing compliance requirements.

What if your licence renewal is refused?

It can be stressful if you apply to renew your sponsor visa and the Home Office says no.

Getting professional help will help you figure out what your choices are and what the best thing to do is.

The next steps you might take are:

Ask for reconsideration. You should only use this option if you can show a good reason for reviewing. You might think that the case office made a mistake that led to the refusal, like not looking at a certain paper when making the decision.
Putting together a new game If you can’t ask for a review and there are reasons or mistakes that can be fixed in a new application, this is the best choice.

There is no right to appeal the refusal of an application to renew a sponsor licence. This means that if your application to renew your sponsor licence is turned down, you will no longer be able to sponsor foreign workers when your current licence expires. From that date on, you will not be able to act as a licenced sponsor. You will not be able to give out any more sponsorship badges, and information about your company will be taken off of the online list of licenced sponsors. Also, if you have sponsored workers working for you now, they will have less time off. This basically means that their visas will be cut short by 60 days. After that, they will have to find a new way to come to the UK, leave the country, or face removal procedures.

But it is very important to get professional legal help from a visa specialist. There is a way to ask for the decision to be looked at again if the manager made a mistake when turning down your application to renew your sponsor licence or if the evidence you sent to support your application wasn’t taken into account. This is called an “error correction request.” The request has to be sent within 14 days of the letter, with the option to refuse. It is important to note that this process will not allow a full review of a decision to reject a licence application. This means that UKVI will not consider any new evidence that wasn’t available at the time of the application. Still, you will be asked to send a new online sponsor licence application if UKVI agrees that a supervisor made a mistake or that information you sent with your application was not looked at.

You may also be able to get a judge to review the decision that denied your sponsor’s licence application if that decision was illegal, unfair, or made in a way that wasn’t following the rules. If not, you will need to apply for a new support licence, but you might have to wait a while before you can do so.

Your sponsor licence renewal application will not be accepted if it is rejected, for example, because you did not choose or pay the right fee. You will not be able to make another application to renew your licence after the original end date of your licence. That means you will need to get a new pass and pay the fee that goes along with it.

Common grounds for refused sponsor licence renewals

An application to renew a sponsor licence will be looked at in two steps: validation and review. UKVI will check to see if the licence is still good and that the right application fee has been paid to make sure the renewal application is valid. This means that your application will be turned down if your licence isn’t valid and/or you don’t pay the right fee. This is because an application to renew a licence isn’t acceptable until the right fee is paid.

Your licence may not have valid status if it is has been revoked, surrendered or made inactive because of a merger or takeover, it may not be good anymore. Also, if you don’t send any of the proof that UKVI asked for within the time limit, your application will be turned down again. In this case, though, your entry fee will be returned to you. If your application to extend your sponsor licence is turned down and the renewal date has passed, UKVI will tell you that you must apply for a new licence within 20 working days if you are currently hiring people in the UK. After that, you will not be able to apply for another renewal.

The fee for renewing a sponsor licence must be in line with the latest Home Office advice on immigration and nationality fees. This is because the sponsor’s route(s), size, and charitable status must all be taken into account. You can pay the “small” licence fee if your company is a charity, falls under the small business rules, or you are just applying for a Temporary Worker licence again. People who are sponsors but can’t get the small licence fee will have to pay the big sponsor fee. If you didn’t pay enough, your application will be turned down. If you paid too much, you will get your money back, and your repeat application will still be looked at.

There are a few different reasons why your application for a sponsor licence renewal could be turned down during the second “review” stage. These include:

• your key personnel are deemed to pose a risk to immigration control
• any key personnel who are subject to immigration control no longer have valid permission to be in the UK
• your sponsor licence structure cannot be verified
• there is outstanding compliance activity on your account, such as a sponsor action plan if your existing licence has been downgraded
• if your organisation does not hold the appropriate accreditation or registration required to be a licensed sponsor operating in the UK.

You might not be able to renew your sponsor licence if, during a pre-renewal compliance visit, it is found that your company did not meet its sponsorship duties and responsibilities. So, your application to renew your sponsor licence will only be accepted with the same rating if you pass all the review checks, haven’t broken any of the terms of your licence, and UKVI doesn’t suggest any compliance actions.

How to avoid a refused sponsor licence renewal

Because renewing a licence isn’t always easy, sponsors should make sure they avoid common reasons why extensions are turned down.

Some of these are:

• Neglecting to keep the necessary records on hired workers
• Not paying the right fee to repeat the application
• Not letting UKVI know about big changes to the company’s organisation and staff
• Failure to give UKVI the information or documents they asked for on time Failure to answer UKVI’s questions quickly Failure to pass the sincerity test Failure to follow UKVI security rules
• Not passing a UKVI compliance check and site visit
• Not meeting reporting requirements

Given how important it is to keep being able to hire skilled non-UK residents, it will take time and work to get your application right as you near your renewal. Please get in touch with us if you need help or advice with renewing your support licence.

What if you fail to renew your sponsor licence?

If you have sponsored migrants working for you now and want them to keep working for your company, you need to renew your sponsor licence before it runs out, even if you don’t plan to sponsor any new migrants. If you don’t apply to renew your sponsor licence before it expires, you will lose the right to support migrant workers. From the date it expires, you will no longer be able to work as a licenced provider.

People who don’t respond to an invitation to renew their sponsor licence will be recorded as still sponsoring workers after the expiration date of their expired licence. The MI team will then send a management information (MI) report to the casework team to ask them to take away your permission. This also means that supported workers will have less time off than they had before. You won’t be able to give out any more sponsorship badges, and the information about your company will be taken off of the online register.

What if your sponsor licence has already expired?

If you don’t have a valid sponsor licence, your company will be taken off the Register of Licenced Sponsors, you won’t be able to give new sponsored workers a Certificate of Sponsorship, and the leave of your current sponsored workers may be cut short.

If you forgot to renew a sponsor licence but still need to be able to hire foreign workers, you will need to move quickly to figure out what to do next.

There are times when you may only need to apply for a renewal and times when you will need to apply for a new pass. Getting help with this case will help you figure out your options and the best way to help your group spend less money and have less trouble.

Need assistance? – We can help

My name is Atty. Lindoven Magsino, BSc, MBA, GDL, LLM, DBA (candidate). I am a Solicitor at MBM Solicitors, 83A First Floor, South Road, Southall, UB1 1SQ, England, United Kingdom. Telephone: 02035002141. Fax 02085710811. Mobile: 07446 888 377. Email: don@mbmsolicitors.com or attydonmagsino@gmail.com.