The Home Office recently announced that they will make changes to improve the Sponsorship Management System (SMS). These enhancements, which are due to come into effect on 1 July 2013, aimed to bring greater efficiency to sponsorship processes.<\/p>\n
The new features being introduced to SMS are summarised below:<\/p>\n
For all sponsors<\/strong> New message screen, presented to all Level 1 users immediately after logging in. This new feature will be used to provide you with important information, forthcoming key dates and events and answers to frequently asked questions, for instance common SMS user issues;<\/p>\n Introduction of an application and licence renewal tracking function. From 1 July, this will allow you to track the status and outcomes of applications submitted for licence renewal, Premium customer service and renewal (if applicable) and HTS status and renewal (Tier 4 only);<\/p>\n Revisions to the SMS menu structure and content. The changes include new menu options for the functions being added, removal of the ‘Outstanding payments’ item (as cheque payment will no longer be accepted for any sponsorship services from 1 July) and renaming of existing menu options for greater ease of navigation.<\/p>\n
\nKey dates related to sponsor licences to be displayed in the ‘Licence summary’ screen (changing from ‘Sponsor summary’) in SMS; specifically, the start, expiry and renewal dates for the following:
\n– Your sponsor licence;
\n– Tier 2\/5 Premium customer service (if applicable);
\n– Highly Trusted Sponsor (HTS) status (Tier 4 sponsors only);<\/p>\n