What Happens When My Visa Sponsor Loses Their Licence?

One of the biggest concerns for those on a Tier 2 General Visa is what would happen if their licence holder lost their Tier 2 Sponsor Licence permanently or even just temporarily. In this article, we look at the effects that a sponsor losing their licence would have on your personal Tier 2 General Visa and the differences between what would happen if they have lost it temporarily and if they have lost it permanently.

There is no doubt that your sponsor losing their licence will be a huge issue for you and hopefully, this article can help. If you want to discuss your situation with experts in the field of immigration then please get in touch - we may be able to help you with your current situation.

How can a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence holder lose their licence?

There are several ways in which a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence holder may lose their licence, be it temporarily or permanently. These include getting a criminal conviction to failure to comply with immigration rules - including accurate record-keeping and indeed various other ways. No matter what happens, the temporary or permanent loss of your sponsor's licence status will inevitably have an impact on your own personal rights to remain in the UK.

If you are looking to try and ensure compliance with the Tier 2 Sponsor Licence then please get in touch, our immigration solicitors are well versed in helping businesses such as yours maintain their eligibility to hold a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence. We also help them to create effective HR working practices that are compliant with the law as required in order to keep your sponsor licence.

So what happens if my sponsor licence holder loses their licence temporarily?

Unless specified differently you should be able to continue working as normal. The temporary suspension of a sponsor licence will prevent your licence holder from being able to take on anymore Tier 2 General visa staff, but for the time being at least, the staff who are already working there will be able to remain in employment.

This does not mean that it is guaranteed in all circumstances and your sponsor licence holder should keep you informed along the way as clearly, it will affect you and your ability to remain in the UK if they lose their licence permanently. Unfortunately, these things do happen and being prepared will help you out in the long run.

What happens if my sponsor licence holder loses their licence permanently

Unfortunately, as your ability to stay in the country is linked directly to your employer, you will lose your visa rights if your sponsor licence holder loses their rights to remain as a sponsor. You will be given 60 days to get your affairs in order and if you have not found a new sponsor in the meantime you will be required to leave the country.

At the very least you have 60 days to try and find a new sponsor licence holder and this should be sufficient time for you to be able to locate a new job, hence the reason why 60 days is given and you are not removed from the country straight away. Use this time wisely and consult the UK sponsor licence database. You may be able to find a new Tier 2 Sponsor Licence holder, ideally in your field and if they have jobs available then you will be able to apply for a new Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) to use for a new Tier 2 application for a brand new visa so that you can work for them and stay in the UK.

Can I appeal this decision

Unfortunately not, your visa status is directly tied to your employer and as they are no longer a sponsor licence holder your Certificate of Sponsorship that was used your application is no longer valid. This is an unfortunate situation and unfortunately, it cannot be helped. But with the right preparation and understanding of the system, you can be successful and remain in the UK.

It would likely not actually be worth appealing in this instance anyway - you would be far better off using your time to search for a new role in the UK as you only have 60 days. If you wish to discuss your options then please get in touch, we may be able to help you with your situation.

What is the best way to find a new sponsor licence holder?

There are several ways in which you can locate a new sponsor licence holder. The two main ones are via the Government sponsor licence list and via recruitment listings online. The Government maintains a list of all of the sponsor licence holders in the UK and this can be very useful if you are looking to find a new employer.

There are also specialists in recruitment who can help you to find positions with sponsor licence holders. Finding sponsored work via many recruitment boards is going to be difficult as often you cannot filter whether the employers offer Certificates of Sponsorship (COS) so you may be better off with a specialist recruitment agency for this task.

How we can help

As immigration solicitors, we can help sponsor licence holders to remain compliant with the laws and help them set up HR practices which will keep them from needing to worry about the potential for losing their licence.

For Tier 2 General Visa holders we can also help you if you're looking for a new job. We can help with your new application and help you gain a new Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) for your new employer and help you to transition between employers and remain in the country. If you need any further help with this or any other immigration query then please get in touch and our specialists will be more than happy to help you.

Related Article: How to do when Tier 2 sponsorship is cancelled

Related Article: Sponsor licence renewal - A guide