Tier 2 sponsorship licenses from the UK Home Office are typically required by employers who want to hire individuals from outside the United Kingdom to work in the UK.

The Tier 2 sponsorship license system covers five categories of skilled workers:

1. Tier 2 (General): This is for workers coming to the UK with a job offer to fill a gap that cannot be filled by a settled worker.
2. Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer): This is for employees of multinational companies who are being transferred by their overseas employer to a UK branch of the organization.
3. Tier 2 (Sportsperson): This is for elite sportspeople and coaches who will be based in the UK.
4. Tier 2 (Minister of Religion): This is for individuals who have been offered a job within a faith community in the UK.
5. Tier 2 (Health and Care Visa): This is for qualified doctors, nurses, and health professionals who have been trained to a recognized standard, and have been recruited by the NHS.

In order to sponsor a worker under Tier 2, employers must first apply to the UK Home Office for a Tier 2 sponsorship license. The process includes proving that the organization is a genuine business, demonstrating an effective HR system, and passing a “genuineness test”.

The employer also needs to assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to each foreign worker they hire. The CoS is a virtual document with a unique reference number, not a physical document. The worker then uses the CoS to apply for their visa.

The Home Office maintains a register of licensed sponsors, which is a list of organizations licensed to sponsor migrants under Tiers 2 and 5 of the points-based system. It includes information about the category of workers they’re licensed to sponsor and their sponsorship rating.

When applying for a Tier 2 sponsorship license, a company needs to allocate certain roles to responsible people within the company. These roles are for the Authorizing Officer, Level 1 User, and Key Contact.

Authorizing Officer (AO): This should be a senior and competent person in the company, responsible for the actions of staff and representatives who use the sponsorship management system (SMS). The AO is responsible for all the sponsor’s activities and ensuring all of the sponsor’s duties are met. They are also responsible for the actions of any users of the SMS. It is strongly recommended that the authorizing officer should be an executive or senior member of staff. The person you appoint as your authorizing officer must not have any unspent convictions for immigration offences or certain other crimes, such as fraud or money laundering.

Level 1 User: This person is responsible for all day-to-day management of your license using the sponsorship management system. They perform routine tasks like assigning Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) and reporting worker activities. Level 1 users are essentially your main users of the SMS and can perform a wide range of duties. You must have at least one level 1 user, but you can have more.

Key Contact: This person acts as the main point of contact between your organization and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). They will receive any correspondence related to the license from the UKVI. The Key Contact person’s role can be combined with the Level 1 user or the Authorizing officer, but it doesn’t have to be.

Each of these individuals can be either a paid staff member or officeholder, as listed on Companies House, within your organization. They can also be a UK-based legal representative or an employee of an overseas organization if the organization does not have a base in the UK.

An individual cannot be the Level 1 User or Authorizing Officer if they have been fined by the UKVI in the last 12 months or have been reported to the UKVI in the last 12 months. They also cannot hold these roles if they have an unspent criminal conviction, have been in trouble with the law related to bankruptcy, or have been reported to a regulatory body within the last 12 months.

The list of documents varies depending on the nature of the business as well as the types of licences.

You are required to provide a minimum of four mandatory documents from Appendix A. Businesses can provide more documents depending on the nature of the business and how long the business has been trading for to prove the genuineness of the business to the Home Office.

• Employer’s Liability Insurance Certificate
• Business Bank Statements or Letter from the Bank
• PAYE Registration with HMRC
• Annual Accounts
• Lease or Ownership proof of the Business

Home Office started accepting documents Electronically since pandemic but may request original documents at any time. In addition to the above documents’ businesses are required to provide additional information from Appendix A.

For more professional and tailored advice, you can always approach our UK Business Immigration experts, specialists in Sponsorship licence application and compliance. With the correct supporting documents checklist, our team will put together comprehensive and sound evidence to ascertain you succeed in submitting a valid sponsorship licence application. It might be possible, in some cases, to apply for multiple subcategory worker licences. Hence, legal experts can offer you credible sponsorship licence guidance. To discover more about our sponsorship licence services, call us at 0044 (0) 208 555 8288 or approach us anytime via an email to info@skysolicitors.co.uk.

To apply for a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence and to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), you must comply with Home Office requirements, which means, you will be required to have an adequate HR monitoring system.

The complete list of occupations on the Shortage Occupation can be found on the updated guidance published by the Home Office (Guidance Skilled Worker Visa Shortage Occupations).

These include:

• Doctors
• Nurses
• Social Workers

An online application is required to be submitted by an employer. Supporting documents with the submission sheet is required to be send to the Home Office. The necessary eligibility checks will be carried out against your application by the Home Office.

In line with new changes due to Brexit, you are no longer required to advertise the vacancy for any specific time, as long as the job vacancy meets the skills requirement and the Home Office guidelines.

The minimum job skill requirement will be RQF 3, which is equivalent to A-levels. Skilled Occupation Codes (SOC) list jobs which are eligible under the skilled worker route.

Previously, one of the requirements was that a job had to meet the RQF 6 requirement which was equivalent to Bachelor’s level.

Our highly experienced Business Immigration Solicitors will meticulously prepare and submit all the necessary paperwork and advise you on the necessary requirements to apply for a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence. We will assess your eligibility and consider all the relevant circumstances to ensure that you are compliant with Home Office requirements. We provide expert advice on procedures required to meet the Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence. Our solicitors will assist you with the Home Office audit visits and in maintaining an adequate HR system for your business.