We previously published articles on fraud when fake Certificates of Sponsorship (COS) are issued that causes skilled worker and health and care visa refusals.
This time we decided to write about another problem that many skilled worker visa holders face when they arrive in the UK but there is no or very little work provided by sponsor employer.
Certificate of sponsorship (work permit) – hours of work and pay
When sponsor employer assigns a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) they commit to providing the working hours and pay salary stipulated in the work permit. All sponsors are subject to specified duties and obligations set out by the Home Office UKVI.
There are very limited circumstances when sponsor employer may pay a lower salary or for a short time not pay a salary to a sponsored worker.
Certificate of sponsorship (work permit) – hours of work and pay
When sponsor employer assigns a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) they commit to providing the working hours and pay salary stipulated in the work permit. All sponsors are subject to specified duties and obligations set out by the Home Office UKVI.
There are very limited circumstances when sponsor employer may pay a lower the salary or for a short time not pay a salary to a sponsored worker.
Revocation of sponsor licence and cancellation of migrant workers visas
Non compliance with Home Office requirements has serious consequences. Not giving work to sponsored workers or not paying them the salary from the COS normally leads to employer’s sponsor licence being revoked. Revocation means that sponsorship licence is cancelled by the Home Office and employer is removed from the public register of sponsors, and the Certificates of Sponsorship (COS) electronic work permits that you issued become invalid.
Migrant workers’ skilled worker visas will be cancelled. What’s more, if employer’s sponsor licence is revoked they will not be able to reapply for a new licence for at least 12 months.
Your employer loses their licence and your skilled worker visa is cancelled
When sponsor loses their licence the skilled worker migrants’ visas are also cancelled. Cancellation of immigration permission is the process when Home Office UKVI informs migrant worker that their visa will be cancelled. You will normally be given 60 days to either apply for a new visa from inside the UK or otherwise to depart the UK.
When your visa is cancelled and you do not apply for a new UK immigration permission within the given time and you remain in the UK, then you become an overstayer. We do not recommend it, as this causes serious repercussions for your future immigration applications. As a rule, overstayers are not allowed to apply for another visa from insider the UK, and what’s more, in most circumstances will face ban from re-entering the UK.
Migrant workers should be cautious and spot red flags
If you are a migrant who wishes to work in the UK in a skilled profession, including as a care worker or carer on Health and Care visa, you need to take careful steps when seeking UK employment. Firstly, any suggestion from an employment agency or recruiter that they will charge you a fee in any form, should be considered as a red flag. Those who charge fees are much more likely to be scammers. In the UK, genuine employers and employment agencies do not charge any fees to workers.
