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How do I sponsor a migrant?

An interview panel

Your sponsorship duties

Changes to sponsor guidance for Tiers 2, 4 and 5

Changes to sponsor guidance for Tiers 2, 4 and 5

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This section explains your sponsorship duties under the points-based system, including your duties under different tiers, and your duties of recordkeeping, reporting and compliance.

As a sponsor, you must meet certain duties to make sure immigration controls remain effective. The aims of these duties are to:

  • prevent abuse of assessment procedures;
  • capture any patterns of migrant behaviour early which cause concern;
  • address possible weaknesses in your processes which cause those patterns; and
  • monitor compliance with immigration rules.

If you have any queries about your sponsorship duties, you should raise them with our visiting officers who provide advice and act as a general point of contact.

You can use the employer checking service which is a developing service that offers employers an opportunity to check the status of individuals to work in the United Kingdom.

Terms explained

  • Immigration controls

    This term normally applies to a person who is in the United Kingdom under a category of the immigration rules that imposes restrictions on them, for example how long they can stay in the country and whether or not they can work.

All glossary terms