There have been several news updates related to immigration law recently and two more hit the headlines over the weekend: the fines for allowing illegal working are increasing and sponsor licences are no longer going to have a 4 year limit.
Increase to civil penalties
From 13 February 2024 the fine a business can face for allowing illegal working will increase.
The current fine is £20,000 per illegal worker. The new fines will be a maximum of £45,000 for a first breach and a maximum of £60,000 per illegal worker for any subsequent or repeat breaches.
These new fines will apply to any employers who are issued with a penalty notice on or after 13 February 2024, unless the illegal worker in question ceased working for that organisation on or before 12 February 2024.
This change won’t have any practical effect for most employers who already comply with the right to work checks. However, they will be a cautionary word of warning for any employers who may be tempted to skip or overlook discrepancies in right to work checks.
If you’d like to know more about the right to work checks regime and issues to be aware of, we are holding a 1 hour webinar on right to work checks on Wednesday 17 April. Use the link to find out more and to book your place.
Sponsor licences will no longer need renewing after 4 years
The Home Office has announced that it is removing the requirement for businesses to apply to renew their sponsor licences. At the moment, sponsor licences last for 4 years and then need to be renewed with a further application process and fee.
The Home Office has announced this will no longer apply to any sponsor licence due to expire after 6 April 2024. Although unfortunately, those due to expire between now and 6 April 2024 will still need to go through the normal renewal process and won’t benefit from the new rules.
As an interim measure, the expiry date for licences due to expire after 6 April 2024 has been automatically extended by 10 years on the SMS system. However, the intention appears to be that the renewal requirement will disappear entirely in the future and we expect this will be made clearer with future updates to the software for the SMS system.
This will be a welcome development for sponsors as it removes the administrative burden and cost of the renewal process. It also removes any uncertainty for skilled workers that the licence they are sponsored by may not be renewed part way through their visa period.
The Home Office has said that this change will enable them to prioritise compliance and digitalising the UK’s immigration service. Post-Brexit there has been an increase in the number of businesses applying for a sponsor licence for the first time which has undoubtedly put pressure on the existing system.
If you have questions regarding the sponsor licence held by your business or you are considering becoming a sponsor, please contact any member of the Immigration team who would be happy to discuss your questions further.