Applying For a New Sponsor Licence After Revocation

Applying for a new sponsor licence after revocation by the Home Office- 5 lessons from a successful application

If your sponsor licence is revoked following a compliance visit, then you will usually be subject to a 12 month cooling off period before you can apply again. At the end of that time, you can submit a new application for a sponsor licence. However, it is inevitable that your application will attract more scrutiny than usual, so how can maximise your chances of it being granted?

I have recently been involved with a successful application made following a revocation. The following are some lessons learned from that process.

Lesson One- Use the cooling off period to your best advantage

You are highly likely to receive a compliance visit if you submit an application at the end of the cooling off period. It is more important than ever to make sure that you are ready! Make sure that all right to work checks have been done correctly, and you can find them. Check that you have employment contracts on file for all employees. Make sure that you have procedures in place to meet your sponsor obligations.

Lesson Two- Read the sponsor guidance- and then read it again.

Any key personnel named on the new application are likely to be interviewed, so it is vital that they understand the sponsor duties.  When do you have to use a restricted certificate of sponsorship? What evidence should you retain from the resident labour market test? Make sure that you know the answers! Being interviewed by a compliance officer can be intimidating, and you will feel much better if you are well prepared.

Lesson Three- Accept your mistakes 

Now is not the time to re-enter into arguments with the Home Office about what has gone before. I know that the guidance can be confusing and badly set out. However, if you got something wrong before, accept that you made a mistake and concentrate on how you would avoid doing the same thing again in the future.

Lesson Four- consider going above and beyond. 

This will be a tactical consideration, and may not be appropriate for all cases. However, in this case we decided to run the resident labour market test (RLMT) even though we didn’t technically need to. This allowed the organisation to show that they understood how to run the RLMT correctly and that they were genuinely seeking applicants from the settled workforce.

Lesson five- accentuate the positive

As well as highlighting all the improvements made, its important to explain how re-gaining a licence will benefit your business and the wider region. In this case, the business was in a region that would really benefit from having more international connections in terms of business and education.

In this instance, the client put the work in, took specialist legal advice and got a positive result. They can now employ a Tier 2 employee who is vital for their business and know what they have to do going forward.

Of course, prevention is always better than cure. If you need advice concerning your sponsor licence, or if you have had a compliance visit from the Home Office, seek advice as soon as possible. Our team would be happy to assist you, please contact us.