How do I sponsor a migrant worker?
What happens to migrants if we take action
This page explains what happens to migrants if we take action against you as a sponsor under the points based system.
On this page
What happens to migrants when we suspend your licence
If we have suspended your licence because we are considering action against you that could lead to us withdrawing it, we will not consider applications from any migrants that you have assigned a certificate of sponsorship to until we have made a decision on your licence status.
If a migrant has been given permission to enter the United Kingdom under Tier 2 or Tier 5 based on a certificate of sponsorship assigned by you, but has not yet travelled to the United Kingdom, they will be allowed to enter and start working for you. However, we advise all migrants to check the status of their sponsor's licence before they travel and we recommend that migrants do not travel to the United Kingdom if their sponsor's licence has been suspended.
During the period that your licence is suspended, we will not tell migrants who have been given a certificate of sponsorship by you and are already in the United Kingdom about the suspension.
What happens to migrants if we revoke your licence
If we revoke your licence, we will:
- immediately end the permission to stay in the United Kingdom, or worker authorisation, of any migrants whom we believe were actively involved in any dishonesty by you, for example, if the migrant agreed that you would arrange a non-existent job for them so they could come to the United Kingdom; and
- reduce the length of the permission to stay in the United Kingdom, or worker authorisation of any other migrants (those who were not actively involved) to 60 days, to give them a chance to find a new sponsor.
If we immediately end the permission to stay, the migrant will have to leave the United Kingdom or face enforced removal.
If we reduce the length of the migrant's permission to stay under Tier 2 or Tier 5, they will also have to leave or face enforced removal if, at the end of the 60 days, they have not found a new sponsor.
If we reduce or revoke a Croatian national's worker authorisation, they do not have to leave the UK as they are allowed to move and reside freely in any EU member state.
We will take action against any migrant who remains in the United Kingdom after their permission to stay under Tier 2 or Tier 5 has expired. This may result in migrants being detained and forcibly removed from the country. Any further applications they may make to come to the United Kingdom within the next 10 years may also be refused.
What happens to migrants who have not yet travelled to the United Kingdom when we revoke your licence
If we revoke your licence, any certificate of sponsorship you have issued will automatically become invalid. This means that any application for permission to enter or stay, or for worker authorisation made on the basis of these certificates of sponsorship will automatically be refused.
If the migrant has already been granted permission to enter the UK under Tier 2 or Tier 5 when we withdraw your licence, that permission to enter will be cancelled (under paragraph 30A (ii) of the immigration rules), if they have not yet travelled to the United Kingdom.
If the migrant has travelled to the United Kingdom, they will be refused entry to the country (under paragraph 321(ii) of the immigration rules).
Terms explained
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Certificate of sponsorship
A 'virtual document' assigned by a licensed sponsor to a migrant who wishes to work for them in the UK. The migrant must quote the certificate of sponsorship reference number when applying for permission to enter or remain in the UK under Tier 2 or Tier 5 of the points-based system or, where the migrant is a Croatian national, when applying for worker authorisation.
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Enforced removal
A legal process we follow that enables us to force a person to leave the United Kingdom if he/she has no right to be here. It may involve arrest and detention in a secure centre until the person leaves the country.