{"id":3884,"date":"2021-02-25T21:40:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T21:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawlex.co.uk\/?p=3884"},"modified":"2025-03-06T15:26:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T15:26:18","slug":"246-pages-of-guidance-on-the-new-worker-sponsorship-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelawlex.com\/uk-ru\/blog\/246-pages-of-guidance-on-the-new-worker-sponsorship-system\/","title":{"rendered":"246 pages of guidance on the new worker sponsorship system"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The UK\u2019s new immigration system is hurtling towards us at a rate of knots. As of 1 January 2021, newly arrived EU citizens coming to work in the UK are likely to need to be sponsored for a visa by their employer.<\/h6>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you read the Home Office marketing blurb, you\u2019d think sponsorship couldn\u2019t be easier. The law firm Fragomen, which contributed to some of the Home Office\u2019s marketing material, even goes so far as to say it\u2019s not \u201crocket science\u201d. (As an aside, does anyone know how I can get the Home Office to advertise my firm to thousands of potential clients please!) I must have been living in a parallel universe: Colin\u2019s description of how complex the immigration system, including sponsorship, has become still very much holds true despite the new system.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The document from hell just got longer
Employers that hold a sponsor licence have long become used to having to read an ominous document referred to as the sponsor guidance. This document, the one I dream about on an almost nightly basis, contains detailed information on how to manage a sponsor licence, how to sponsor workers and, generally, how to be regarded by the Home Office as a compliant sponsor. Oh, and it\u2019s usually updated several times a year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Home Office has long promised to try and simplify the immigration system. Unfortunately the latest version of the sponsor guidance, which landed yesterday, hasn\u2019t been simplified at all.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

First off, the guidance now runs to 246 pages in total. Somehow, they\u2019ve managed to add another 37 pages to what was already a hideously long set of instructions.<\/h6>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Secondly, they\u2019ve divided what was at least a single, easily searchable document into five separate documents:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Part 1: Apply for a licence
Part 2: Sponsor a worker \u2013 general information
Part 3: Sponsor duties and compliance
Sponsor a Skilled Worker
Sponsor an Intra-Company Worker
Make a mistake, we revoke
Moving to the substance: the threat of sponsor licence revocation remains in place for sponsors who don\u2019t abide by the rules. We\u2019ve seen time and time again that the courts have backed the Home Office where it has revoked a licence for seemingly minor infringements of the guidance. This, in turn, means that any workers who are sponsored must cease work and the employer cannot sponsor more workers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Duties, duties and more duties
There are a significant number of sponsor duties to comply with. These range from ensuring the role amounts to a \u201cgenuine vacancy\u201d (a highly subjective exercise); to notifying the Home Office if the sponsored worker ceases employment (fair enough); to reporting promotions, changes in core duties, salary changes (imagine keeping on top of all that for hundreds of workers), etc. Sponsors also need to report \u201csignificant\u201d changes to their business, such as if they are involved in a merger or acquisition, have a name change or move to a new address.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There\u2019s also the requirement to comply with (the Home Office\u2019s interpretation of) wider UK law, such as complying with employment law, minimum wage legislation, planning laws, etc.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

New-look Certificates of Sponsorship
Gone are restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (restricted because of the annual cap on numbers) and unrestricted Certificate of Sponsorship (those not covered by the cap). Instead we have\u2026 \u201cdefined\u201d and \u201cundefined\u201d Certificates of Sponsorship.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A defined CoS is still restricted, not because of the annual cap \u2014 which is gone \u2014 but because you have to ask the Home Office for a defined CoS (which is for anyone outside the UK) and they can refuse the application if they do not agree that it meets the requirements.\u00a0Full article<\/a><\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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