Sponsoring workers in personal capacity – big changes. Important updates have been made to the sponsor guidance and Sponsor a Skilled Worker. Sponsor licence holders need to keep up to date with of all the changes introduced by the Home Office UK Visas and Immigration.
Examples of ‘personal capacity’ can be employing a nanny. Unfortunately this will no longer be possible. In addition those migrant workers’ that already hold skilled worker visas but fall under the ‘personal capacity’ category, will not be able to extend their visa in that personal capacity. These changes are important for those migrants who were issued with Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) for less than 5 years.
Sponsoring workers in a personal capacity
Home Office will NOT grant you a licence if you intend to sponsor workers in a personal capacity. Personal capacity is explained in the Home Office guidance as eitherof following circumstances:
• you are an individual person or household who wishes to employ or engage a worker, or workers, in a personal capacity and you are not otherwise conducting business or providing a service in the UK
• the worker, or workers, will be employed by, or engaged for the personal benefit of, an individual who works for your organisation, or a close relative or partner of that individual, and the role is unrelated to your organisation’s wider activities
If you already have a sponsor licence
If you have, or are granted, a sponsor licence, you must not use your licence to sponsor workers in a personal capacity as defined above. If Home Office find you have done this, they will normally revoke your licence. If you have previously been permitted to sponsor workers in a personal capacity, you must not assign any further Certificates of Sponsorship to sponsor workers on this basis.
