Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Tuesday 9th April 2024

Sponsored work visas allow people into the UK for a set period of time to do specific jobs for a sponsor. Linking visas to sponsors provides safeguards but migrants are free to apply on another basis.

Sponsorship is a fundamental element of many of our work migration routes. When someone applies for a sponsored work visa, they must have a job offer from a sponsoring employer which has been licensed by the Home Office. Their visa is granted for a limited time for them to work in that specific job for that specific sponsor.

This approach exists for good reasons. It provides an assurance the worker will fill a genuine role in the workforce for a genuine employer. It ensures they will be working in an occupation that’s eligible for sponsorship and will be paid an appropriate salary which ensures they will earn enough to support themselves without access to public funds. It also means that the sponsor must accept the obligations of sponsorship, including abiding by all relevant employment law, helping to safeguard migrant workers from unscrupulous employers.

Sponsorship is a privilege, not a right. When a sponsor is granted a licence, significant trust is placed in them. With that trust comes a responsibility to act in accordance with our immigration laws, wider UK law (including employment law) and the wider public good. The Home Office has a duty to ensure all sponsors discharge these responsibilities, and that a sponsor’s actions or omissions do not pose a risk to immigration control.

Where a sponsor fails to fulfil their duties, we will investigate the circumstances. This may result in the sponsor agreeing to an action plan, having their licence suspended, or having their licence revoked.

We will look at all the evidence produced and take action against those who seek to abuse the immigration system. Those found operating unlawfully may face prosecution and/or removal from the sponsorship register.

Individuals who apply for sponsored work visas are aware these visas do not provide a general right to work in the UK. Their visas are dependent on their sponsors, and they must recognise and accept this when they apply. If they stop working for their sponsor, or their sponsor loses its licence, the basis for them having that sponsored work visa falls away.

If a sponsor has their licence revoked, their sponsored workers may have their permission to stay in the UK shortened so they have 60 days remaining. They can use this period to find a new sponsor, switch to another immigration route if they are eligible to do so, or make arrangements to leave the UK. This is not deportation – it is simply an acknowledgement that their current basis for staying in the UK no longer applies and they must find another one if they wish to remain. They are welcome to do so.

Labour mobility is an important part of the points-based system and sponsored workers are free to find alternative employment with a more suitable sponsor, provided they have valid permission to be in the UK and the new sponsor is willing and able to sponsor them.

Where a sponsored worker is found to be complicit in the reasons for their sponsor’s licence revocation, all of their remaining permission may be cancelled and they may be required to leave the UK immediately. Individuals are only deported (in the legal sense of that term) if they are convicted of a serious offence or deportation is otherwise deemed conducive to the public good.

Home Office