Immigration compliance is one of the most complex and complicated issues educational establishments have to deal with and getting it right is essential due to the direct impact on international students and access to the highest quality teaching staff. Engaging with the UK immigration system brings various financial, organisational and reputational risks, and with ever-changing rules and procedures, ensuring compliance is evermore challenging.
In the second quarter of 2024 the Home Office issued 568 penalties to UK organisations to the value of over £21m for employing migrants who did not have the Right to Work. Since 2018, more than 5,000 penalties have been handed down, with a total value exceeding £100m. In the third quarter of 2024, 509 sponsor licences were suspended and 513 licences were revoked.
We are seeing a clear upwards trend in Home Office compliance visits, and less of a willingness to ‘forgive’ sponsor transgressions. Below you will find some of the basic (but very important) matters to consider and adjust in relation to sponsoring Child Student visa holders, Student visa holders, and Skilled Worker visa holders.
- Licence structure
Consider the best way to structure your sponsor licence(s) – is an ‘umbrella’ sponsor licence to cover multiple schools preferable to having a sponsor licence for each school?
What are your processes to manage compliance? Do you have one administrative/HR function that covers all schools? If so, an umbrella sponsor licence may be preferable as it would save time and money. However, if schools have their own separate operational functions ensuring compliance across the board may be more difficult and therefore individual sponsor licences may be preferable.
The Home Office says that if they find issues with one school they will not automatically suspend or revoke other sponsor licences of other schools in the group. However, they do make clear that they will very likely take a closer look at their compliance as well.
TIP: Regularly review your organisation structure and evaluate whether a change to the current arrangements would be beneficial. You can add or surrender sponsor licences at any point. You can also add or remove entities from any licence you have at any point.
- Reporting duties
All sponsor licences come with specific reporting duties and deadlines for reporting, which need to be made on the online Sponsor Management System (SMS).
Most commonly, changes to the sponsor licence holding entity need to be reported within 20 working days of the change occurring (change of name, change of location, change of organisation structure, etc.).
Changes to an individual sponsored person’s circumstances usually need to be reported within 10 working days of the change occurring (unexplained absences, end of sponsorship, etc.).
Ensure all personnel involved in sponsor licence compliance are aware of changes which need to be reported across all sponsor licences you hold.
TIP: Undertake regular training sessions with those involved in reporting changes via the Sponsor Management System. You can find the list of reportable events here:
For Student visa sponsors: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67ed5acd98b3bac1ec299bea/Sponsorship+Duties.pdf
For Skilled Worker visa sponsors:
- Document keeping duties
All sponsor licences come with specific document keeping duties. Depending on the visa category these requirements can be quite comprehensive.
Ensure all personnel involved in sponsor licence compliance are aware of the documents which must be kept on file for each sponsored student or worker.
TIP: Undertake regular training sessions with those involved in compiling and storing all of the required documents. You can find the list of documents you need to keep as a sponsor here:
For Student visa and Skilled Worker visa sponsors: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keep-records-for-sponsorship-appendix-d
- Right to Study/Work checks
All private education institutions have to ensure that their students have the legal right to study in the UK, they are also required to ensure that their employees have the legal right to work in the UK. Both of these duties are a very important part of ensuring compliance with UK immigration and employment laws.
It is important to understand which types of visa permit which activities. It is especially important to understand which activities (if any) a person who is in the UK as a visitor can undertake – attending school as a visitor is generally not permitted, neither is working as a teacher. The length of the stay is immaterial in both circumstances.
Falling foul of these laws can lead, amongst other things, to the loss of your sponsor licence(s), a fine up to £60,000 per illegal individual, and a jail term for a senior member of the organisation of up to five years.
The rules pertaining to right to work change regularly, so you need to ensure that you are keeping all members of staff involved in undertaking these checks up to date.
Once you have undertaken an incorrect check (for example too late, or not in compliance with the process you need to follow for that specific student or employee) you cannot regain your protection from enforcement action, even if you undertake a new compliant Right to Work check at a later date. However, rectifying incorrect checks shows the Home Office that you have recognised that there was an issue and you have done what you can to put it right.
TIP: Ensure you have robust Right to Work processes in place, and that those undertaking these checks in your organisation are always up to date on the requirements. You can find the employer guide here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checks-employers-guide
- Issues that could trigger a Home Office audit
The Home Office has increased its audit activities in recent months. While your organisation can be randomly selected for an audit at any point, there are certain triggers which could put your organisation on the Home Office’s radar, such as:
- An application to add a site or teaching partnership
- Recurring late reporting of changes via the SMS
- Change in educational oversight
- Request for an unusually large number of CASs/COSs
- Issues with Right to Work documentation
- If multiple licences in the group, an issue that arose with one
These audits can be remote or in person, announced or unannounced, and can take anything from a couple of hours to two full days. It is therefore vital that you constantly check and re-check all areas of sponsor compliance so that you do not need to scramble when you are chosen for an audit.
TIP: Staying on top of your sponsor compliance duties should be a daily process. If you are not able to pay close attention to this every day we suggest that you schedule mock audits on a regular basis. You can find further information on how the Home Office undertakes these audit visits here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-sponsor-management
- Potential pitfalls regarding visa applications
Successfully navigating the sponsor compliance requirements is only half of the work that you need to undertake as a sponsor. The other half is assisting your students and workers in submitting successful visa applications.
For students, general issues with visa applications are quite varied, such as:
- Insufficient financial evidence
- Insufficient evidence of English language ability
- Questionable genuine intent to study
- Inadequate living arrangements
- Poor interview performance
For workers, general issues with visa applications can be:
- Incorrect salary for the sponsored job
- Incorrect government job code
- Incorrect English language test
- Questions regarding whether the job applied for is a genuine vacancy
- Undeclared personal connection with someone already working at the sponsor organisation
Visa applications have become more complex and more expensive in recent months and years. It is generally advisable to seek legal support if you are concerned or unsure about any part of the application before you submit it, as many problems can be averted by addressing them and providing supporting documents. If an application is refused it is generally much more difficult and costly to deal with it.
TIP: There is not really any one document that sets out how to ensure that you do not fall foul of any rules. The best document to look at is the caseworker guidance, which sets out how a Home Office caseworker approaches a visa application:
For Student visas:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-student-route
For Skilled Worker visas:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-caseworker-guidance
- New salaries for teachers since 9 April 2025
The minimum salary for teachers has been at least £23,200 or the job’s ‘going rate’ if it was higher than the minimum salary.
Both of these salary amounts have recently been adjusted. Since 9 April 2025 a teacher’s salary must be at least £25,000 or the job’s going rate if it is higher than the minimum salary.
The going rates for teachers are based on the national pay scales set by the relevant independent body (STRB).
TIP: You need to factor the increased salary requirements into your budget when you look at hiring teachers who need a Skilled Worker visa. You will also need to ensure that you pay the correct salary to any teachers who need to extend their visas in the coming months. You can find information on teachers’ salaries here:
- New safeguarding duties from 29 May 2025
The Home Office will make various changes to the visa rules regarding care arrangements for Child Student visa holders who are also boarders. Much more responsibility is being put on the sponsoring education establishment to ensure the well-being of the sponsored student than was previously expected.
It is important for sponsors to evaluate their current processes and policies in relation to guardianship, care/travel/living arrangements and required documentary evidence, and adjust them where needed to remain compliant. It will be important to ‘tick all the right boxes’ before issuing a CAS to any student. Education establishments will need to ensure they protect their visa refusal rates, so that they will continue to meet their Basic Compliance Assessment.
TIP: We are currently awaiting the amended Immigration Rules and caseworker guidance for more clarity on the changes and how they are meant to work in practice. For the time being you can visit the following to get a head start on the incoming changes:
Key Contacts
The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at May 2025.