Tier 2 licence: Preparing for a Home Office visit (pt.1)

Part 1: Sponsorship Duties

Record Keeping 

As a licenced sponsor, you are obligated to comply with the Sponsorship Duties issued by the Home Office. A full list of the duties can be found in Tier 2 and 5 Guidance for Sponsors. 

A full list of all documents required to be kept on file for each sponsored worker can be found in Appendix D. The below table summarises the most common types and should not be read alone as a reference to Appendix D is required.

It is highly recommended that you prepare files for ALL WORKERS based on the information below (Although there will be no BRP card with British nationals). You still should have a copy of their British passport.

The information need not be held together, many employers record absences on a central database, rather than on a personnel file, but the information must be readily accessible. 

Employee ID and information

You will be asked to provide;

• A copy of each sponsored worker’s passport
  • This can be a photocopied or electronic copy of the relevant pages showing
    • ID biometric page
    • Leave stamp including their entry to the UK stamp
    • Details of their immigration status

• Migrant’s Biometrics Residence Permit (BRP)
  • A copy of the front and back of the card must be kept on file.
• Copy of National Insurance (NI) Number
  • This can be a copy of;
    • Their NI card or a notification letter from HMRC
    • Their wage slips
    • Their P45
    • The Real-Time Information (RTI) starter checklist (formerly the P46)
    • Their P60
    • The P11 free of tax pay (FOT): employers declaration sent to HMRC 
    • The RTI Employment Payment Summary (EPS) sent online to HMRC 
    • The FTI Full Payment Submission (FPS) sent online to HMRC
  • Each sponsored worker’s contact details
    • You will need to show the employee’s
      • Residential Address in the UK
      • Landline/ Mobile Phone number
      • Email address
      • These details should be kept up to date, and history should be kept
    • Details of children under 18
      • A copy of the letter provided by the migrant child’s parents or legal guardian consenting to the arrangements that have been made. 
      • Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
        • A copy of the migrants DBS check where required for the role undertaken by the sponsored migrant. 
      • Record of the Employee’s Absences
        • This may be kept either electronically or manually and include; 
          • Annual leave / Paternity / Maternity 
          • Sickness
          • Unpaid leave

Reporting duties

Reports can be made on the Sponsorship Management System by a Level 1 User. 

Sponsor Change of Circumstances

The level 1 User will be required to report the following within 10 working days.

• The Change of Address
• Change of Authorising Officer
• Change of Key Personnel contact details

Organisation Change of Circumstances

The level 1 User will be required to report the following within 20 working days.

• Takeovers 
• Merger/De-Merger 
• Stop Trading 
• Administration 
• Change the nature of business 

 Migrant Attendance

The level 1 User will be required to report the following within 10 working days.

• Failure to attend the first date of employment
• Failure to attend work for 10 working days in a row without communication to their Sponsor.

Migrant Attendance

The level 1 User will be required to report the following within 10 working days.

• Termination of migrant’s sponsorship before the end date on their assigned CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship)
• Change of salary 
• Change of job role within the same occupation code 
• Where a migrant’s employment is affected by TUPE

HR PROCESSES 

The Compliance Officer may wish to attend a visit either pre-licence grant or post-license grant to ensure that you have sufficient processes in place that enable you to comply fully with your Sponsorship Duties (outlined above). 

If you believe that your current HR processes are sufficient, then we advise you to have a look at each of the duties so that you can assess whether your current process can comply. 

You must monitor the end visa date for your employees

We encourage you to employ automated visa expiry reminder for each migrant employee. This can be set up via Microsoft Outlook (or equivalent) as a calendar reminder. We advise that this is set at 3 months before the expiry date of each Migrant employee. 

Your admin and HR have good file keeping

Make sure that there are paper and electronic personnel files. This is to evidence that you have efficient and effective processes in place to manage important dates for Migrant personnel. This is only relevant for current staff. 

NOTE: where your HR is handled externally by a third party, we advise that back-up files are accessible within the sponsored office. They should be accessible by the Authorising Officer upon request at any time.

To learn more and prepare for the Home Office

Call 020 7118 4546 or email: info@westkin.com