In a welcome and sudden change, sponsors who hold a licence which is due to expire on or after 06 April 2024 will no longer have to take action to renew their sponsor licence and pay the renewal fee. All affected sponsor licences will have their licence expiry dates automatically extended by a period of 10 years.
The bulletin detailing the change was released on the Sponsorship Management System (SMS) message board on 24 January 2024. It states:
From 6 April 2024 we will remove the requirement to renew your sponsor licence. If your licence is due to expire on or after this date you will no longer need to apply to renew your licence or pay a renewal fee. To prepare for this, we have extended licence expiry dates on all licences due to expire on or after 6 April 2024 by 10 years. You do not need to take any action. If you have already received a notification to renew your licence, please ignore it.’
Those sponsors whose licences are due to expire between 25 January 2024 and 06 April 2024 will still have to make an application to renew their licence. From the information provided, these should be the last renewal applications that are required, as going forward, sponsor licenses will no longer expire.
If an application to renew a sponsor licence has already been made, the Home Office will contact the licence holder directly to arrange a refund of the renewal fee.
The sponsor licence renewal process has often been seen as an unnecessary administrative burden, that can be expensive. Ensuring that licences no longer expire is a sensible and positive development.
It should be noted that a sponsor can still have its licence suspended or revoked if it is found in breach of the sponsor duties and responsibilities. Sponsors should ensure that they remain compliant with the sponsor guidance.
It is advisable that sponsor licence holders access the SMS and review their licence summary. This will detail the current expiry date of the licence.
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