Changes to the Sponsorship Licence for UK Visa Applicants

Sponsorship management updates from the Home Office

Taylor Hampton Assists with VISA Sponsorship OpportunitiesToday, the Home Office sent emails to those who have sponsor licences to announce  modest but important changes they are making to the sponsor management system. These changes are speeding up the processing times.

“CoS” Annual Certificates of Sponsorship

Allocations for annual certificates of sponsorship (or “CoS”) will henceforth be renewed automatically with the same number as the allocation from the previous year. This eliminates the annual trouble of asking for and defending a new allocation for each succeeding year. Sponsors can still ask for a raise if more CoS are required for any forthcoming year.

Only those whose allocations expire more than three months after this mailing, or starting on June 24, 2023, will experience the automatic allocation renewal. The customary renewal request must be submitted for those whose allocations are about to expire sooner.

Which sponsor requests will be prioritised?

The following sponsor requests will also be instantly met going forward. rather than needing to wait 18 weeks:

• Swapping out the Key Contact and Authorising Office (you must still submit signed submittal forms)
• A Level 1 user has been added (checks are yet done).
• Modifying the organization’s information

Tell me more about satisfying the criteria?

The following criteria must be satisfied immediately:

The permit is completely functional.

The sponsor will be rated A if:

• The postcode of the new Authorising Office, Key Contact, or Level 1 user’s address matches the postcode of the main organisation address, the head office address, the postcode of a legal representative, OR
• Both for Key contacts and Level 1 users alone

Each of these improvements lessens some of the needless red tape that now surrounds the system.

For more information:

If you would like to know more about UK Visas and Immigration, please contact our Head of Immigration Services, Leena Chouhan, on the following number: 020 7427 5972