How do I sponsor a migrant?
Area 4: Migrant tracking and monitoring
This page explains how we rate the way you plan to use your human resource (HR) systems to track and monitor their sponsored migrants. 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 5
On this page
What you must do
You must report the following information or events to us, within any time limit specified:
- if a sponsored migrant does not turn up for their first day of work, or does not enrol on their course at the expected time. The report must be provided within 10 working days and must include any reason given by the migrant for the non-attendance or non-enrolment (for example a missed flight). For tier 4 migrants we expect to be notified of any students who fail to enrol no later than 10 working days after then end of their prescribed enrolment period;
- if a migrant is absent from work or study for more than 10 working days, without your reasonably granted permission. The report must be provided within 10 working days of the 10th day of absence. For tier 4 migrants we expect to be notified where a student has missed 10 expected contacts. For students in schools, further educational and language colleges which will normally be where the student has missed 2 weeks of a course. In the higher education sector, where daily registers are not kept, we will accept this reporting where the student has missed expected interactions (for example, tutorials, submission of coursework etc);
- if a migrant stops their studies or if the migrant's contract of employment or registration is terminated (including where the migrant resigns or is dismissed). This report must be provided within 10 working days of the event in question, and should include the name and address of any new employer or institution that the migrant has joined, if you know it. For tier 4 migrants where a student ceases to attend an institution either because the institution has withdrawn them from the course or because the student has told them they are leaving. We will expect the institution to notify us within 10 working days of this being confirmed. In addition, if a student defers their studies after their arrival in the United Kingdom the sponsor will need to advise us of the deferral and advise the student to leave the United Kingdom;
- if you stop sponsoring the migrant for any other reason (for example if the migrant moves into an immigration category that does not need a sponsor), the report must be provided within 10 working days;
- if there are any significant changes in the migrant's circumstances, for example a change of job or salary (but not job title or annual pay rise) or if the length of a course of study shortens;
- any suspicions you may have that a migrant is breaching the conditions of their leave (permission to be in the United Kingdom), the report must be provided within 10 working days;
- if there are any significant changes in your circumstances, for example if you stop trading or become insolvent, substantially change the nature of your business, merge your company with another company, or are taken over, the report must be provided within 28 working days; and
- details of any third party or intermediary, whether in the United Kingdom or abroad, that has assisted you in the recruitment of migrant employees or students.
We will use information about migrants' non-attendance, non-compliance or disappearance to decide on enforcement action against you.
Checklist
To comply with your sponsorship duties, you should:
- make sure that migrants are monitored sufficiently, for example with regular contact if the migrant works at client sites or from home; and
- establish a suitable procedure to make sure that a designated person(s) is informed of any circumstances which should be reported to us, and then does so.
Ratings
You will get a rating of 1 if you have procedures in place to:
- monitor your sponsored migrants sufficiently enough to ensure that any of the circumstances listed in the sponsorship duties will come to your attention within a suitable period of time; and
- to enable you to report any of these circumstance to us within any time period we specify in the sponsorship duties.
For example:
- All employees use a card to electronically record their arrival and departure at the beginning and end of each day and the HR team receives regular reports on who has reported for work. The reasons for any unauthorised absences are checked with the relevant line manager and/or the employee in question. There is a designated member of staff within the HR team who is responsible for ensuring that we are informed of any circumstances specified in the sponsorship duties.
- The sponsor has a formal procedure in place that the employee's line manager will notify HR when one of their staff is absent from work. The HR team monitors attendance on a regular basis and will contact the employee if the absence is unauthorised. There is a designated member of staff within the HR team who is responsible for ensuring that we are informed of any circumstances specified in the sponsorship duties.
- Each faculty of a university records when their students enrol, attend tutorials and examinations and submit coursework. The faculties are then required to submit a weekly report on any students who have failed to enrol, missed 10 expected contacts or have been withdrawn from the course to a designated person who is responsible for ensuring we are informed within 10 working days.
You will get a rating of 2 if you have procedures in place to:
- Monitor your sponsored migrants sufficiently enough to ensure that any of the circumstances listed in the sponsorship duties will come to your attention; but
- there are minor problems with the monitoring of sponsored migrants or the procedure for notifying us of any of these circumstances, and these problems could potentially result in us not being notified within any time period we specify in the sponsorship duties.
For example:
- Branch managers in a large organisation manage recruitment and attendance locally and send a fortnightly report to the central HR team. The sponsor's designated responsible person(s) are based within the central HR team, which may result in some unauthorised absences not being reported to us within 10 working days.
- A sponsor's migrants are monitored enough to ensure that any of the circumstances listed in the sponsorship duties will come to the sponsor's attention within a suitable period of time. However, it is not clear which member of staff is responsible for notifying us, which could result in delays.
- Each faculty of a university records when their students enrol, attend tutorials and examinations and submit coursework but there is no clear procedure for how this information is passed on to a designated person who is responsible for ensuring we are informed. This may result in us not being informed within 10 working days.
You will get a rating of 3 if you do not have procedures in place to:
- monitor your sponsored migrants sufficiently enough and/or the procedure in place to notify us of any of the circumstances listed in the sponsorship duties is not suitable. This could frequently result in us not being notified within any time period we specify in the sponsorship duties and/or could potentially result in us not being notified at all.
For example:
- A medium/large employer or an educational establishment has no procedure in place to monitor the attendance of their employees or students.