Downgrading or revocation of a licence

A sponsor licence in Workers and Temporary Workers routes may be suspended, downgraded (unless it is a Provisional licence in the Global Business Mobility—UK Expansion Worker route), or revoked in certain circumstances. The Home Office may also reduce the number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) available to a sponsor, including reducing the number to zero.

The purpose of taking the above actions is to limit or stop threats to immigration control that may be posed by a sponsor that is not fully complying with its obligations as a sponsor.

The licensing regime for Workers and Temporary Workers sponsors is not detailed in the Immigration Rules, and in considering whether to take any of the above actions, the Home Office will be informed by the requirements and procedures contained in the Sponsor Guidance. The Sponsor Guidance has been revised regularly since 2008, when it was first published in relation to the pre-Brexit Points-Based System. Over that time, the general trend of the revisions has been to tighten the obligations of sponsors and to expand the circumstances under ...