This course was last updated in July 2025.
The Home Office has long outsourced immigration to employers. If an employer wants to recruit a worker who is not settled in the UK, they require authorisation from the Home Office. This authorisation is known as a ‘sponsor licence’. Employers must apply to the Home Office for a sponsor licence and the Home Office will decide to either approve or refuse the application.
Employers who hold a sponsor licence are known as ‘sponsors’. In return for this privilege to sponsor workers, sponsors make a pledge that they accept all the duties of sponsorship. The Home Office can decide to penalise the sponsor if it fails to comply with their sponsor duties. Sanctions can include downgrading, suspending or revoking the sponsor licence and reporting the sponsor to the police or other authorities.
This short course relates to employers who obtain a skilled worker sponsor licence in order to sponsor foreign nationals for work visas. The course will provide an overview of the sponsor licence application process and explain how to challenge a sponsor licence refusal. It will also look at the key sponsor duties and take you through the sponsor compliance process. It is designed for immigration advisers who are new to this area and would like to get a handle on the basics.
The course is only available to paying members of Free Movement. If you are not already a member, you can join here and access not just this course but all of our courses. Membership starts from £24 plus VAT per month, or £240 plus VAT for annual membership, and you can cancel at any time. We also offer corporate and group membership options.
You can check out the course contents below.