How do I sponsor a migrant worker?
How to cancel a certificate
This page explains how we or you can cancel a certificate of sponsorship under the points-based system to study or work.
On this page
How you can change a certificate of sponsorship
You must make sure that the migrant's details are right when you create a certificate of sponsorship.
You can use the 'sponsor note' field to amend minor errors identified after the certificate of sponsorship has been created. Examples of acceptable amendments are corrections to a mistyped name or date of birth or a change to the start date for the job.
If the main details are wrong, you must cancel the certificate and assign a new one, if needed, to ensure that the details are the same as the one in the migrant's application. You must do this if, for example:
- the SOC code or tier/category is incorrect; or
- more than one of the migrant's identifiable details need to be changed - such as a full change to the date of birth and nationality, or to the surname and date of birth.
If you assign a new certificate of sponsorship, you will need to pay the relevant fee.
Please note that the 'sponsor note' field can only be used to notify changes on a certificate of sponsorship when it is showing in your SMS account as 'assigned'.
When we will cancel a certificate of sponsorship
We can cancel a certificate of sponsorship at any time if we find that you were not entitled to issue it - for example, if it was issued through misrepresentation or fraud.
How you can cancel a certificate of sponsorship
You can withdraw a certificate of sponsorship at any time using the the sponsorship management system.
How the migrant can cancel a certificate of sponsorship
A migrant can only have 1 certificate of sponsorship assigned to them at any 1 time. If a migrant you have assigned a certificate of sponsorship to decides that they do not want to take up employment with you, they should contact you by letter or email to ask you to cancel or withdraw their certificate of sponsorship. This will probably only happen where they have decided to take a job with a different sponsor.
You should action this request within 5 working days. If you do not, the migrant will be expected to send you a reminder, after which you have a further 5 working days to action the request.
If you refuse or fail to cancel or withdraw the certificate of sponsorship within the allowed time, the migrant can contact our sponsor licensing unit. We will then cancel or withdraw the certificate of sponsorship, after discussing this with you. We may also take further action against you.
When a certificate of sponsorship is cancelled or withdrawn, the fee for assigning a certificate of sponsorship will not be refunded.
What happens to the migrant if the certificate of sponsorship is cancelled or withdrawn
If a certificate of sponsorship is cancelled or withdrawn before we have decided the migrant's application for permission to enter or stay in the UK, or for worker authorisation we will automatically refuse the application.
If the migrant is already in the UK with permission to enter or stay under Tier 2 or Tier 5 on the basis of a certificate of sponsorship, which we have found to be improperly issued, we will cancel or shorten their permission to stay. Their permission will be:
- reduced to 60 days (to give them a chance to find a new sponsor) if they were not actively involved in the certificate of sponsorship being issued improperly; or
- immediately ended (curtailed) if they were actively involved.
If the certificate of sponsorship was used by a Croatian national to apply for worker authorisation, we may revoke that authorisation.
Do it online
Terms explained
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Sponsorship management system
An IT system used by organisations that sponsor migrants under the points-based system. It allows sponsors to allocate certificates of sponsorship to migrants, carry out the administrative functions necessary to comply with their sponsor obligations and duties, and communicate information to us.