In the Financial Times: Sam Ingham comments on the Home Office’s recent sponsor licence enforcement approach

Friday 10 April 2026

The Financial Times (£) recently published Senior Solicitor Sam Ingham’s letter regarding the Home Office’s ’emerging “shoot first, ask questions later” approach to policing sponsor licensing’. With many businesses relying on sponsored workers to fulfil business critical specialist roles, Sam warns of the ramifications of an over-zealous approach to enforcement.

Sam discusses how the recently updated sponsor guidance further lowers the bar for enforcement action, with the Home Office now requiring merely a reasonable suspicion of non-compliance to justify revoking or suspending a sponsor licence.

Sam points out that this will inevitably mean more businesses are unable to employ and sponsor the workforce they need and that they may furthermore struggle to challenge Home Office decisions that could significantly damage operations.

Read the full letter here (£)

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