A Tier 2 Sponsor Licence is the permission granted by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) that enables the UK employer to sponsor highly qualified migrants overseas under the Tier 2 route. Employers must head to the Home Office to evidence their capability to meet the strict requirements of compliance duties. With the help of the application, the employer must demonstrate that the company is lawfully operating in the UK, having the best HR and recruitment system in practice, offering genuine employment, and appointing key personnel who are identified as honest and reliable.
However, one must understand that the Tier 2 Sponsor Licence Application is complicated. The online sponsor application entails certain responsibilities to staff who will be handling access to the Sponsorship Management System (SMS), the portal provided by the Home Office. The employer must take into consideration various factors where appointing key personnel is one of the important steps. The company must nominate individuals within the organisation in order to perform particular administrative functions.
- Authorising Officer
It is very important to understand the duties of “Authorising Officer”. A sponsor must take a closer look at the responsibilities as well as a key consideration for employers when deciding who to appoint. He or she must be a senior person who will:
- Be responsible for the recruitment of highly skilled migrants.
- Ensure that all sponsor duties are met and authorised to use the SMS.
- Be responsible for determining the staff and will be accessed to the SMS and level of permission to be granted.
- Be responsible for the activities of SMS users
- Comply with the Home Office requirements.
- Put a system in place in order to monitor the activities.
Please note that the authorising officer does not have automatic access to the Sponsorship Management System (SMS). They will need to set up a level 1 or level 2 user in order to build automatic access to the system. The organisation must have an authorising officer in place throughout the life of a Sponsor Licence. If unable to comply with the requirements of the Home Sponsor, the Home Office will take action against the company.
- Key Contact
The key contact is the person who acts as the main contact between the company and the Home Office. The Home Office will contact if there is any query about documents, payment, or other steps involved in Sponsor Licence Application.
- Level 1 User
Level 1 can be the authorising person or another person in the company. He or she must be responsible to carry out day-to-day sponsorship activities by employing the SMS. The Home Office will check on level 1 users before the Home Office provide access to the portal i.e. SMS. The Level 1 user must be either an officeholder or a paid staff member within the company, an employee of a third-party company, or a UK-based representative. However, they must not be a contractor, a consultant who is contracted for a particular project, an undischarged bankrupt, or a temporary staff supplied to the company by any employment agency.
Level 1 users can assign CoS to migrants, ask the Home Office for minor changes, inform about the change of circumstance on the given portal of SMS, report worker activity, withdraw CoS, employ the bulk data transfer, change user details, view information about key personnel and licence, access key messages and track the progress of Sponsor Licence application.
- Level 2 User
Level 2 can assign CoS to workers and report activities to the Home Office.
Need to know more about Key personnel and Sponsor Licence? We can help.
A Y & J Solicitors is a multi-award winning UK Immigration law firm with a decade of experience recommended by Legal 500 based in Central London. Get in touch with our qualified solicitors to help in immigration needs such as sponsor licence applications as well as ongoing licence compliance. Our lawyers guide through the Home Office application process, advice on internal HR Systems, and assistance on preparation for UKVI Visits. For further information about our immigration service, please email us at contact@ayjsolicitors.com or Whatsapp us / call on +44 7448 5656 70.
