Sponsor Licence Compliance Changes 2026: What HR Must Do

A More Stringent Sponsorship Regime

The Home Office has moved away from a lenient, discretionary approach to enforcement.

Sponsor licences can now be revoked even where:

• Breaches are unintentional

• Sponsors fail to demonstrate effective governance or oversight.

Discretionary refusal and revocation powers have also expanded to include:

• Risks to immigration control
• Weak internal compliance frameworks
  
  

What this means for HR teams

• Organisations must be able to evidence that compliance systems are not only in place, but actively working.
  
  

HR Action:

• Conduct a full internal audit

• Identify and address any compliance gaps immediately before Home Office intervention.

Eligible Role Test: A Fundamental Change

The new eligible role test replaces the genuine vacancy requirement and introduces a broader, more rigorous standard.

An eligible role must:

• Exist, or be reasonably anticipated to exist, at the point of CoS assignment
• Match the duties, responsibilities, and working hours stated on the CoS
• Meet all route requirements, including:
  • Skill level
  • Salary thresholds
• Comply with wider UK employment law, including:
  • National Minimum Wage
  • Working Time Regulations
• Be appropriate to the organisation’s size, structure, and business model
• Continue to meet these requirements throughout the sponsorship period
  
  

Key risks

• Non-compliance triggers mandatory refusal or licence revocation
• Increased financial scrutiny, including:
  
  • Salary affordability
  • Alignment with organisational turnover

HR considerations

You should be able to clearly evidence:

• The genuineness and necessity of the role
• How the salary is sustainably funded

Increased Digital Scrutiny and Data Matching

The Home Office now relies heavily on data-sharing across government systems, including:

• HMRC (PAYE data)
• Companies House (for example, change in company ownership)

UKVI compliance checks may take place:

• Without prior notice
• Without direct engagement from the Home Office
  
  

Implications

• Increased focus on salary discrepancies 
• Role legitimacy is under greater scrutiny
• There has been a significant increase in sponsor licence revocations 

Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS): Accuracy is Critical

Core Requirements:

• The CoS must accurately reflect:

  • Occupation code
  • Job description
  • Salary
  • Duration of employment

• Sponsors must also:

• Report changes within 10 working days
  
• Ensure the role performed in practice matches the CoS details
  
  

Risks

• Any mismatch between the CoS and the actual role can result in mandatory licence revocation

• Failure to report changes is a serious compliance breach
  
  

Best practice

• Maintain clear communication between HR, compliance teams, and line managers
• Restrict access to the Sponsor Management System (SMS) to trained personnel only

Salary Compliance: New Rules from April 2026

The key requirement is that salary must meet the required salary thresholds in each pay period, not just on an annual basis.

Assessment periods:

• Monthly (or less frequent pay): assessed over 3 months
• Weekly (or more frequent pay): assessed over 12 weeks

UKVI will also assess:

• Irregular pay patterns
• Salary deductions and repayments
• Alignment between working hours and pay

Importantly, the following do not count toward salary thresholds:

• Bonuses
• One-off payments such as golden handshakes or similar payments
  
  

Risks

Errors in salary structure or payments can lead to:

• Licence revocation
• Visa or settlement refusals

New Worker Welfare Obligations

Sponsors must now actively ensure that sponsored workers are informed of their UK employment rights.

This must include information on:

• National Minimum Wage
• Working Time Regulations
• Pension auto-enrolment
• Statutory leave and pay
• Health and safety
• Trade union rights
• Equality obligations
• Grievance procedures
  
  

HR requirement

You must implement systems to:

• Provide this information clearly
• Retain evidence that this information has been provided to a sponsored worker

Right to Work Checks: Expanded Scope

Right to work obligations have been widened. Checks must now be carried out for workers who are:

• Employed
• Or “engaged” by the organisation
  
  

Potential impact:

This may extend to:

• Contractors
• Self-employed individuals
• Secondees
  
  

Risk

• Engaging a worker without evidence of right to work will normally lead to revocation of sponsor licence
  
  

Recommendation

• Adopt a consistent approach and conduct right to work checks for all workers, regardless of employment status.

Additional Compliance Requirements

Sponsors must also ensure:

• Sponsored workers start work within 28 days of their CoS start date or visa grant

• All required regulatory registrations or licences for the business are in place

• Any future re-application after revocation is supported by compelling evidence of improved compliance

Enforcement Trends: A Clear Warning

Recent data highlights the scale of enforcement activity:

• Over 3,100 sponsor licences were revoked in 2025
• A sharp increase was recorded in late 2025
• High-risk sectors include:
  • Social care
  • Hospitality
  • Retail
  • Construction

Common compliance failures include:

• Underpayment of salary
• Poor record-keeping
• Failure to meet reporting duties
  
  

Key takeaway

• The Home Office is increasingly relying on data-led enforcement, rather than traditional site visits.

What HR Teams Should Do Now

Organisations should act immediately to strengthen compliance.

Immediate priority actions:

• Audit internal policies and processes to ensure they are practical and effective
• Review salary structures and ensure sustainability by aligning pay with financial position
  
• Audit sponsored roles against CoS records
• Strengthen reporting procedures to meet 10-day reporting deadlines
• Ensure document retention complies with Appendix D
• Train HR teams, compliance staff, and hiring managers

Final Takeaway

The updated sponsor guidance signals a move to strict, zero-tolerance and data-driven enforcement.

Maintaining a sponsor licence now depends on:

• Strong internal controls
• Accurate and up-to-date records
• Proactive compliance management

Even minor errors can now have serious consequences. Early, compliance-focused action is essential.