How do I sponsor a migrant worker?
The scoring system
This page explains the rating we give to your human resource (HR) systems and compliance while employing migrant workers. We do this when you apply for a licence to sponsor migrants under Tier 2, Tier 5 and Tier 4 of the points-based system. We may also conduct checks after you have been granted a licence.
On this page
What we assess
We give a score of 1, 2 or 3 for:
- human resource systems - for example whether you have systems in place that enable you to know when a migrant has not turned up for work, or to identify when their current grant of leave is coming to an end;
- Convictions and civil penalties - whether or not you or a relevant person have an unspent criminal conviction or have become liable for a civil penalty; and
- migrant compliance - for example whether you are employing any migrants (sponsored or not) who are in breach of their leave, an example might be a migrant with leave as a Tier 4 student working more hours than they are allowed to.
If you are a Tier 4 sponsor, you will receive an overall score of 'met' or 'not met' based on any assessment we make.
We assess 5 individual areas of your HR systems, which are:
- Area 1: Monitoring immigration status and preventing illegal employment
- Area 2: Maintaining migrant contact details
- Area 3: Record keeping and recruitment practices
- Area 4: Migrant tracking and monitoring
- Area 5: General sponsor duties
You must mostly achieve a rating of 'met' in each of the 5 areas to get the top rating for your HR systems overall.
We also assess your past compliance with immigration law while employing migrants.
The rating we give to HR systems
If, you are selected for a visit, we will score your suitability to join, or remain on the sponsor register as follows:
- You meet all of the criteria.
- You meet only some of the criteria.
- You do not meet any of the criteria.
See the pages for each HR area and for compliance for more details.
The standards we use
We use specific standards when assessing whether to give you an A rating or B rating, or whether to refuse or withdraw your licence. We assess:
- whether you have the correct human resource (HR) systems to make sure that you can meet your sponsorship duties; and
- whether you are complying with, or have previously complied with, the work permit arrangements and other immigration law.
The rating we give you
Following our assessment, we will usually give an A rating when the organisation poses little or no risk and the organisation has been awarded the top rating for both its HR systems and compliance.
We will usually give a B rating when we have given an organisation a rating of 2 for its HR systems or compliance, or both of these. This applies only to Tier 2 and Tier 5 sponsors. We do not B rate Tier 4 sponsors.
We are likely to refuse the application when we have given an organisation a rating of 3 for either its HR systems or compliance.
It may also be possible to get an A rating or a B rating with an action plan if we give the sponsor a 1 or 2 for compliance but a 3 for HR systems.
We will take into account both the severity and frequency of any non-compliance when deciding the appropriate rating.
For details of how we decide ratings for compliance, see How we rate compliance.
For details of how we decide ratings for human resource systems, see How we rate human resource systems.
See the Keep the right staff records guide on the Business Link website for more guidance on setting up a staff records scheme.