Sponsor licence application update

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Home Office has exceptionally agreed for an interim period to accept electronic documents for the sponsor licence application.

Organisations can submit the application via the postal address:  Sponsor Caseworker Operations, Sponsor Applications Team, Home Office, PO Box 3468, Sheffield, S3 8WA or via email to [email protected]. Please note that the company can only choose one method of submission. The service standard for a sponsor licence application is 8 weeks.

Please note that if you send scan copies of the supporting documents by email, files can be in PDF (preferred), JPEG or PNG format, and file titles should be descriptive and no more than 25 characters long. Please also refer to page 5 of Appendix A in relation to the requirements of the electronic supporting documents:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936664/2020-11-18_Sponsor-guidance_Appendix-A_11-20_v1.0.pdf

Companies must send the submission sheet as well as all the supporting documents within five working days of the date they submit their online application. If any documents are missing or incorrect, the sponsor licence application will be invalid, and the Home Office will reject invalid applications and refund the application fees.

Organisations must send the following documents:

  1. The original submission sheet, signed and dated by the authorising officer (all pages must be sent).
  2. Any mandatory documents specific to your business type listed in Appendix A: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-documents-for-sponsor-applications-appendix-a
  3. For Tier 2 General and Tier 2 Minister of Religion applications, the following questions must be answered in full:
  • Why are you applying for a sponsor licence
  • What sector you operate in
  • What are your opening/operating hours
  • You must provide an up to date hierarchy chart detailing any owner, director and board members. If your business has 50 employees or fewer, you must list all employees and set out the names and titles of all staff.
  • The jobs you wish to fill and for which you intend to assign a certificate of sponsorship (CoS). Include the following information for each job: job title and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, duties, where the job sits on the hierarchy chart referred to above, minimum salary you would guarantee if the job were vacant today, skill, experience and qualifications required
  • You must indicate which jobs are currently vacant and for which you intend to assign a CoS. If you have already identified someone that you wish to employ via the sponsorship system, you should provide evidence of how you identified this person. If you identified this person as a result of a recruitment process, you should include copies of advertisements placed to recruit for the job, details of any applicants and why they were not suitable for the job. You should confirm whether the person is already working for you.
  • If you have not advertised the job and the migrant is not currently working for you, you should confirm how you identified that this person was the most suitable for the job.
  • If you have already identified a person, including if they are a migrant already working for you, and intend to assign a CoS to them, you should provide the following details of the person: full name, date of birth, nationality, current immigration status, current job title and duties and 3 monthly payslips (if applicable).

All documents submitted in support of the application must be original or certified copies.

Requirements of the certified copies

Please note that PDF printouts will be considered to be copies. PDF printouts must be certified in line with the guidelines below. The certifier must confirm that they have seen the original e-mail containing the PDF document.

  • A certified copy is one that includes a signed statement, either by the issuing authority, or by a practicing barrister, solicitor, notary or a chartered accountant for certification of financial documents only. The certifier must confirm that it is an accurate copy of the original document. Please note that for certified copies, each page of a document submitted must be certified, clearly detailing the certifier’s name, signature and the organisation he/she represents. If a certifier’s details cannot be verified, the document will be rejected.
  • Where a document has more than one page, the Home Office will accept the document if the pages are all attached together (and the top page is certified as described above). The certifier must also clearly state how many pages have been certified.
  • Where an organisation is legally obliged to submit audited accounts, one of the four mandatory documents provided must be the most recent set of audited accounts. The annual accounts must have the name of the accountant clearly shown and the accountant should be a member of an accredited accounting body (e.g. CIMA, CIPFA, ACCA, ACA).

In addition, organisations should provide the following information if applicable;

  1. All email addresses you provide for all your key personnel must be secure, personal to and only accessible by the named individual. Please provide confirmation of this with the supporting documents.
  2. Please provide details of your company website if available.
  3. If you have previously held a licence and it has expired, please provide the licence number if known with an explanation of the circumstances around the expiry.
  4. Migrants moving to you under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE), and the CoS details of the migrants that are transferring.
  5. If you are applying as a Head Office and/or UK branch(es), please only provide the address of the branch or branches where the migrant will be working.

For overseas linked entities please include: full company name, country the company is based in, ownership percentage. For example: Full company name, USA (100%).

For UK linked entities please include: name, full address (including postcode), ownership percentage.

For UK branch addresses please include: name, full address (including postcode), parties involved in the Lease (Land Registry details if owned), term (where applicable).

Contact Our Immigration Team

For expert advice regarding any aspect of the sponsor licence application, please contact our team on 0203 384 3075.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The content of this article is for general use and information only. Since each case should be prepared on its own merit and in light of the constant amendments to the Immigration Rules, it is important to note that the information provided must not be relied upon unless Migra & Co has either given written consent or has been officially engaged in relation to a specific immigration matter. As a result, Migra & Co will take no responsibility for any damage, cost or loss resulting from relying on the information contained in this article, blog and website.