Sponsor Licence Revocation Defence for UK Employers

Has your sponsor licence been suspended or revoked by the Home Office? Losing your licence can halt recruitment overnight, put sponsored workers’ visas at risk, and threaten the future of your business.

At NA Law Solicitors, specialist business-immigration solicitors in Brentford, West London, act urgently for employers facing sponsor licence suspension or revocation to protect their workforce and minimise operational damage.

What Happens When a Sponsor Licence Is Revoked?

When the Home Office revokes a sponsor licence, the consequences are immediate and far-reaching:

• • Your organisation is removed from the Register of Licensed Sponsors and can no longer sponsor new or existing workers.

• • All existing Certificates of Sponsorship are cancelled and sponsored workers usually receive notice that their visa will be curtailed (often to 60 days) to find a new sponsor or leave the UK.

• • There is no standard right of appeal; the main remedy is often judicial review in the High Court, usually preceded by a detailed pre-action protocol letter.

This is why businesses need fast, expert advice the moment a suspension letter or revocation decision arrives.

Suspension, Downgrade and Revocation – Key Differences

The Home Office can take several types of compliance action against a sponsor:

Downgrade to B-rating

• • Used where breaches are viewed as less serious.
  • You are placed on an action plan (typically three months) and must implement specified improvements.
  • You may continue sponsoring existing workers but face restrictions on new sponsorship.

Suspension

• • Applied where the Home Office considers there may have been serious breaches.
  • You remain on the register but normally cannot assign new Certificates of Sponsorship while an investigation is ongoing.
  • You will receive a detailed letter and a short deadline (often 20 working days) to respond with representations and evidence.

Revocation

• • Reserved for serious or repeated non-compliance or where trust with the Home Office has broken down.
  • Your licence is removed, CoS cancelled and sponsored workers’ leave curtailed.

• • In many cases, the only way to challenge the decision is via judicial review, which requires careful specialist assessment.

NA Law advises at every stage – from early compliance concerns through to urgent suspension responses and post-revocation strategy.

Common Reasons for Sponsor Licence Revocation

The Home Office may revoke a licence on mandatory or discretionary grounds, including:

• • Serious failure to comply with sponsor duties (record-keeping, reporting, monitoring absences).
  • Assigning Certificates of Sponsorship for roles that are not genuine or do not meet the required skill or salary level.

• • Employing workers without valid right-to-work permission, or failure to comply with illegal-working legislation, especially where civil penalties have been issued.

• • Providing false or misleading information in the sponsor licence application or subsequent communications.
  • Not implementing an action plan following a downgrade from A-rating to B-rating.

Recent case law has also scrutinised how the Home Office applies “non-genuine vacancy” and whether sponsors were given a proper chance to respond before revocation.

Our Emergency Sponsor Licence Revocation Service

NA Law offers an emergency sponsor licence revocation and suspension service for UK employers, including SMEs, start-ups and organisations in high-risk sectors such as care, hospitality, construction and hospitality.

• • Urgent case assessment
    Reviewing the suspension or revocation letter, compliance visit report and your historic HR and immigration records, and advising on the strength of the Home Office allegations and likely options (lifting suspension, downgrade, revocation challenge, re-application strategy).

• • Responding to suspension letters
    Drafting detailed written representations within tight deadlines, helping you implement remedial measures (updated policies, training, audits) and collating evidence to show compliance improvements.

• • Challenging revocation decisions
    Preparing robust pre-action protocol letters for judicial review where there are arguable public law grounds (procedural unfairness, factual errors, failure to consider evidence, misapplication of guidance), liaising with counsel and representing you through the litigation process if judicial review is pursued.

• • Protecting your sponsored workers and business continuity
    Advising on the impact on sponsored staff, including visa curtailment and options for moving to a new sponsor or alternative immigration routes, and helping you plan workforce continuity, including potential future re-application after any cooling-off period

• • Ongoing compliance and prevention
    Conducting sponsor-licence compliance audits, right-to-work checks and HR systems reviews to reduce the risk of further enforcement action.

Link Between Civil Penalties and Sponsor Licence Action

Civil penalties for illegal working and sponsor licence compliance are closely connected.

• • Failure to carry out proper right-to-work checks can lead to civil penalty notices of up to £45,000–£60,000 per worker and may also trigger licence downgrade, suspension or revocation.

• • Non-payment of civil penalties can itself be a ground for revocation of your sponsor licence.

• • Sponsors in the care, hospitality and construction sectors are seeing increased enforcement visits and combined action (civil penalties plus licence sanctions).

NA Law regularly acts both in civil penalty objections/appeals and in connected sponsor licence enforcement cases, ensuring a coherent defence strategy across both fronts.

Why Choose NA Law Solicitors?

NA Law is a specialist immigration firm based in Brentford, West London, focusing on sponsor licences, compliance and civil-penalty defence for employers.

• • Sponsor-licence and civil-penalty focus – deep experience in Home Office compliance action, including illegal-working allegations and sponsor-licence risks.

• • Sector insight – regular work with care providers, hospitality businesses, clinics, tech companies and professional services firms facing licence issues.

• • End-to-end support – from compliance audits and training, through responding to suspension letters, to judicial review where appropriate.

• • Integrated business-immigration service – aligned advice on Skilled Worker routes, business immigration planning and sponsor-licence strategy.

If your sponsor licence has been suspended or revoked, time is critical.

Contact NA Law Solicitors for urgent advice on defending your licence, protecting your sponsored workforce and safeguarding your business:

• Telephone: 0203 524 5439
• Email: admin@nalawsolicitors.co.uk

NA Law can provide fast, specialist support to respond to Home Office action and advise on your strategic options.