Reporting Migrant Worker Changes: Employer Sponsor Duties

Your Reporting Duties

As a licensed sponsor, you have ongoing duties to report changes about your sponsored workers. These duties are part of your sponsor responsibilities and are monitored by the Home Office.

Reports are submitted through the sponsor management system, the online service used to manage your licence, assign certificates of sponsorship, and meet compliance obligations. GOV.UK describes it as: “Use the sponsor management system (SMS) to meet your requirements as: an employer sponsoring Worker and Temporary Worker visa holders.”

One thing that is no longer a duty: sponsor licence renewal ended on 6 April 2024. Licences do not expire and there is no renewal fee, so any process built around a renewal date is out of date. The reporting duties below continue for as long as the licence does.

What You Must Report

The two deadlines are the thing to get right. Reports about a worker are made within 10 working days. Reports about your organisation are made as soon as possible and in any case within 20 working days.

Worker Stops Working (10 working days)

• Resigns or is dismissed
• Is made redundant (see redundancy and Skilled Worker visas)
• Does not start the job

GOV.UK summarises the duty as telling UK Visas and Immigration “if your sponsored workers are not complying with the conditions of their visa”, and lists a worker who stops coming to work among the things to report.

Unauthorised Absence

This one has its own timing and it is easy to read wrongly. The sponsor guidance says you must report a worker who has been absent from work without your permission for more than 10 consecutive working days, and that the report must be made “no later than 10 working days after the 10th day of absence”.

The guidance also says the report should include whether you have made or will be making salary deductions for the period of unauthorised absence, what those deductions are, and whether you intend to continue sponsoring the worker.

Changes to Employment (10 working days)

• Change of job title, duties, or core hours
• Change in salary
• Change of work location
• A promotion or change of role that moves the job into a different occupation code

Note that some job changes require the worker to make a new visa application rather than a report from you. GOV.UK tells the worker: “You should not start your new job until you’ve got confirmation of your new permission.” That applies where the employer changes, where the occupation code changes outside a graduate training programme, and where the worker leaves a job on the Immigration Salary List for one that is not on it. Reporting the change does not replace that application.

Changes to Your Organisation (20 working days)

The sponsor guidance says you must tell the Home Office as soon as possible, and in any case within 20 working days, if the size or type of your organisation changes, and that failing to do so within 20 working days may lead to compliance action.

A change of ownership, merger, takeover or de-merger is reported through the sponsor management system within 20 working days, including details of all the sponsored workers who will move to the new organisation. GOV.UK also warns the worker’s side of this: if, following a takeover, the new employer does not apply for a sponsor licence within 28 days, the worker has to leave the job and leave the UK unless they make a new visa application within that time.

Reporting Through the SMS

The Sponsor Management System is accessed online. Only authorised users can submit reports. You should ensure that:

• Your authorising officer, key contact, and Level 1 users are kept up to date.
• At least one authorised user is always available to submit reports.
• Reports are submitted within the required timeframes.
• You keep records of all reports submitted, including dates and reference numbers.

Timeframes at a Glance

• Anything about a sponsored worker: 10 working days.
• Worker does not start: 10 working days from the expected start date.
• Unauthorised absence: the trigger is more than 10 consecutive working days of absence, and the report is due no later than 10 working days after the 10th day. It is not a report made on the 10th day.
• Anything about your organisation — its size or type, a change of ownership, a merger, takeover or de-merger: as soon as possible, and in any case within 20 working days.

Consequences of Non-Compliance

GOV.UK puts it plainly: “Your licence may be downgraded, suspended or withdrawn if you do not fulfil these responsibilities.” In practice that means:

• A compliance visit ( Home Office audit)
• Downgrading from A-rated to B-rated status
• Suspension of your sponsor licence
• Revocation of your sponsor licence. This is the one that reaches beyond your organisation: GOV.UK tells the affected worker that their certificate of sponsorship is cancelled and their visa “is limited to 60 days (or however long you have left on the visa if it’s less than 60 days)”.
• Civil penalties for employing someone without the right to work, which are a separate regime with their own amounts: up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and up to £60,000 for a repeat breach within 3 years.

Best Practices

• Designate a responsible person or team for sponsor compliance.
• Set up internal processes so that HR changes trigger SMS reports.
• Train all relevant staff on reporting requirements.
• Keep a log of all SMS reports with dates and details.
• Conduct regular internal audits of your compliance processes.
• Stay updated on changes to sponsor guidance from the Home Office.

Next Steps

Review your current reporting processes and ensure you are meeting all requirements. If you are unsure about a specific reporting obligation, check the sponsor guidance on GOV.UK. The detailed duties are in Part 3 of the guidance for sponsors, “sponsor duties and compliance”, which is revised several times a year — check the version date on whatever you are reading. Immigration advice on a specific case comes from someone registered with the Immigration Advice Authority or a member of an approved professional body.

Related guides:

• Employer Sponsor Duties
• Home Office Audit Guide
• Sponsor Licence Guide
• Preventing Illegal Working
• Reporting Changes to the Home Office (for individuals)

Questions and answers