Sponsor Licence Suspension and Revocation Statistics 2025
June 2025
The Home Office recently published more sponsorship data. It reveals a trend that UK Immigration Lawyers were already warning companies about; sponsor licence suspensions have risen dramatically.
If you need help with a Home Office audit, sponsor licence management or fear that your sponsor licence is at risk, then the Sponsorship Licence Lawyers at OTS Solicitors can help you.
2024-2025 sponsor licence suspension and revocation statistics
Latest Home Office data for the period April 2024 to March 2025 reveals the Home Office suspended 1,723 sponsor licences and revoked 1,560 licences.
During the four quarters from April 2023 to March 2024, the Home Office suspended 730 licences and revoked 408.
The complete data release is available here.
The figures confirm what Immigration Solicitors have been highlighting: sponsor licences are at risk unless companies dedicate the time and resources to manage their licences and comply with Home Office Guidance on reporting and recording duties.
Focus on sponsor licence compliance and the care sector
Some companies believe that they are not in a high-risk sector for Home Office attention and therefore their licence is at no or minimal risk.
Whilst UK Immigration Lawyers acknowledge that Home Office officials have focused on licensed care homes and nursing homes when carrying out enforcement action, no licence holder is safe.
There are other sectors, such as hospitality, where the Home Office is paying particular attention to sponsor licence management and compliance. However, any company with a licence is at risk. That risk may be lower in some sectors, but overconfidence that your business won't be audited or is not at risk of licence suspension is dangerous.
Sponsorship Licence Lawyers warn that the Home Office's attention can turn to your business even if you are not in a high-risk sector or have not done anything obviously incorrect. For example, if a Skilled Worker Visa holder sponsored by the company breaches their Work Visa conditions or if another government agency is investigating a separate matter.
The ultimate penalty
There was a time when sponsor licence revocation was seen as the ultimate sanction and rarely exercised. The 2024-2025 figures speak for themselves, with nearly as many licence revocations as suspensions.
The figures should emphasise that UK business owners cannot assume that if they are found not to have fully complied with their sponsor licence reporting and recording duties, they will receive a warning and be told to improve. Revocation of a sponsor licence can have devastating consequences for the sponsored employees, key personnel, management team, shareholders, and the remaining workforce, as it can:
- Force sponsored employees to return to their home country through Work Visa curtailment or require them to find other sponsored employment with a competitor firm.
- Create difficulties for key personnel who wish to work as key personnel for new employers.
- Create a loss of confidence in the management team.
- Skilled staff shortages can impact profits and the ability to meet contractual obligations or meet expansion plans, ultimately affecting profitability and shareholder returns.
- Non sponsored workers may face redundancy if the company cannot retain departments or continue in operation without the ability to employ skilled overseas workers or if purchasers of products or services are unwilling to buy from the company because they do not want to be affected by the reputational damage experienced on the loss of a sponsor licence.
Compliance isn't optional
For years, many businesses treated sponsorship licence compliance as a minor annoyance, as there was only a minuscule risk of a Home Office audit and the ultimate sanction of licence revocation. Those days are gone, but not all sponsor licence holders are up to speed with what they need to do to protect their licence.
Steps to protect your sponsorship licence
Here are three things your company should be doing to protect its sponsor licence:
- Listen to key personnel and review their performance.
- Audit files and sponsor licence procedures.
- Invest in sponsor licence training or a professional Sponsor Licence Management Service.
Listen to key personnel
As Immigration Solicitors, we find that many businesses don’t fully appreciate the critical role key personnel play in a company. That’s why it is so crucial to select key personnel with care and to allocate them sufficient time to undertake all their sponsor licence reporting and recording duties, especially if they do not have the support of a Sponsor Licence Management Service working alongside them to provide additional resources or specialist advice.
Sponsor licence audits
Sponsor licence audits can be carried out internally or by Sponsorship Licence Lawyers. The advantage of an external audit is that it brings a fresh perspective. The Immigration Solicitors may spot a system error or a reporting process that is not compliant with the latest immigration rules and Home Office Guidance. The audit is intended to be constructive, so if the Home Office turns up unannounced or with little notice, your company, its files, and employees are prepared for an audit.
Immigration Law Training and Sponsor Licence Management Services
Your key personnel and HR staff need to be kept up to date with all the latest developments in immigration law and sponsorship compliance, as well as best practices in reporting and record-keeping.
At OTS Solicitors, our team of Sponsorship Licence Lawyers specialise in working with firms’ HR departments and key personnel to provide bespoke Immigration Law Training and Sponsor Licence Management Services tailored to meet the needs of your key personnel. That may include support during the expansion and recruitment of additional overseas workers or specific immigration legal advice after issues have been identified during an audit.
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