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Sponsor License

TIER 2 SPONSOR LICENSES

The Tier 2 Sponsor License is for companies which may need to source specialist skilled workers from overseas. This also includes citizens from EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland who have arrived in the UK subsequent to 31 December 2020. This process is most generally referred to as “sponsorship”.

In order to successfully obtain a sponsor license that you will
need to meet certain suitability and eligibility requirements such as the following:

1) Eligibility Requirements

  • You must not have any unspent criminal convictions for immigration offences or other crimes, such as fraud and money laundering.
  • Must not have had a sponsor licence revoked in the last 12 months.
  • You must have appropriate systems in place to monitor sponsored employees and certain people to manage sponsorship in your business.

2) Suitability Requirements

  • As the sponsor, you will generally be the employer and therefore responsible for payment of the sponsored worker, however, there are certain circumstances where there is no direct employer-employee relationship.
  • You must be able to offer genuine employment that meets the skill level of 3 or above on the Regulated Qualifications Framework for England and Northern Ireland or the equivalent for Wales or Scotland.
  • You must have human resource and recruitment systems in place to meet your sponsor duties.
  • You must choose the most relevant occupation code for the job in question from the below link.
    • https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-skilled-occupations 

Category Specific Requirements.

You are able to register for a sponsorship license for the following routes:

A Skilled worker

  • The employee must be paid at least the minimum salary for the type of work they’ll be doing of at least;
    • £25,600 per year,
    • £10.10 per hour or,
    • The “going rate” for the type of work completed.

A health or care worker

  • The employee must be paid at least the minimum salary for the type of work they’ll be doing of at least;
    • £20,480 per year or,
    • the “going rate” for the type of work completed if the “going rate” for the specific job is higher than the figure above.
    • You may need to meet different salary requirements based on the occupation code which the type of work completed is under.

An intra-company worker

  • There are 2 intra company routes;
    1. Intra-Company Transfer: this is for established employees who are being transferred by their overseas employer to do a skilled job for a linked employer in the UK.
    2. Intra-Company Graduate Trainee: this is for employees taking part in a structured graduate training program who are being transferred by their overseas employer to a linked employer in the UK. 
  • The salary requirements for intra-company workers are the same as the requirements for skilled workers.

A government Authorised Exchange worker

  • The employer must be endorsed by a government department; and
  • And will be administered by an overarching sponsor and not an individual employer.
  • Individual employers cannot sponsor workers on this route unless they are;
    • A Higher Education Institution (HEI)
    • UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
    • A government department or one of its executive agencies
    • An organisation endorsed by UKRI, in their Science, Research and Academia program, and are recruiting a;
      1. Sponsored researcher,
      2. Visiting academic who will give lectures, act as an examiner or work on a supernumerary research collaboration.

A seasonal worker

  • To apply for a seasonal worker sponsor licence you must be an overarching body which is;
    • Endorsed by the department for environment, food and rural affairs (DEFRA),
    • Licensed by Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.

A Sportsperson or Sporting worker

  • Your organization must be a UK-based sporting body, sports club, events organizer or other organizer operating, or intending to operate, in the sporting sector.
  • You must be endorsed by the relevant Home Office-approved sports governing body.
  • You cannot sponsor workers on this route if you are;
    • An overseas-based sports club or organization,
    • Or an agent.

An International Agreement worker

  • You must be able to and intend to sponsor;
    • Private servants in diplomatic households or in households of officials working for recognized international organisations,
    • Employees of an overseas government or international organization,
    • Contractual service suppliers or independent professionals in a sector specified in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) or,
    • Another international agreement under which the UK has similar commitments.

A Creative worker

  • To be eligible for a licence to sponsor creative workers you must be operating, or intending to operate in the creative sector. Please find some examples below:
    • A national arts body
    • An events organizer
    • A producer
    • A venue
    • An agent
    • A promoter or promotion company
    • A production company
    • A media organisation
  • You will be able to employ;
    • Dancers, ballet or other
    • Film and TV performers
    • Theatre and opera performers
    • Film and TV workers
    • Models.

A Charity worker

  • To be granted a Charity worker sponsor licence you must be;
    • A registered, an excepted or an exempt UK charity in line with the relevant charity legislation in force in your part of the UK, or
    • An ecclesiastical corporation, either sole or body corporate, which has been established for charitable purposes.

A Minister of Religion or Religious worker

  • To be eligible for a Minister of Religion or Religious worker licence, you must be a bona fide religious organization which:
    • Has charitable status,
    • Is the structure for a faith-based community with a common system of belief and spiritual goals, codes of behavior and religious practice, which exists to support and/or propagate common beliefs and practices and where beliefs:
        • Include any religious belief or similar philosophical belief in something transcendental, metaphysical or ultimate
        • Exclude any philosophical or political belief concerned with man, unless that belief is similar to religious belief.
        • Does not exclude anyone from your community on the basis of gender, nationality or ethnicity
        • Received financial and material support for your core religious ministry from your congregation or community, on a voluntary basis, without promise or coercion.
        • Does not breach, or encourage others to breach, any UK legislation
        • Does not work against public interest, or have a detrimental effect on personal or family life as commonly understood in the UK.

Your responsibilities

  1. Monitoring Employees
    • You must have HR systems in place which let you monitor;
      • Employees immigration status
      • Keep copies of relevant documents for each employee, such as passport and right to work information
      • Track and record employees attendance
      • Update employee contact details
      • Report to UKVI if any issues arise, such as if your employee stops coming to work.
  2. Reporting duties
    • If there are any significant changes regarding a sponsored worker that this is promptly reported on your sponsorship management system.
      • Changes you must report within 10 days:
        • If a sponsored worker does not start their intended role for sponsorship, you must include in your report any reasons given for their non-attendance.
        • If the sponsored worker is absent for more than 10 consecutive days, you must report this 10 days from the 10th day.
        • If the sponsored workers contract ends earlier than intended.
        • If you stop sponsoring a worker for any reason.
        • If there are any significant changes in the sponsored workers employment, such as a promotion or change in job title.
        • If a sponsored worker’s employment is affected by TUPE or similar protection.
        • If a worker’s sponsor changes but they will remain working for the same employer and in the same employment
        • If the size or charitable status of your business changes.
  3. Changes you must report within 20 days:
        • Change of you companies name or the name of any of your branches.
        • Sell all or part of your business.
        • Are involved in a merger or are taken over.
        • Stop trading or go into an insolvency procedure.
        • Substantially change the nature of your business
        • Convicted of a relevant offence.

Fees

You are able to register for a sponsorship license for the following routes:

Small or charitable organisation

For a worker licence, the fee is£536
For a temporary worker, the fee is also£536
For a worker and temporary worker licence, the fee is also
£536
There is no fee to add a worker to an existing temporary worker licence.
There is no fee to add a temporary worker to a worker licence.

Medium or large sponsors

For a worker licence, the fee is£1,476
For a temporary worker licence the fee is£536
For a worker and temporary worker licence the fee is£1,476
To add a worker to an existing temporary worker licence, the fee is£940
There is no fee to add a temporary worker to a worker licence.

Small or charitable sponsor

  • You are a small sponsor if;
    • Your annual turnover if £10.2 million or less,
    • Your total assets are worth £5.1 million or less,
    • You have 50 employees or fewer.
  • You are a charitable sponsor if;
    • You are a registered charity in England or Wales,
    • You are a registered charity in Scotland,
    • You are a registered charity in Northern Ireland,
    • You are an excepted charity,
    • An exempt charity,
    • An ecclesiastical corporation established for charitable purposes.

Validity Period

Your licence will be valid for 4 years. However, you may lose your licence if you do not meet your responsibilities as a sponsor.

The Home Office have the power to undertake in person compliance during the period you hold a license in order to determine whether you are adhering to your responsibilities as a sponsor.

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020 3815 8441

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