How to get UK sponsorship licence?

If your company is trading or your educational establishment is operating in Great Britain, you should not limit your workers and students pool to the local market only. Potentially, qualified specialists and talented people from abroad might increase not only your profit but also your rating in a relevant field. To benefit from this, you need a sponsor licence in the UK.

A sponsorship licence application is a long and labour-consuming process that would involve a lot of paperwork, red tape and expenses, sometimes excessive. It is 100% doable, especially if you share this burden with a reputable and respectable legal firm.

Sponsored work and studies in the UK for foreigners: where to begin?

Foreigner in the UK is anyone who does not have a British passport. However, not all foreigners need a work visa to be able to work in the UK because they are already here on another visa that permits employment. But if you intend to employ an experienced software engineer or enrol a talented student who are not in the country yet, you must sponsor them and with it comes a huge responsibility.

It is not easy for a foreigner to get permission to work or study in the United Kingdom. The whole process requires a lot of time and focus because a tiny mistake or omission can cause unpleasant consequences. Expert UK lawyers and advisers will explain you the difference between applying for a sponsor licence to sponsor workers and a licence to sponsor student. They can also help you with the paperwork and minimise risk of refusal.

How to hire a foreign worker in the UK?

There are two main criteria to comply with in order to have someone work for you who is not a UK resident. A company must get a sponsorship licence and its future employee must meet the requirements of a Tier 2 visa (long-term work visa) or Tier 5 visa (temporary work visa). The latter has nothing to do with the company itself. However, if you sign an agreement with a trusted legal firm, its experts would help you both with the licence and your employee with a work visa to be able to work legally in the United Kingdom.

Here is what a business must do to become a sponsor and subsequently employ foreign workers under the above routes.

7 steps to sponsor licence

1. Prepare an application for a sponsor licence with at least 4 supporting documents; it can be letters from government departments, bank statements and/or a letter from a bank manager, confirmations of registration with tax authorities, audited/unaudited accounts, etc.
2. Pay required fees and charges, including Immigration Skills Charge.
3. Have everything in place for a visit by UK immigration authorities who might want to come and check for themselves that you would be a reliable sponsor. All documentation must be in order and the business must be complying with statutory and other requirements.
4. Make sure your company has never been in breach of immigration and criminal laws.
5. Appoint key personnel for sponsorship application and later for working in the sponsorship management system and dealing with all kinds of issues. You must have someone covering positions of Authorising Officer, Key Contact as well as Level 1 and Level 2 users. Qualified lawyers will help you identify and prepare staff for all these positions.
6. Check that your future employee’s qualification and skills are suitable for the kind of work they will be doing in the UK and the company will be paying them appropriate salary.
7. Try and find a required employee on the local market; if you fail to do so, you must prove that you could not find anyone for the job from the pool of resident workers. This is called a labour market test and must be conducted in majority of cases when you employ a foreign worker.

Once a sponsor licence is granted, your company gets an A rating which means you can assign certificates of sponsorship to foreign workers so that they can get a work visa and start working for you. If you stop your sponsoring activities, you will be downrated to a B rating and limited in what you can do.

A sponsoring company must also keep up to date its records on all sponsored employees and report any changes in their details to the Home Office as well as any noncompliance with the rules and regulations of their employment and stay in the UK.

How to come and study in the United Kingdom?

British educational institutions that conduct their activities in the UK according to all laws and standards can also obtain a sponsor licence in order to take onboard foreign students. Here is what it takes to become a sponsor.

4 steps to sponsorship licence

1. Prepare an application for a sponsor licence with all supporting evidence to confirm your legal status in the UK, availability of all permits, licences and registration certificates, etc.
2. Appoint responsible personnel working in the sponsorship system and provide their contact details. Bear in mind that these people must not be found in breach of criminal or immigration laws either before or while working for your company.
3. Indicate a number of students you plan to enrol in the first year of becoming a sponsor. If you need a sponsorship licence in the UK to enrol foreign students only in certain branches, you must remember to mention that during the application.
4. Pass checks by controlling bodies in relation to your educational activities.

When a UK sponsor licence is granted to an educational institution, it is included in a special register under a sponsor licence number. Only then can it issue Confirmations of Acceptance for Studies, as many as needed in a particular case.

Getting help from immigration lawyers

Obtaining a sponsorship licence in the United Kingdom is not an easy task and it requires knowledge of relevant laws and regulations. One small mistake in a document or noncompliance with a regulation may result in your licence application being refused. It can mean financial, reputational and time losses.

Our qualified immigration lawyers will assist your business or institution in becoming a licensed sponsor in the UK and provide further support to your future employees and students to enable them to come to the country as well as to you with fulfilling your sponsorship duties properly.