During Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the Home Office (UK Visas and Immigration) has suspended the pre-sponsor license audit and compliance visits at the office of the applicants (UK employers). This means that for the past months, the Home Office has been making decisions on sponsor license applications based on information provided in the documents submitted by the applicants.
But now, with the easing of lockdown restrictions, the Home Office is resuming the pre-sponsor license audit compliance visits with some additional safeguards relating to COVID-19:
“The UK Government is planning to start to lift certain restrictions and we recognise that customers are keen to complete their applications. We are therefore resuming compliance auditing and will be contacting you shortly to arrange a suitable time and date so we can progress your application.
To ensure that we operate within a safe environment, ensuring the safety of our customers and that of our officers, we have made some changes to our process when conducting a compliance visit. This will involve complying with Public Health England (PHE) advice including the wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as appropriate and the observation of social distancing measures.
As we need to ensure that the environment where the audit will take place is COVID-secure, our officers will contact you ahead of the audit to discuss this further to ensure we are able to meet our obligations. Officers have been instructed to comply with any measures you have in place.”
Why Pre-License Audit and Compliance Visits?
UK employers who aim to employ and sponsor individuals under the Skilled Worker Route must get approval from the Home Office. To get this approval, they need to apply for a Sponsor License by meeting the requirements provided under 'guidance'.
If you have a sponsor licence, it means you can employ two groups of international workers who are eligible to do the role:
- those who are in the UK on student visas (not including short-term student visa) or any type of visa on which switching to Skilled Worker route is permitted, and
- those who are outside the UK, both EU and non-EU nationals
The Sponsor License Applications are assessed based on ‘eligibility and suitability criteria’ mentioned in the sponsor license application 'guidance'.
The Home Office uses risk assessments to guide their compliance activity and focus that activity on the areas of highest risk. If they know little about you, are concerned about the evidence you have provided, or if information or evidence otherwise comes to light that causes them concern, they will make further checks. These could include checks with other government departments and/or an on-site visit. If they have significant doubts about your ability to fulfil your sponsorship duties after a visit, they are likely to refuse the application.
What happens during Pre-License Visit?
The compliance officer from the Home Office inspects the staff files, particularly of the migrant workers already in employment, and interviews the employer-authorising officer. They also check if the company’s Human Resource and Recruitment system is in place. This helps them assess if the applicant-employer is in a position to meet their ‘sponsor duties’ if the sponsor license is granted.
The fundamental areas of the Sponsor Duties are:
- Reporting duties;
- Record-Keeping duties;
- Complying with Immigration and wider UK laws; and
- Not engaging in behaviour or actions that are not conducive to public good
The objectives of these duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Preventing abuse of immigration laws and sponsorship arrangements
2. Tracing any early patterns of employer behaviour that may cause concern
3. Addressing possible weaknesses in the employer’s process, which can cause those patterns
4. Monitoring compliance with the Immigration Rules, all parts of the Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor guidance, and wider UK law (such as employment law)
5. And ensuring sponsors do not behave in a way that is detrimental to the wider public good
What are the challenges employers must face?
During Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, it was quite easy for the Sponsor License Applicants to demonstrate that they have a robust Human Resource and Recruitment System in place. Written representations and online documents were simply forwarded to the Home Office’s email address as part of compliance.
But now, the rules have changed and demonstrating that you can meet ‘sponsor duties’ will be more challenging during the compliance visit and oral interview.
Compliance officers are skilled investigators, making a Home Office visit far more complex than a simple examination. These visits are often a cross-examination of the applicant, and it can be compared to a court hearing where employers must act as an advocate and answer queries just like a Barrister/Solicitor-Advocate would answer a Judge—evidence and law-based.
The Sponsor License Applicant is expected to have full knowledge of the ‘Sponsor Duties’ and produce evidence to corroborate that they are in a position to meet these ‘sponsor duties’. They must also have a Human Resource and Recruitment system in place to meet these duties.
Solutions
The Sponsor License System is overly complex. There are a lot of technicalities involved in this process, and it can be challenging for a person from a non-legal background to grasp the concept of license application. Failure to comply with any of these requirements may result in license denial, inhibiting an employer’s business growth.
We have helped many employers in the UK to get Sponsor Licenses because we ensure that before the pre-license compliance visit of the Home Office, the employer-authorising officer is well versed with the knowledge of ‘Sponsor Duties’.
Our team provides special training for employers, which includes mock interviews and a compliance audit of their staff files to advise them how to demonstrate that they have a strong and systematic Human Resource and Recruitment system during the pre-license compliance visit of the Home Office. This allows employers to get a Sponsor License without any obstacles and delays.
If you want to know more, book a meeting here.
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