How do I sponsor a migrant?
Area 3: Record keeping
This page explains how we rate the record keeping in your human resource (HR) systems. We do this when you apply for a licence to sponsor migrants under the points-based system to work or study. We may also conduct checks after you have been granted a licence.
Changes to sponsor guidance for Tiers 2, 4 and 5
Changes to sponsor guidance for Tiers 2, 4 and 5On this page
What you must do
You must provide any documents for migrants that we think are relevant. We might, for example, ask for details of your recruitment practices to make sure that you are meeting the resident labour market test where appropriate.
Checklist
To comply with your sponsorship duties you should have effective record keeping systems according to good practice.
Ratings
You will get a rating of 1 if you have procedures in place to:
- Keep comprehensive records for each student or employee according to good practice and store them so that you can quickly give us copies of any of the documents you hold when we ask for them.
For example:
- An employer keeps a comprehensive personnel file for each employee according to HR good practice. These files contain documents such as copies of any relevant qualifications or professional accreditations held by the migrant, documents relating to his or her recruitment and a record of his or her attendance. We will be able to access copies of these documents easily through the employer's HR team.
- An educational establishment keeps a file on each student which includes information relating to their studies.
You will get a rating of 2 if you have procedures in place to:
- keep comprehensive records for each student or employee according to good practice but the storage of these records may make it difficult for you to quickly give us copies of any documents you hold when we ask for them.
Or
- keep only limited employment/student records but store them in such a way that you can quickly give us copies of any documents you hold when we ask for them.
For example:
- An employer keeps comprehensive records such as copies of qualifications, accreditations and the original advertisement for the position but these documents are kept at various locations and the central HR team may not be able to give us copies of documents in a timely fashion.
- An employer keeps only a limited number of documents. However, they are kept in a central location and we can easily obtain copies of any documents the sponsor holds through the employer's HR Team.
- An educational establishment has no formal record keeping procedure and each lecturer keeps records of the students they teach rather than keeping the records in a central or faculty office. This may make it difficult for us to quickly obtain copies of the documents we may need.
You will get a rating of 3 if you do not have procedures in place to:
- keep records on your sponsored migrants.
For example:
- An employer does not keep any records relating to their employees.
See also
Terms explained
-
Resident labour market test
This is the process an employer must follow before employing a person who is not a permanent resident of the United Kingdom if he/she is first required to show that no resident worker could be found to take a job.