Advising major UK company on the revocation of its sponsor licence

We were instructed by the UK head office of a major company which sponsored several migrants to work in executive level roles. The sponsor had recently learned that its sponsor licence had been revoked on mandatory grounds due to non-compliance and that, accordingly, the leave to remain of key team members had been curtailed. Penningtons' immigration team, led by partner Pat Saini, acted immediately to liaise with senior contacts at the Home Office and made representations that the revocation should be temporarily reduced to a suspension and the existing sponsored migrants’ leave be reinstated while the matter was being considered.

Following our initial success, we then made full, formal representations to the Home Office. We addressed and mitigated several specific points raised by the Home Office and also presented persuasive arguments that, broadly, our client had fulfilled its obligations as a sponsor. We also queried the Home Office on several key procedural points. The Home Office accepted our representations and reinstated the licence with immediate effect. We are now working with the sponsor to ensure that it is fully compliant moving forward.

The system of sponsorship remains ever complex and, despite having adequate systems in place, sponsors find themselves in breach of various sponsor duties, including advertising, reporting and document retention. Penningtons' immigration team can work quickly and discreetly to ensure that sponsors become and remain compliant. Our compliance team can carry out health checks, training, advice to board members on risk management and liaise directly with senior Home Office officials.

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