What are sponsor duties?

Sponsor duties are the obligations a UK employer takes on when it holds a sponsor licence. They include reporting changes about sponsored workers and about the business, keeping records, following immigration law and wider UK law, and not behaving in a way that harms the public good. Failing them can cost the employer its licence.

How sponsor duties work

A business that holds a sponsor licence takes on duties towards the Home Office. They start on the day the licence is granted and continue until the sponsor surrenders the licence, the Home Office makes it dormant or the licence is revoked. Duties for a particular worker start when the sponsor assigns a certificate of sponsorship to them.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)}

The guidance groups the duties into five areas: reporting, record-keeping, complying with immigration law and the sponsor guidance, complying with wider UK law, and not behaving in a way that is not conducive to the public good.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)} If the Home Office reasonably suspects a failure, it may reduce the certificate allocation, downgrade the licence, suspend it, revoke it or report the sponsor to the police or other authorities.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)}

Reporting duties

Reports are made through the sponsorship management system. Changes to a sponsored worker’s circumstances must usually be reported within 10 working days of the event. Changes to the organisation must usually be reported within 20 working days.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)}

These deadlines and examples come from the sponsor duties guidance.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)} GOV.UK also says a sponsor must tell the Home Office if sponsored workers are not complying with their visa conditions.^{[2]Home Office, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Your responsibilities}

Record-keeping and wider duties

A sponsor must keep certain documents for each worker it sponsors. The guidance points to Appendix D of the sponsor guidance for the list and for how long to keep them. The sponsor must hand over relevant documents when the Home Office asks, within the time set.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)} GOV.UK says the sponsor needs HR systems that let it monitor workers’ immigration status, keep copies of documents including evidence of right to work checks, track attendance and keep contact details up to date.^{[2]Home Office, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Your responsibilities}

Wider duties include:

• only assigning a certificate for a job that is eligible for sponsorship
• making sure the worker’s real job matches the occupation code and job description on the certificate
• complying with UK employment law, including the National Minimum Wage and the Working Time Regulations
• not letting an SMS user assign a certificate to themselves or to a close relative or partner

These are listed in the sponsor duties guidance.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)} The guidance also forbids recovering sponsorship fees or associated administrative costs from a worker where it expressly prohibits this. The certificate fee page on GOV.UK says a licence may be revoked if the sponsor asks the worker to pay.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)[3]Home Office, UK visa sponsorship for employers: Certificates of sponsorship}

Example

Kofi is a sponsored worker at a catering company. He is absent from work without permission for 11 working days in a row. The sponsor must report this, even if it wants him back. The report is due no later than 10 working days after the 10th day of absence. It should say when the absence began, whether Kofi has returned, what attempts were made to contact him and whether the sponsor will keep sponsoring him.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)}

What people get wrong

A sponsor does not have to end a worker’s sponsorship before a report is due. An unauthorised absence of more than 10 consecutive working days must be reported even if the sponsor intends to keep sponsoring the worker. Waiting to decide first can mean missing the deadline.

The deadlines for worker changes are short and run from the event itself. The guidance also notes that information a sponsor reports about a worker’s non-attendance may be used to cancel the worker’s permission or take enforcement action.^{[1]Home Office, Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance (accessible version)}

The bottom line

Sponsor duties are the price of holding a licence. The sponsor reports changes within fixed deadlines, keeps records, follows the immigration rules and wider UK law, and co-operates when the Home Office checks. Missing them can lead to a downgrade, suspension or revocation, so a sponsor needs systems that catch events as they happen.