Friday 9 February 2024

The Home Office has announced that from 6 April 2024 it will remove the requirement for sponsors to renew their sponsor licence. If a sponsor licence is due to expire on or after 6 April 2024, the sponsor will no longer need to apply to renew their licence or pay the renewal fee. However, sponsors with licences which expire before 6 April 2024 will still need to submit and pay for a renewal application.

The process of renewing a sponsor licence every four years provided an important focus point for sponsors to undertake due diligence on their systems and processes to ensure compliance with sponsorship obligations. Whilst this announcement will be welcome news to sponsors saving them time and money, it shall no doubt increase the risk of non-compliance for some sponsors who fail to monitor their sponsorship and recruitment practices regularly. Post-licence compliance checks could be on the rise and with the increased fines for illegal working tripling from 13 February 2024, sponsors need to prioritise immigration due diligence.

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Laura Devine Immigration delivers expert guidance for employers on immigration compliance along with thorough compliance audits of HR systems and right to work checks. If you would like to learn more, please contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.