A care provider has successfully challenged the Home Office’s decision to revoke its sponsor licence after the High Court found the decision maker failed to
The High Court in R (TJ Trading Express Limited) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 1274 (Admin) held that before revoking
Sponsorship compliance is high on the Home Office’s agenda. Suspensions and revocations are on the rise and the Government has made cracking down on ‘shameless
International students are worth billions to the UK economy in higher education fees and indirect expenditure, benefitting local communities financially as well as enriching them
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal where it was argued that there had been procedural unfairness in a refusal of further leave to
The government published a number of significant changes to their guidance for work sponsors on 31 December 2024 and 1 January 2025. The affected guidance includes:
The Charity Worker route is for voluntary workers aged 18 or over who wish to come to the UK to do work for a recognised
As the crackdown on sponsor licence compliance continues, in R (Tendercare Management Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 2154 (Admin) the
The High Court has again confirmed that mandatory sponsor licence revocation is, indeed, mandatory. One Trees Estates Ltd, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary
With EU free movement fading into memory, the main visa route available for non British and Irish nationals wanting to work in the UK is
As the Home Office continues to step up enforcement action in the care sector, we have had another sponsor licence revocation decision involving a large
Earlier this month we considered a High Court judgment which upheld the Home Office’s decision to revoke a large care home operator’s sponsor licence due
The High Court ruling in Prestwick Care Ltd & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 3193 (Admin) has upheld the
When employers apply for and are granted a licence to sponsor workers, they make a pledge to accept all the duties of sponsorship, and the
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) is to inspect the relationship between the immigration system and the higher education sector. The call
The government has released details of its sponsorship “roadmap” for employers recruiting skilled workers from abroad. This follows on from the publication of its New
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has confirmed that with lockdown easing, it is resuming sponsor licence compliance visits. Initial visits will be focused on organisations
R (SRI Lalithambika Foods Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 761 (Admin) contains a practical tip to help rescue a
There is so much in the immigration white paper, publishedjust before Christmas, that sounds pretty good for employers. But if the sponsorship system is to cope
R (Liral Veget Training And Recruitment Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 2941 (Admin) was a challenge to the Home Office’s
In the case of Pathan & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA 2103 the Court of Appeal reminds us, once again,
Today’s Migration Advisory Committee recommendations are incredibly significant from a UK employer’s perspective. I can immediately see that a huge number of UK employers are likely
Last week the Court of Appeal dealt with the issue of fairness and discretion in the context of the Points Based System. Specifically, it decided
Thousands of staff at more than 60 universities around the country have gone on strike, starting today. Some members of the University College Union (UCU),
Spring is in the air (for those optimists among us). For Tier 2 sponsor licence holders, this can only mean one thing. It’s time to grab
In many cases, employers who wish to hire Tier 2 skilled workers must pass the Resident Labour Market Test. This means that Tier 2 sponsors
In the High Court last month, Mrs Justice Moulder found that the Home Office had gathered partly unreliable intelligence in the course of an investigation
The Secretary of State’s decision to revoke an IT consultancy’s Tier 2 sponsor licence was upheld before Christmas in R (Sri Prathinik Consulting Limited) v
Sivayogam is a religious charity, serving Hindu and Tamil communities in London. Finding priests in the UK and Europe had proven difficult so, in 2009,
The Supreme Court has held the Points Based System’s sponsor licensing scheme is lawful. As Nicola Carter observes, sponsors may be disappointed with the result
A care provider has successfully challenged the Home Office’s decision to revoke its sponsor licence after the High Court found the decision maker failed to properly consider explanations for apparent salary shortfalls and reached irrational conclusions about genuine vacancies. Notwithstanding the Home Office’s firm stance on compliance, the judgment in...
The High Court in R (TJ Trading Express Limited) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 1274 (Admin) held that before revoking the sponsor’s licence for non-compliance, the Home Office should have given the business an opportunity to make representations in response to its allegations. Background The...
Sponsorship compliance is high on the Home Office’s agenda. Suspensions and revocations are on the rise and the Government has made cracking down on ‘shameless employers’ central to their future immigration policy. The impending government white paper should also set out tougher sanctions for employers who fail to meet their...
International students are worth billions to the UK economy in higher education fees and indirect expenditure, benefitting local communities financially as well as enriching them in non-economic terms. Being able to attract overseas students is crucial to the economic viability of many education providers, but only those with a sponsor...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal where it was argued that there had been procedural unfairness in a refusal of further leave to remain because the appellant had not been expressly told that his employer’s sponsor licence had been revoked. The appeal actually stemmed from refusal of a...
The government published a number of significant changes to their guidance for work sponsors on 31 December 2024 and 1 January 2025. The affected guidance includes: Although several guidance documents have been updated, in many instances these updates relate to the same changes and are to reflect updates elsewhere in...
The Charity Worker route is for voluntary workers aged 18 or over who wish to come to the UK to do work for a recognised charitable organisation. Work must be unpaid and fieldwork which contributes directly to the achievement or advancement of the sponsor’s charitable purpose – for example, in...
As the crackdown on sponsor licence compliance continues, in R (Tendercare Management Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 2154 (Admin) the High Court has considered another case involving the revocation of a care home operator’s sponsor licence. In contrast to previous revocation cases we looked...
The High Court has again confirmed that mandatory sponsor licence revocation is, indeed, mandatory. One Trees Estates Ltd, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 1644 (Admin) brings consensus to the courts’ approach on the Home Office’s duty to undertake a wider...
With EU free movement fading into memory, the main visa route available for non British and Irish nationals wanting to work in the UK is now the Skilled Worker visa. The Skilled Worker visa is a sponsorship system: a foreign worker cannot simply apply for this visa unaided. Applicants need...
As the Home Office continues to step up enforcement action in the care sector, we have had another sponsor licence revocation decision involving a large care home operator successfully judicially reviewed in the High Court. In R (New Hope Care Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024]...
Earlier this month we considered a High Court judgment which upheld the Home Office’s decision to revoke a large care home operator’s sponsor licence due to several non-compliance issues. The High Court has now handed down its judgment in Supporting Care Ltd, R (On the Application Of v Secretary of...
The High Court ruling in Prestwick Care Ltd & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 3193 (Admin) has upheld the Home Office’s decision to revoke the sponsor licence of a large care home operator in the North East. The judgment is a harsh reminder that,...
When employers apply for and are granted a licence to sponsor workers, they make a pledge to accept all the duties of sponsorship, and the Home Office can take compliance action when they consider that a sponsor has failed to uphold their duties or otherwise poses a risk to immigration...
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) is to inspect the relationship between the immigration system and the higher education sector. The call for evidence, which is open until 15 November 2021, confirms that the ICIBI will adopt a “broad perspective”, assessing the extent to which the Home...
The government has released details of its sponsorship “roadmap” for employers recruiting skilled workers from abroad. This follows on from the publication of its New Plan for Immigration back in March 2021. The new roadmap sets out the Home Office’s proposals for long-overdue “radical changes” to the sponsorship system, which...
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has confirmed that with lockdown easing, it is resuming sponsor licence compliance visits. Initial visits will be focused on organisations that have a pending sponsor licence application. Confirming the resumption of visits in a recent message on the Sponsorship Management System, UKVI was keen to...
R (SRI Lalithambika Foods Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 761 (Admin) contains a practical tip to help rescue a sponsor licence from suspension or revocation. Charles Bourne QC, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, explains that receipt of a suspension letter presents a...
There is so much in the immigration white paper, publishedjust before Christmas, that sounds pretty good for employers. But if the sponsorship system is to cope when extended to cover skilled workers arriving from the EU, a huge amount of work will be needed to simplify it. The white paper...
R (Liral Veget Training And Recruitment Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 2941 (Admin) was a challenge to the Home Office’s decision to revoke a company’s licence to sponsor non-EU citizens for work visas. It failed. The case was about the Tier 2 (General) visas...
Today’s Migration Advisory Committee recommendations are incredibly significant from a UK employer’s perspective. I can immediately see that a huge number of UK employers are likely to be faced with potentially significant new administrative burdens if the recommendations are implemented. The vast majority of UK employers have little or nothing...
Last week the Court of Appeal dealt with the issue of fairness and discretion in the context of the Points Based System. Specifically, it decided that such values take a firm second place to predictability. The case is R (Dharmeshkumar Bhupendrabhai Patel & Anor) v Secretary of State for the...
Thousands of staff at more than 60 universities around the country have gone on strike, starting today. Some members of the University College Union (UCU), which has called the strike, will be non-EU nationals sponsored under the relevant university’s sponsor licence. Here, I consider the Home Office’s position on whether...
Spring is in the air (for those optimists among us). For Tier 2 sponsor licence holders, this can only mean one thing. It’s time to grab the organisation’s “leave expiries” list, a crystal ball and a calculator and work out how many unrestricted certificates of sponsorship (CoS) the organisation is...
In many cases, employers who wish to hire Tier 2 skilled workers must pass the Resident Labour Market Test. This means that Tier 2 sponsors must offer a position to a settled worker ahead of a migrant where both candidates have the necessary skills and experience. Discrimination, but the acceptable...
In the High Court last month, Mrs Justice Moulder found that the Home Office had gathered partly unreliable intelligence in the course of an investigation into a college, breaching its right to peaceful enjoyment of its Tier 4 sponsor licence under Article 1 Protocol 1 of the European Convention on...
The Secretary of State’s decision to revoke an IT consultancy’s Tier 2 sponsor licence was upheld before Christmas in R (Sri Prathinik Consulting Limited) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 3204 (Admin). A stream of case law was cited, most notably Lord Justice Tomlinson’s leading judgment...
Sivayogam is a religious charity, serving Hindu and Tamil communities in London. Finding priests in the UK and Europe had proven difficult so, in 2009, it applied for registration as a Tier 2 sponsor, allowing the organisation to bring in religious workers from abroad. Its experience in R (Sivayogam) v...
The Supreme Court has held the Points Based System’s sponsor licensing scheme is lawful. As Nicola Carter observes, sponsors may be disappointed with the result in R (New London College Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] UKSC 51 but it at least provides welcome clarity for...
