Any organization willing to employ foreign workers in the UK needs to apply for a sponsor licence first. Applicants must comply with the requirements from the Home Office. What happens when applicant has criminal convictions or civil penalties on his record. How those impact on the ability to obtain sponsor licence from Home Office.
Civil penalties for employing illegal worker
If you are found to be employing someone illegally and you have not carried out the prescribed
checks you may face sanctions including:
- civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.
- in serious cases, a criminal conviction carrying a prison sentence of up to five years and
an unlimited fine. - closure of the business and a compliance order issued by the court.
- disqualification as a director.
- not being able to sponsor migrants.
- seizure of earnings made as a result of illegal working.
- review and possible revocation of a licence in the alcohol and late-night refreshment
sector and the private hire vehicle and taxi sector.
Sponsor licence and immigration civil penalties
Anyone who within last five years was given civil penalty for certain immigration related offences may risk his sponsor licence application refused or an existing licence being withdrawn. (revoked).
Those civil penalties include:
- Carrying clandestine entrants
- Carrying passengers without proper documents
- Bringing a passenger to the United Kingdom in breach of an authority to carry scheme
- Employing an illegal migrant worker
- Authorising occupation of premises under a residential tenancy agreement by an adult who is disqualified because of their immigration status
Offences above are mostly related to illegal immigration and aiding or abbetting illegal immigration throughout deliberate actions or by neglecting to carry out required checks. For example right to work checks or in case of private tenants, checking legal status of tenants.
Sponsor licence and immigration offences
Several immigration offences, including entering the UK without proper leave to entry or aiding and abbeting such actions can result in a spoonsor licence refusal. A full list of immigration offences and penalties administered by the courts that result in sponsor licence refusal are listed on the Home Office page.
What are the requirements for sponsor licence
Key requirements to qualify for the Skilled Worker licence are that your organisation must:
- Already have trading presence and operate lawfully in the UK,
- have HR systems and processes in place to comply with the Home Office sponsorship duties,
- be honest, dependable and reliable,
- be able to offer skilled jobs at the NQF Level 6 or above (i.e. graduate) with some exceptions for lower level jobs,
- be able to pay at least the minimum salary as required by the Home Office (the minimum for Skilled Worker visa is £41,700 but it may be higher or lower depending on the job role and the migrant work to whom the role is offered),
- the job(s) offered must be genuinely required by the business.