A number of significant changes were introduced to Guidance for Sponsors which came into effect on 31st December 2024. Some of the key changes included a prohibition from passing on the cost of sponsoring a migrant worker to the UK to the worker.
Effective 31 December 2024, sponsors are prohibited to:
- pass on the cost of a Sponsor Licence application or associated administrative costs to a sponsored worker. A specified example of associated administrative costs includes a request to add a tier to an existing Sponsor Licence, and
- pass on the cost of a Certificate of Sponsorship assigned to a sponsored worker from 31st December onwards.
It is stated that these changes have been introduced to reflect a commitment given by the Immigration Minister in a written statement to Parliament on 28 November 2024, in which it was said that:
Over the last 2 years, there have been a growing number of allegations about sponsors seeking to charge workers for sponsoring them, particularly in the care sector. Where these charges are inappropriate, individuals can fall into work-related debt and experience a significant amount of harm. To combat this, we are now taking action to ensure that if a business wishes to recruit internationally, they will be required to pay for certificates of sponsorship, sponsor licences and the associated administration themselves. This will end the intolerable practice of recovering these costs from workers, which has led to the exploitation and unfair treatment of staff, particularly care workers who have been left in debt to their employers. These rules will apply to the Skilled Worker route first and will be in force by the end of the year. We intend to build on this in due course, widening it to other sponsored employment routes.
There are numerous costs associated with sponsoring a migrant worker and these are the Sponsor Licence fee, Immigration Skills Charge, Certificate of sponsorship fee, Immigration Health Surcharge and Visa fee. There may be associated professional legal fees for lawyers engaged to support the process. The Sponsor Licence fee is a one-off. However, the rest of the aforementioned costs are incurred every time a migrant worker is sponsored. Sponsors were previously only prohibited from passing on the cost of Immigration Skills Charge to the worker and employers were free to claw back other costs related to sponsoring a migrant worker. These new changes now expressly prohibit sponsors from recouping the cost of sponsor licence application and certificate of sponsorship. There is no prohibition on recouping the Immigration Health Surcharge and Visa fees, if the sponsors have paid these costs for their sponsored workers as is customary with most employers.
Further changes have been introduced to penalise sponsors where the aforementioned changes are contravened. A sponsor risks losing a Sponsor Licence if they recoup or attempt to recoup these costs from a sponsored worker. These have been added to Sponsor guidance as grounds for revocation of Sponsor Licence.
Other changes to the Sponsor Guidance include who can be appointed as Key Personnel on the Sponsor Licence. The guidance now prohibits a person who is legally prohibited from acting as a company director unless a court has given them permission to act as such (such as undischarged bankrupts) to be nominated as Key Personnel. Previously, a Level 2 user and Key Contact did not have this imposition.
A further new requirement introduced for new sponsors that will be making sponsor licence applications henceforth is that they must have one Level 1 user who is both an employee, a partner or a director within the sponsoring organisation and is a settled worker. Previously, this requirement could be met by two Level 1 users.
These changes will affect new sponsor licence applications and could present obstacles to some prospective sponsors.