This article focuses on the changes to the sponsor guidance.

Key themes

• Strict adherence to the sponsorship scheme is now essential to avoid revocation of a sponsor licence
• Replacement of the genuine vacancy requirement with an eligible role test
• Greater emphasis on making sure that what appears on a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) matches the sponsored worker's role in practice
• A focus on salary compliance including a new requirement for salary to be paid in each pay period
• New obligations around worker welfare and employment rights

The takeaway for sponsor licence holders is to audit your internal systems and processes. An audit will place you in a stronger position to defend any alleged instances of compliance failures from the Home Office. It will also make sure that you can continue to request and assign Certificates of Sponsorship without delay, to get much needed talent into your business.

Continue reading for the detail or click here  to skip to the mini audit checklist.

A stricter sponsorship scheme

Previously the Home Office took a pragmatic approach to sponsor compliance failures, especially if the sponsor had a positive track record and the failure is discrete. The updated sponsor guidance now clearly states that revocation of a sponsor licence can occur even if a breach wasn’t intentional or knowingly committed.

There is also an amended discretionary ground for refusal or revocation, which is an expansion of the responsibility not to pose a risk to immigration control. A sponsor must now also ensure good governance, integrity of the sponsorship scheme, and the wider UK immigration system.

We’ll need to wait and see how the dust settles on these changes to see how strictly the grounds for revocation are enforced, but as a sponsor, you should now complete an internal audit to make sure that any failures are remedied as soon as possible.

Eligible role test replaces genuine vacancy requirement

The genuine vacancy requirement has been revamped and replaced with a new eligible role test. This is defined in a new glossary. An eligible role must:

• Exist (or be reasonably anticipated to exist) when the CoS is assigned
• Require the worker to perform the specific duties, responsibilities, and hours set out on the CoS
• Meet all route requirements, including skill level, salary thresholds, National Minimum Wage, and Working Time Regulations
• Be appropriate to the business in light of its model, plan, and scale
• Continue to meet these requirements throughout the sponsorship

Failure to comply triggers a mandatory refusal or revocation of a sponsor licence.

The application of the eligible role test applies to all sponsored immigration routes. This is wider than the genuine vacancy requirement, which was route specific. This means the mandatory ground for refusal or revocation of a sponsor licence is also wider.

Part 1 of the guidance makes clear that as a sponsor, you’ll be subject to financial scrutiny and must be able to demonstrate that salaries are commensurate with the organisation's turnover or financial situation. If you can’t explain how salaries will be funded sustainably, the Home Office may conclude you’re not capable of paying the stated salary and refuse or revoke your licence. 

This approach is not new. In recent years, the digital integration of government systems has already enabled the Home Office to check this routinely when assessing whether a vacancy is genuine. They’ll use enhanced PAYE data shared by HMRC and Companies House to identify if a worker is being paid the salary stated on their CoS and they can compare this with the organisation’s turnover. This can also happen as part of a Home Office digital compliance audits, which can take place without a sponsor being contacted or involved in the audit at all. This has resulted in a sharp increase in sponsor licence revocations over the past year.

Requests for additional information at the defined CoS request or CoS allocation stage may also be targeting similar concerns about the existence of an eligible role, salary sustainability and affordability. An example in practice is in the Skilled Worker sponsor guidance, which now states an additional ground for rejection of a defined CoS request (or a grant of fewer than the number of defined CoS requested) where the Home Office is not sufficiently satisfied you will be able to offer guaranteed work or that the existence of the role is uncertain.

CoS accuracy and reporting duties

In a similar vein to the eligible role requirement, the Home Office has added a new section into the guidance telling sponsors how to match a role with an occupation code and job description when assigning a CoS.

The requirements ensure a sponsored worker's role in practice matches the CoS:

• The occupation code, job description, and duration on the CoS must accurately reflect the role you intend to sponsor.
• If the role changes after permission is granted (and no change of employment application is required), you must report the change within 10 working days

Failure to report a permitted change, or a mismatch between the CoS and the worker's actual role, is a mandatory ground for licence revocation.

Although this is a new section in the guidance, the sponsor duty itself hasn’t changed; it appears that the relevant parts of the previous guidance have been extracted and consolidated into a new section.

This signals the Home Office's intention to elevate the importance of CoS accuracy as a core sponsor duty. The guidance emphasises here that the sponsorship scheme is built on trust; sponsors are expected to exercise the scheme accurately, and strict compliance is required. It also makes clear that you, as the sponsor, are responsible for getting this right.

The issue arises throughout the entire sponsorship lifecycle. It is essential to assign the CoS correctly at the outset and to ensure it continues to reflect accurate details for the sponsored worker until their sponsorship ends. A trained eligible individual or team must manage the SMS, supported by a clear communication channel with line managers, as the SMS team will not always be aware of day to day role changes. This is another reason why regular internal compliance audits are critical.

Salary compliance

The sponsor guidance introduces an amended mandatory ground for refusal or revocation of a sponsor licence, where a sponsor has artificially inflated the salary of a worker to enable them to meet the relevant salary threshold for a visa or settlement application.

This is more robust than the previous ground, which contained a mandatory refusal for settlement applications only. The expansion of the mandatory ground for refusal or revocation presents a high-risk issue for Skilled Worker sponsors, because the Immigration Rules have also changed.

Skilled Worker sponsors must now ensure that the salary stated on the CoS is paid at or above the minimum salary requirement in every pay period. Previously the minimum salary requirement was met through an assessment of what was paid on an annual basis. Although the new Rule has been introduced, the sponsor guidance doesn’t explain how it works in practice.

It may be the case that the sponsor guidance will be updated again in the next few weeks.

New worker welfare obligations

Sponsors now have explicit duties to ensure and promote workplace-related welfare. You must provide sponsored workers with information about their UK employment rights, including:

• National Minimum Wage entitlement
• Working Time Regulations
• Pension auto-enrolment and opt-outs
• Statutory leave and pay
• Health and safety
• Trade union membership and activities
• Equality Act duties
• How to raise grievances

For sponsors this means you must have HR systems or processes demonstrating that this information is provided to sponsored workers, and you must retain evidence in accordance with Sponsor guidance appendix D: keeping records for sponsorship.

Additional points to note

Be aware of other important changes, including:

• Amendment to widen the applicability of right to work checks: The sponsor guidance reiterates that you must check every worker's right to work before they start, even if they appear to be a British citizen, settled, or an unsponsored worker on a visa. Amendments to the guidance now make the distinction between workers who are employed or ‘engaged’, which aligns with the position that there may not always be a direct employment relationship between a sponsor and a sponsored worker.
• Start date clarification and compliance: Workers should normally start in their sponsored role no later than 28 days after the latest of: the CoS start date, the eVisa "valid from" date, entry clearance grant, or permission notification.
• New mandatory grounds to refuse or revoke a sponsor licence: Aside from those already mentioned, be aware that sponsors who are required to be registered with, or inspected or monitored by, a regulatory or an oversight body, or licensed by a licensing authority must be registered or licensed as required.
• Re-application for a sponsor licence requires compelling evidence: If your licence was revoked for dishonesty or deliberate misconduct, the Home Office will require ‘compelling evidence’ that you are now suitable to hold a licence. Precisely what this means will depend on the circumstances, and the guidance does not contain a list or examples.

Mini-audit checklist 

This brief checklist will help you confirm whether you’re complying with the latest sponsor guidance updates mentioned in this article. It’s a starting point, and if you haven’t done so already, now is a good time to complete a full audit. 

• Review your policies and processes: Make sure they work in practice and help you to stay compliant.
• Assess salary sustainability: Be prepared to demonstrate that sponsored salaries are commensurate with your organisation's financial position.
• Review current sponsored workers: Check whether actual roles match CoS details, including occupation code, job description, and salary per pay period.
• Tighten reporting procedures: Implement processes to report any permitted changes within the 10 working day window, and make sure a new CoS is issued if necessary.
• Check necessary documents are kept on file: Ensure you have documented systems for informing sponsored workers of their employment rights, and keep evidence on file per Appendix D.
• Train relevant staff: Ensure they understand the new requirements.

Need more help?

Don't miss our webinar What's happening in Immigration Law on 26 March. We'll be highlighting the key developments in immigration so far in 2026.

If you have any queries or need assistance with sponsor compliance, including strategic advice, training or a mock audit, please contact a member of our immigration team.