Important change to sponsor licence guidance: May 2026

The Home Office updated sponsor licence guidance issued in April 2026 stated that sponsors were required to undertake right to work checks not only on employees but also on unsponsored workers who were directly engaged by the sponsor but not employed by them. This meant that the sponsor guidance went much further than the current illegal working legislation which requires employers to carry out right to work checks on employees before work begins in order to establish a statutory excuse as protection against civil penalties where a person is found to be later working illegally.

On 20 May 2026, the Home Office updated the guidance yet again, following “user feedback”. The guidance now states that a sponsor is required to check that any worker that the sponsor wishes to sponsor (including a worker who is not the sponsor’s direct employee) or any worker whom the sponsor wishes to employ (whether sponsored or not) has the appropriate immigration permission to work in the UK. The references to unsponsored workers “engaged” or “directly engaged” in previous versions of the sponsor guidance have been deleted.

One of the annexes in the main sponsor guidance has been redrafted to clarify that the Home Office will normally revoke a licence if a sponsor is sponsoring or employing a worker who does not have the relevant permission to work and the sponsor has failed to carry out the appropriate right to work checks or could otherwise have been reasonably aware the worker did not have the relevant permission.

The amendment in relation to right to work checks is a very welcome one for sponsors however it illustrates the need for sponsors to review their sponsor licence compliance regularly and take advice as required. The guidance still requires sponsors to read all the relevant parts of the guidance and to keep up to date with all developments which it seems is increasingly becoming a Herculean task. We can help sponsors manage sponsor licence compliance effectively and advise on changes to the sponsor guidance, as they happen.