Getting a UK Sponsor Licence is the easy part. Keeping it is the real work. UKVI conducts unannounced compliance visits, reviews reporting patterns, and downgrades or revokes licences from employers who fail to meet their ongoing duties. A revoked licence cancels the visas of every sponsored worker in your organisation — not just the one who triggered the issue. This guide covers the four pillars of sponsor compliance, what triggers an audit, how to prepare, and the specific mistakes that cost employers their A-rating.
The Four Pillars of Sponsor Compliance
1. Monitoring
Track each sponsored worker's immigration status, contact details, attendance and absences. You must know where your sponsored workers are, that they are doing the job described on their CoS, and that their visa remains valid.
2. Record-Keeping
Maintain copies of right-to-work documents, contact details, absence records, and the CoS for each sponsored worker. Records must be kept for the duration of employment plus one year after the worker leaves. UKVI expects these to be producible within hours of a request.
3. Reporting
Report changes through the Sponsor Management System within 10 or 20 working days depending on the event type. Reportable events include:
• Worker does not start on the expected date
• Worker is absent without permission for 10+ consecutive working days
• Worker's employment ends (for any reason)
• Significant change to worker's role, salary or work location
• Changes to your organisation — address, key personnel, ownership, insolvency
4. Preventing Illegal Working
Conduct right-to-work checks before the first day of employment and follow-up checks before any time-limited visa expires. Maintain an audit trail that proves checks happened, when, and by whom.
What Triggers a UKVI Compliance Visit?
UKVI conducts both random and triggered visits. Triggers include:
Common Audit Triggers
• Late or missing SMS reports — the single most common trigger
• A sponsored worker overstaying their visa
• A sponsored worker being found working for another employer
• Discrepancies between CoS details and the actual role
• Tips or intelligence reports from other agencies
• High volume of CoS cancellations or withdrawals
• Sector-specific risk profiling (care, hospitality, food processing)
What Happens During a Compliance Visit
The Typical Compliance Visit
1. Arrival (often unannounced)
A UKVI compliance officer arrives at your registered business address. They will ask to see the Authorising Officer or a senior manager immediately.
2. Document review
They will ask to see right-to-work records, CoS copies, attendance records and HR files for some or all sponsored workers. They expect these within hours, not days.
3. Worker interviews
They may interview sponsored workers on site — asking about their role, hours, salary and whether the job matches the CoS description.
4. Systems check
They will ask to see your monitoring and record-keeping systems. Excel spreadsheets with dates, folders with scanned documents — whatever you use, it must be current and complete.
5. Key personnel interview
They will speak to the Authorising Officer and Level 1 User about their understanding of sponsor duties, reporting obligations and escalation procedures.
6. Outcome
Either a clean report, a list of actions to address, or — in serious cases — an immediate downgrade or suspension recommendation.
A-Rating vs B-Rating vs Revocation
A-Rated — Active
You can issue CoS, sponsor new workers, and operate normally. This is where you want to stay.
B-Rated — Under Action Plan
UKVI has identified compliance concerns. You cannot issue new CoS while B-rated. Existing sponsored workers can continue working, but you must follow a Time and Action Plan to upgrade back to A-rated.
The upgrade process includes paying a fee (£1,579 for the action plan) and demonstrating that all issues have been resolved within the set timeframe.
Revoked — Licence Cancelled
The most severe outcome. All sponsored workers' visas are curtailed — typically giving them 60 days to find a new sponsor or leave the UK.
Revocation is followed by a cooling-off period (typically 12 months) before you can re-apply. The reputational and operational damage is severe.
The 10-Point Compliance Checklist
Monthly Compliance Health Check
1. Right-to-work records current for all sponsored workers
2. All SMS reports filed within deadline
3. Visa expiry dates diarised with 3-month advance warnings
4. Sponsored workers' contact details up to date in your system
5. Attendance monitoring active and documented
6. All CoS details still match actual roles, salaries and locations
7. Key personnel details in SMS are current
8. Business address and ownership details in SMS are current
9. All right-to-work follow-up checks completed before visa expiries
10. Written compliance policies reviewed and signed off annually
The Reporting Deadlines That Matter Most
Late reports are the number one reason for B-ratings. Set calendar reminders, build reporting into your HR workflow, and never assume someone else filed it.
How Recruitroo Helps UK Sponsors Stay Compliant
Recruitroo's compliance dashboard tracks every sponsored worker's visa expiry, salary, role and reporting events in real time. We flag reportable changes inside the SMS deadline window and provide pre-built report templates. Our UK clients maintain A-rated licences because compliance is built into the platform — not left to memory or manual spreadsheets.
Worried about your compliance readiness?
We can run a mock compliance audit against UKVI's criteria and flag gaps before they become problems. Get in touch for a free assessment.
Get a QuoteSee Client StoriesThis guide reflects UK Sponsor Licence compliance rules as of May 2026. UKVI guidance and reporting deadlines are subject to change.