Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence Revocation 

In some circumstances, the Home Office will initiate the Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence Revocation  in writing by setting out alleged breaches of Tier 2 Sponsor duties. This can occur if the Home Office suspects that the licence holder has breached the initial qualifying criteria or ongoing compliance duties as a sponsor. If this is the case, all Tiers that the sponsor is licenced under will be revoked. There is no right to appeal and the Home Office will curtail every migrant worker’s permission to reside and work in the UK.

Instances in which a Sponsorship Licence may be suspended

1) Non-compliance with the Resident Labour Market test (RMLT)

In some instances, although an employer may have conducted a RLMT, they may not have retained the relevant documentation on file. Appendix D of the Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence guidance specifies the type of evidence that needs to be retained and failure to do so will result in an employer being in breach of their duties as a Tier 2 sponsor. The type of evidence the sponsor must retain under Tier 2 Appendix D include:

• a copy of all the personal details of the short-listed applications, including CVs
• all applications short-listed for a final interview including a copy of the job advertisement stating all the details and requirements of the role
• notes of the rejected migrant workers including the reasons for their rejection

2) Lack of a genuine vacancy

In some instances, the alleged breach may centre on the lack of an existing genuine vacancy. This is usually when the Home Office suspects that the Tier 2 migrant is working in a job different to that stated in the COS. Sponsorship Licence holders will need to ensure that their migrant employees are performing the job role in question as stated in the Tier 2 COS, and must be able to provide documentary evidence to confirm the same.

3) Failure to retain specified information in the format required by the UKVI

Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence holders are obliged to keep certain documents on file as outlined in appendix D. These documents demonstrate understanding, adherence and implementation of their obligations as a Tier 2 sponsor. Failure to do so will result in a breach of the sponsor’s duties to adequately monitor and record Tier 2 migrant activity.

Actions to take

If you have received formal notification of a risk of revocation from the Home Office, it is important to respond to the letter within the given time frame, if there is such, challenging the justifications for the revocation of the sponsorship licence. The UKVI may also avoid an enforcement action if it is evidenced that steps have been taken to prevent a re-occurrence of the breach.

How can NA Law Solicitors help?

You are strongly advised to seek legal advice when confronted with a potential revocation of your Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence, as this is a complex area of law where many different factors determine whether or not it is still possible to avoid the enforcement of the Sponsorship Licence revocation. NA Law Solicitors specialise in this area of law and our immigration lawyers will work with you to build a response to the Home Office. Support and assistance will be provided when it comes to engaging with the Home Office, understanding the grounds for the revocation and what remedial steps need to be taken to ensure compliance in the future. Please feel free to get in touch for a free initial 15-minute consultation, please get in touch.