Apply for a Tier 2 Licence to Sponsor Foreign Workers
Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence has been replaced with Skilled Workers Sponsorship Licence
If you wish to find out how the previous Sponsorship Licence worked to sponsor the migrant workers, you can read about it below.
A UK-based employer could not employ / sponsor a Tier 2 migrant unless they had a Tier 2 sponsor licence.
This is a licence that has to be applied for to the Home Office, and the criteria for this are notoriously strictly observed.
The application consists of two parts: an online application form and a physical submission of hardcopy documents. The required documents are documents that show that the employer is a bona fide and respectable organisation that operates within the law and pays appropriate taxes.
In some cases – and particularly with smaller companies and newer companies – the Home Office might carry out an audit inspection to come and look at the employer’s premises, and particularly at their HR systems, to ascertain whether they are sufficiently robust to manage Tier 2 employees and other employees under immigration control. Again, these inspections can be very strict.
If the Home Office is ultimately satisfied the licence will be granted, for a period of four years, and the employer will be granted an “A-rating” for their sponsor licence (ie the best rating).
But if the Home Office subsequently for any reason becomes dissatisfied with the employer’s performance their sponsor licence can be downgraded to a “B rating”. In this situation the employer has to try and regain their A-rating, via an “action plan”. If they do not or cannot do this they can lose their sponsor licence altogether. If this happens then the Tier 2 employers will lose their immigration status so this is of course a serious matter.
Tier 2 sponsor licences come in different categories: Tier 2 General, Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer, Tier 2 Sportsperson and Tier 2 Minister of Religion. The employer has to apply for the category(ies) that are relevant to them.
Requirements for a Tier 2 Sponsor License
The online application is relatively straightforward but the submission of hardcopy documents tends to be more difficult.
Documents submitted must be either “originals” or certified copies, but sometimes it is difficult to determine what is an original document and the rules about certification are very particular.
A minimum of four documents must be submitted but is very wise, if at all possible, to submit more than four in case the Home Office rejects any of them. The Home Office must identify four good documents for the application to be successful.
If the application is refused there may be, depending on the reasons, the possibility of challenging the decision.
What we can do for you for a successful License application
We can help you apply for a tier 2 Sponsorship License for your business. As part of the process we will make sure we pay a lot of attention to the hardcopy documents and give you detailed advice about the certification process if relevant. If the documents are deemed not to be good enough then the application will fail, so if we are in doubt about any documents we will advise you accordingly and suggest that you provide alternatives.
If the Home Office decides to give your premises an audit we can advise you about this, and about your HR systems and record-keeping systems. If you so instruct us we can pretend to be the Home Office and give you a mock audit, and we can also be at your premises when the real audit takes place.
We will ensure we are with you from the very start and up until you receive a decision on your application. Sometimes applications are delayed and we can liaise with the Home Office or UKVI on your behalf.
Why not give us a call and discover that we are the best Immigration lawyers in London to handle your Tier 2 License Application. We work with clients all over the UK wherever you are we are here to help.
Please call us on +44 208 150 6709 for an initial chat to discover we are the right firm for you, and speak to an experienced UK Immigration Lawyer / Adviser to bring your matter to a successful conclusion. Alternatively you can Email us on info@gsnimmigration.co.uk
