Expert Immigration Services for Businesses

Are you looking to tap into a global talent pool and recruit overseas workers to help support and grow your business? Perhaps you have a client looking to do so?

There are many rules to follow if you are to stay within the stringent regulatory framework of immigration law. But the rewards are often well worth it and, with the right team of immigration specialists by your side advising you and actively making sure you remain compliant in your overseas recruitment activities, you’ll be able to enjoy both peace of mind, and the benefits of a wider pool of skills.

Sponsor licences

Here at Imperium Chambers, our specialist immigration barristers have more than twenty years’ experience in assisting businesses seeking to bring talent into the UK from overseas. We can assist with every aspect of the process involved in obtaining a sponsor licence, including stepping in to help overturn any refusal decision you may have come up against.

If you are looking to employ migrant workers under the Skilled Worker (previously Tier 2) or Temporary Work (previously Tier 5) routes, then you will need to demonstrate that your business is:

• A genuine organisation operating in the UK.
• A reliable sponsor, prepared to act as the eyes and ears of the Home Office.
• Capable of conducting sponsor duties, with the necessary systems in place to do so.
• In a position to offer genuine employment that will not be used to conceal an ulterior motive, for example bringing someone to stay in the UK for another reason.

The application under the Points Based System (PBS) has become extremely stringent in recent years due to it having been historically abused. It is therefore vital that your sponsor licence application is carefully prepared and includes all the relevant documents required under the Immigration Rules, complete with clear and concise explanations of how you will go about ensuring and enforcing compliance.

If you would like assistance with the sponsor licence application process, or you have an upcoming visit and would like tailored guidance to help you through it, the team at Imperium Chambers is ready to support you, so please do get in touch.

Sponsor compliance

Once you have been granted your sponsor licence, compliance becomes a significant responsibility.

As a sponsor, you are considered the eyes and ears of the Home Office. Your responsibilities will be time consuming, and they can also be confusing. Failure to comply with your duties can lead to your licence being suspended or revoked, meaning you will no longer be permitted to employ migrant workers.

Sponsors are heavily policed by the Home Office, with unannounced visits commonplace. You will also be monitored through the electronic Sponsor Management System, something you’ll need to be fully conversant with.

At Imperium Chambers, we work closely with sponsor businesses and/or their solicitors to ensure their ongoing compliance with the Secretary of State’s policy and guidance. We offer a compliance assessment service, an opportunity to identify any flaws in your processes that may expose you to a negative compliance visit.

We’ll also attend any compliance audits, acting as your legal overseer to ensure the Home Office compliance officers are assessing you on a fair and legal basis.

If you have recently undergone a compliance visit and have been asked to provide further information, your sponsor licence has been suspended, or you’ve lost your licence altogether, please don’t despair. Our expert team is on hand to take you through the next steps and come up with a solution to take things forward positively. Whether that involves writing to the Home Office with further evidence, or challenging a decision via a judicial review in the High Court, we’ll do all we can to resolve the issues you are facing.

Civil penalties

Have you or your client been issued a civil penalty for employing an illegal worker? We understand this will be a very worrying time for you in many ways, not least financially.

Acting swiftly is imperative. The Home Office will normally allow the opportunity to make representations as to why a penalty should be reduced or cancelled. It is crucial that this aspect of the process is carried out accurately, because any errors at this stage could result in a full civil trial.

Our experts will help you or your client prepare your evidence and reasons for your actions so that you have a robust defence in place. We will also advise you on your options for co-operating with the Home Office, which may be a solution for mitigating your losses.

In many cases we have been able to convince the Home Office to reduce or cancel a civil penalty, meaning there is no need to go to court. However, if your case does proceed to a full civil trial, you can rely on our high level advocacy skills and in-depth knowledge of the system to help optimise your prospects of a successful outcome by carefully considering the Immigration Rules, statutory defences, and the Secretary of State’s policy and published guidance.

You can avoid civil penalties altogether by having procedures in place to prevent you from falling foul of the rules. Prevention is better than cure, and our sponsor consulting service will help you or your client stay on the right side of the law, providing advice on improvements that could be made to reduce your exposure to the threat of damaging civil penalties.

For tailored advice on migrant worker sponsorship and compliance, or for expert help defending a civil penalty, contact our immigration specialists today on 0207 242 3488, or complete our enquiry form below.

Expert Immigration Services for Individuals