Sponsor Licence Revocation UK, How to Challenge a Home Office Revocation and Save Your Licence
In Brief
For many UK companies, a sponsor licence is a commercial necessity, not an optional luxury. Revocation of your licence means the company loses its ability to employ its existing sponsored employees.
Immigration Lawyers in London can help reduce the risk of licence revocation or challenge a Home Office revocation decision.
This guide outlines why the Home Office revokes sponsor licences, explains what employers can do when they receive a revocation notice and in our experience how to challenge the decision and retain your sponsored employees successfully.
Contact OTS Solicitors for Sponsor Licence Revocation Advice.
What is Sponsor Licence Revocation?
Sponsor licence revocation means the Home Office approved licence is cancelled through Home Office enforcement action, and the sponsored employees' Work Visas are curtailed.
When a sponsor licence is revoked, an employer cannot:
- Sponsor overseas workers employed through the Skilled Worker Visa or Global Business Mobility routes.
- Recruit replacement sponsored workers who need a certificate of sponsorship and a visa.
What is Visa Curtailment?
When an employer’s licence is revoked, sponsored workers typically have their visas curtailed to 60 days or less if their visa is due to expire within the next 60 days.
The effect of visa curtailment is:
- The employer cannot continue to employ the worker unless the worker can switch to a visa where they no longer require work sponsorship, such as the Family Visa.
- The worker cannot get another Skilled Worker Visa job unless they successfully obtain sponsorship with another employer with a valid sponsor licence.
- The worker must leave the UK if they cannot switch visa or get a new sponsorship and Skilled Worker Visa with another employer.
- If the worker does not leave the UK, they will be an overstayer. This will affect future UK visa and Indefinite Leave to Remain applications.
- Dependants on Dependant Visas will not be able to remain in the UK if the main visa holder has their visa curtailed.
Triggers For Sponsor Licence Revocation
The decision to revoke a licence is normally taken after one or more of these triggering events:
- An audit of the sponsor management system by the Home Office.
- A report from another government organisation.
- A failure to respond to Home Office investigations.
- Identification of a sponsor licence breach when the Home Office is assessing a visa application.
Common Reasons For Sponsor Licence Revocation
The Home Office can decide to revoke a licence for:
- Non-compliance with sponsor licence duties.
- Not meeting the right to work requirements.
- Not having genuine vacancies for sponsored staff.
- Non-compliance with the Home Office audit and investigative process.
Sponsor Licence Revocation For Non-compliance With Duties
Licence revocation for non-compliance with the duties set out in Home Office guidance includes failure to:
- Allocate certificates of sponsorship correctly.
- Report changes in the worker’s status, such as the employee’s job title, salary or address.
- Report organisational changes in the company.
- Monitor and record sponsored workers' absences.
Sponsor Licence Revocation For Genuine Vacancy Concerns
To sponsor a Skilled Worker Visa applicant, the company must have a genuine vacancy and need to fill a job that meets the Skilled Worker Visa eligibility criteria for role, skill, and salary.
The Home Office may suspect that a company artificially created a role and had no genuine vacancies as part of a concerted plan to abuse the immigration system and facilitate visas. Alternatively, the Home Office may believe that, while there was a genuine vacancy, the employer provided false or misleading information about the salary, the required skill set, or the job description to ensure that recruitment from overseas could take place.
The Effect of Sponsor Licence Revocation
We often receive enquires from HR directors and business owners concerned about the impact of the sponsor licence revocation on both the company and its sponsored and unsponsored employees.
The effects of sponsor licence revocation on the company are:
- The business cannot continue to sponsor workers.
- Sponsored employees may move to work for competitor businesses.
- Adverse publicity and reputational damage as the revocation is published on the register of sponsors.
- Unable to apply for a further licence until the end of the cooling-off period.
- Potential difficulties in securing a new sponsor licence after the end of the cool-off period.
We recently assisted a company which was heavily reliant on a sponsored workforce and they had a single sponsored employee with specialist skills on one of their departments. The effect of sponsor licence revocation on this company would have been huge. The business was at risk of not being able to meet existing contractual third party commitments due to a sudden reduction in employees and an inability to recruit and replace them from within the UK within 60 days.
The effects of sponsor licence revocation on individual employees are:
- Sponsored employees lose their right to work and live in the UK unless they can either switch to a non-Work Visa that does not require sponsorship or find new sponsored employment.
- All employees may be concerned about the future stability of the company with the loss of the sponsored workforce and, therefore, look at alternative employment options.
Revocation Cooling Off Period
For deterrent effect, the Home Office automatically applies a cooling-off period when it revokes a company sponsor licence.
The minimum cooling-off period is usually 12 months. It may be significantly longer if the Home Office investigation reveals serious systemic failures or abuse of the immigration system.
If a licence application is submitted during the cooling-off period, it will be automatically refused.
Even if a company has no grounds to challenge the revocation of its licence, it may still wish to contest the length of the cooling-off period.
Appealing the Revocation of a Sponsor Licence
There is no right of appeal against a Home Office decision to revoke a sponsor licence. However, based on our experience acting for clients in these circumstances, some of the most effective approaches to challenging a sponsor licence revocation include:
- Pre-action protocol letter.
- Judicial review application.
- Application for a new sponsor licence after the cooling-off period has expired.
The first step in deciding how to challenge a revocation is for Sponsor Licence Lawyers to consider the Home Office revocation letter that explains the reasons for the decision.
Pre-Action Protocol Letter for Sponsor Licence Revocation
A pre-action protocol letter (PAP) puts the Home Office on notice that the company intends to challenge the decision to revoke its licence.
The PAP letter needs to:
- Set out the legal grounds for challenging the Home Office decision.
- Note any factual inaccuracies in the Home Office revocation letter.
- Provide evidence showing how the Home Office decision was made using incorrect information or made without following Home Office guidance.
- Ask the Home Office to reconsider the revocation decision.
- Warn that judicial review proceedings will be commenced.
The PAP letter contents are of crucial importance because:
- If the PAP letter does not make the Home Office change its mind about revocation, the company's next step is to either start judicial review proceedings or wait until the end of the cooling-off period and then apply for a new sponsor licence.
- Judicial review proceedings can be protracted and expensive because of court delays and evidential requirements. An analytical PAP letter explaining why the revocation decision was unlawful or unreasonable, and why the Home Office is at risk of a successful judicial review challenge, can save the company months and thousands of pounds in legal fees.
Home Office response to a PAP letter
The Home Office has 14 days to respond to a PAP letter and can decide to:
- Uphold the decision.
- Withdraw the decision.
- Reconsider the evidence.
Judicial Review of a Home Office Decision to Revoke a Sponsor Licence
If the Home Office refuses to reconsider the revocation decision or to reduce the length of the cooling-off period, the company and its Business Immigration Solicitors need to conduct a careful cost-benefit analysis of applying for judicial review.
The judicial review analysis should consider:
- The prospects of a successful judicial review based on previous court decisions and the company specific reasons for the revocation.
- How essential a sponsor licence is to the operation of the business, and whether judicial review is a more cost-effective solution than other recruitment options.
Judicial Review Proceedings
Judicial reviews are not appeals against decisions made by the Home Office.
- In an appeal, the court looks at the merits of a Home Office decision.
- In a judicial review application, the court considers how a decision was made and will only interfere with the Home Office decision if it can be shown that the decision making process was flawed.
Grounds for judicial review
The court will grant a judicial review application if the company can show that the Home Office decision to revoke its sponsor licence was made:
- Using procedurally improper means.
- Without following the law.
- Irrationality
An irrational decision to revoke a licence is one that was so unreasonable that no reasonable Home Office official could ever have reached it.
Injunctions and Sponsor Licence Revocations
Sending a PAP letter or starting judicial review proceedings does not suspend the revocation decision. Therefore, companies will want to apply for interim relief, such as an injunction or a stay, to suspend the revocation until the court determines the judicial review application.
Reapplying For a Sponsor Licence After a Revocation
If a company is advised to wait and reapply for a licence after the end of the cooling-off period, it's essential to:
- Fully understand the reasons for the revocation.
- Ask Sponsorship Licence Lawyers to carry out a full internal audit. The solicitors can highlight areas of non-compliance not spotted by the Home Office officials who revoked the licence. Failure to address these additional issues could result in refusal of the new licence application.
- Consider the use of a Sponsor Licence Management Service if the decision to revoke the licence was based on irregularities in the sponsor management system.
- Reassess the choice of key personnel if key personnel’s actions or non-availability partially led to the revocation.
- Provide demonstrable evidence of change rather than promises to do better. Evidence of change could include an overhaul of how absences are reported, payroll training, bespoke immigration law training on certificate of sponsorship allocation or changes to company manuals.
Steps to Take if Your Company Receives a Revocation Letter
- Read the revocation letter carefully, as it should contain the facts as found by the Home Office and the reasons for the decision to revoke.
- Act quickly, as visa curtailment will be 60 days or less.
- Speak to a Sponsor Licence Lawyer about the letter to understand the company's options.
- Get Business Immigration Solicitors to conduct an audit and help them locate the evidence required to either challenge the revocation or make a new licence application.
- Talk to business advisors, accountants and recruiters to understand the impact of not challenging the Home Office decision to revoke or the length of the cooling-off period.
- Inform sponsored workers about the revocation and the steps being taken to try to challenge the decision.
- Depending on the reputational or financial impact of the revocation, consult crisis management
Sponsor Licence Reinstatement
If the Home Office agrees that it should not have revoked a licence and reinstates it, the company must be aware that the Home Office may conduct unannounced compliance visits or obtain information from other government bodies, such as HMRC, to use as evidence in a further audit and revocation decision.
The company needs to:
- Take the revocation as a warning and wake-up call.
- Carry out a full compliance review of sponsor management system usage, payroll systems, HR files, recruitment processes and evidencing, right to work checks and renewals, key personnel workloads, support and training needs, oversight of the sponsor licence by senior management and developing a culture of problem spotting and reporting.
- Get support from Sponsorship Licence Lawyers and input from them on how they can further refine updated HR, payroll and recruitment processes to provide robust protection from further enforcement action from the Home Office.
How London Immigration Lawyers Can Help With Sponsor Licence Revocation
OTS Solicitors are experts in quickly reviewing and analysing Home Office revocation letters, assessing challenge options, conducting internal sponsor management system and HR audits, preparing PAP letters, handling judicial review proceedings, and preparing fresh sponsor licence applications after the cooling-off period has ended.
Contact Sponsor Licence Revocation Solicitors in London
Frequently Asked Questions on Sponsor Licence Revocation
Can a revocation decision be overturned?
Yes. The Home Office can agree to cancel its decision to revoke a licence, or the company can bring a judicial review, forcing the Home Office to revisit its decision making process.
A Sponsor Licence Solicitor can advise on whether the company should ask the Home Office to reconsider its decision or apply for a new sponsor licence once the Home Office cooling-off period has ended.
Can the company appeal a sponsor licence revocation?
No, but while there is no formal right of appeal, the company can challenge the revocation decision through a pre‑action protocol letter and judicial review application.
Can the company continue to employ its sponsored workers?
No, if the company's licence is revoked, it cannot continue employing its sponsored workers beyond the curtailed visa dates.
Most sponsored workers receive a 60‑day curtailment notice, but this can be shorter if their visa expires sooner.
What are the consequences of employing a sponsored worker whose visa has been curtailed?
A sponsored worker does not have the right to work in the UK when their curtailed visa ends. The company will be in breach of the illegal working legislation if it continues to employ the worker beyond that date, and risks a substantial fine.
Companies should seek urgent immigration law advice on challenging the decision to revoke their sponsor licence and on obtaining a stay of the decision.
Will the sponsor licence revocation decision be overturned?
Yes, if the Home Office accepts or the court decides that the original decision by the Home Office was unlawful, irrational, or procedurally unfair.
An Immigration Lawyer will invite the Home Office to reconsider its decision by sending a pre-action protocol letter.
How long is the cooling-off period?
The cooling-off period is normally 12 months, but this depends on the reason for revocation.
What evidence does the company need to challenge a revocation?
The evidence needed to overturn a revocation decision depends on the reasons for the revocation. Typically, an Immigration Solicitor may ask the company to provide right-to-work check documents, HR records, job application and recruitment evidence, payroll information, and evidence of compliance with the sponsor licence.
Contact our Sponsor Licence Revocation Solicitors in London