All Articles: sponsor licence
Student visa sponsorship system (finally) being reviewed
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 ...
5th November 2021A look at the skilled immigration sponsorship “roadmap”
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 Ho ...
2nd September 2021Briefing: how to apply for a student sponsor licence
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 crucia ...
21st June 2021Sponsor licence inspection visits back on
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 vi ...
12th April 2021How to apply for a Skilled Worker sponsor licence
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 app ...
7th April 2021High Court on how to save a sponsor licence
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, expla ...
5th April 2019Future immigration sponsorship system for UK employers – it really does need to be simple this time
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 b ...
9th January 2019“No room for artistic licence” in Tier 2 job descriptions
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 f ...
6th November 2018No second chance for work visa applicants if sponsoring company loses licence
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, of the rigidity and inflexibility of the Points Based System. It is also a good reminder of the purpose and pol ...
4th October 2018Comment: MAC’s recommendations would create administrative burdens for UK employers
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 administrat ...
18th September 2018No duty of fairness to student left in the lurch by college
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 P ...
27th February 2018University strikes: the implications for Tier 2 and 5 sponsorship
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&# ...
22nd February 2018How to calculate annual Tier 2 certificate of sponsorship needs
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 unrestric ...
15th February 2018High Court gives useful steer on the Resident Labour Market Test
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 an ...
2nd February 2018Sponsor guidance protects college from unlawful Home Office sanctions
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 Ar ...
31st January 2018No High Court help for company stripped of Tier 2 sponsor licence
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 ...
3rd January 2018Tier 2 sponsor licence revocation challenge fails in High Court
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 wo ...
31st October 2017Supreme Court upholds Points Based System sponsor licensing scheme
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] UK ...
23rd July 2013