CORPORATE IMMIGRATION SERVICES
Business immigration advice for UK employers
Hiring overseas staff brings extra legal duties. You may need a sponsor licence, every sponsored role has to meet the visa rules, and once you’re licensed the Home Office expects you to keep on top of your sponsor duties.
Fusco Browne advises businesses that employ, or plan to employ, people from overseas. We help with sponsor licence applications, Skilled Worker visas, staying compliant, right to work checks and problems with an existing licence.
How we can help your business
If you want to sponsor overseas workers, you’ll usually need a licence from the Home Office first. We check your business qualifies, prepare your application and supporting documents, advise on key personnel and help you get ready for a possible pre-licence visit.
Find out more about sponsor licences
Once you’re licensed, we help you sponsor the right people. We check the job and salary meet the rules, assign certificates of sponsorship correctly and prepare your employees’ visa applications and extensions.
Find out more about Skilled Worker visas
Moving staff to the UK from an overseas branch, or hiring for a role that doesn’t fit the Skilled Worker route? We’ll explain the other work visa options and which one suits your business.
Find out more about work visas
A sponsor licence comes with ongoing duties: keeping the right records, monitoring sponsored workers and reporting certain changes to the Home Office through the Sponsorship Management System. We can review your records and procedures and help you prepare for a Home Office compliance visit.
Contact us
If the Home Office finds serious problems, it can downgrade, suspend or revoke your licence. That can stop you recruiting and put your sponsored workers’ visas at risk. Act quickly: we’ll explain what the Home Office is concerned about, help you respond and advise on your options.
Contact usRight to work checks
Every employer must check that their staff are allowed to do the work they’re offered, whether or not you hold a sponsor licence. The right check depends on the person’s immigration status.
Doing the checks properly gives you a defence if it later turns out someone wasn’t allowed to work. Getting them wrong can mean a fine of up to £60,000 per illegal worker. We can advise on how to carry out checks and set up procedures to keep you protected.
Do you need a sponsor licence?
Not always. Some overseas nationals already have permission to work in the UK without sponsorship, for example people with settled status, a spouse visa or a Graduate visa.
You’ll need a licence if you want to employ someone who needs a sponsored work visa. The role will also need to meet the skill and salary rules for that visa, and these change regularly, so check before you make an offer.
Who we work with
We help:
- businesses applying for their first sponsor licence
- licensed sponsors recruiting more overseas staff
- employers with workers who need visa extensions
- businesses reviewing their records and reporting
- employers preparing for a Home Office compliance visit
- businesses whose licence has been suspended or revoked
- employers going through a merger, takeover or restructure that affects sponsored staff
Frequently asked questions
Only if the person needs a sponsored work visa. Many people from overseas already have the right to work in the UK.
Keeping the right records on sponsored workers, monitoring their attendance and employment, and reporting certain changes to the Home Office within set time limits.
Home Office officers may check your records, recruitment process and HR systems, and speak to staff, including sponsored workers. Visits can be announced or unannounced.
There’s no appeal against revocation, and you’ll usually have to wait 12 months before applying again. The only way to challenge the decision is through judicial review, which has strict time limits, so get advice straight away.
Yes. We advise employers and employees on extending Skilled Worker visas, including assigning a new certificate of sponsorship.