Employers that applied for sponsorship licences in November 2008 must renew now to avoid losing the ability to sponsor overseas workers in the future.
Sponsors who first applied for their sponsorship licence when the Points-Based System was introduced in November 2008 should have started to receive notifications from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) that they can apply to renew their sponsorship licence. All Tier 2 sponsorship licences granted by the UKBA are valid for an initial period of four years, and the notifications are issued 120 days before the licence expires.[1]
Sponsors are advised to submit their applications as early as possible and to renew at least one month before their licence expires. If a sponsor fails to apply to renew their sponsorship licence (and pay the sponsorship licence application fee), their sponsorship licence will lapse automatically.
If the sponsorship licence lapses or is not renewed, all sponsored migrants' permissions to live and work in the UK will be curtailed, and they will be required to leave the UK or find another sponsor. Further, the sponsor will no longer be able to sponsor those individuals whom they may wish to recruit from overseas.
Morgan Lewis's Immigration Practice will hold a webinar on Tier 2 sponsorship licence renewals on Wednesday, 7 November at 13.00.
[1]. For more information on renewing sponsorship licences, see our 10 August 2012 LawFlash, "UK Employers: Sponsor Licence Renewals to Begin," available here.