UKVI has been carrying out checks on sponsor licences. It is then making contact where either the Sponsor Management System (‘SMS’) has not been accessed for 12 months or where there are indications that the Key Personnel information on the SMS is not up to date. As failure to ensure that the SMS is up to date is a breach of the sponsor duties, we strongly advise sponsors to access the SMS and check and update the contact information if needed.
When an organisation applies to become a sponsor or renews its licence, it agrees to comply with UKVI’s sponsor duties. These are referred to throughout the Sponsor Guidance.
Ensuring that the sponsor’s details (name, address, telephone number) and the details of ‘Key Personnel’ on the licence, namely the Authorising Officer, Key Contact and the Level 1 and 2 Users, are up to date is a sponsor duty.
In light of UKVI’s action, we recommend that those with access to the sponsor licence check that this information is up to date within the next week and make amendments if needed.
If there are any issues in accessing the licence, for example, there are no active Level 1 Users at the organisation, we recommend that you contact our team and we can then guide you through the process of obtaining a new Level 1 User log-in.
In general, we would recommend that all sponsors ensure that the SMS is accessed, checked and updated regularly and ideally once a month.
The Authorising Officer of the sponsor is not automatically granted access to the SMS by UKVI. We therefore recommend that an application is made via the SMS for the Authorising Officer to have Level 1 User access so they can check that the main information on the licence is up to date.
How our Immigration Solicitors can help
We are experienced in advising sponsors on how to ensure compliance with the sponsor duties.
If you require legal advice regarding this or any other aspect of immigration law, our immigration specialists are always happy to have an initial discussion, please contact us or complete our enquiry form below.
