Sponsor Licence Cooling-off Period

It is not uncommon for Sponsor Licence applications to be refused by the Home Office. There are a number of reasons that your application may be refused, a few of these include:

• Failing the Home Office’s Compliance Audit
• The organisation does not have the systems and policies in place to meet their sponsorship duties
• The organisation fails to pass a ‘genuineness test’
• The organisation has failed to retain sufficient records of their overseas workers
• The organisation has not responded to the Home Office on time.

If your application is refused then you may be able to apply to correct a mistake in the application if you believe either of the following applies:

• The caseworker processing the application made an error
• The supporting documentation you sent with your application was not considered

You can request to correct a mistake by submitting an ‘Error Request Form’, you must do this within 14 days of the refusal.

Another option that you have is to reapply for the Sponsor Licence, but you may have to wait before you can do this.

Usually, if a Sponsor Licence application is refused then a 6-month cooling-off period will apply and this means that you must wait for 6-months before you can reapply.

Whether a cooling-off period will apply to your case depends on the reason for refusal. The length of the cooling-off period can also vary depending on the circumstances.

If your application was refused because you failed to submit requested information or documents within a certain time due to issues out of your control then you may be able to re-apply for the Sponsor Licence without a cooling-off period. However, usually, you will be subject to a 6-month cooling-off period after a refusal.

In some cases, the cooling-off period can also be longer than 6 months. For example, if the organisation has been issued with a civil penalty for employing an illegal worker, then the cooling-off period will be 12 months from the date that the penalty was paid.

As mentioned above, it is not uncommon for a Sponsor Licence application to be refused. If your application is refused you will usually not be refunded your application fee and you may be subject to a cooling-off period, this means that you will have to wait to be able to hire any overseas workers.

Having an application refused can cause many issues for your organisation. Many of the most common reasons for refusal are preventable, so it is important to get your application right.

Before making your application, you should check that you are eligible for the licence. You should also make sure that you have the correct systems and policies in place to make sure that you can uphold your sponsorship duties, this includes appointing the sponsorship management roles within your organisation.

When making the application you should take care to read and fill out the application form accurately. You should also make sure that you submit the right supporting documents. You must submit at least four documents to prove that you meet the requirements but it can be helpful to submit more if you are able to.