UK extends visa-sponsor licences by 10 years

UK visa sponsors, including UK employment visa sponsors, can expect a 10-year extension on the licence. Those who’ve applied for extension already, can expect a refund. (Image via Pexels)

– From April 6, 2024, the requirement for sponsors to renew their sponsor licence will be removed

– Those who have received a notice to renew the licence have been advised to ignore the notice.

The United Kingdom (UK) Home Office has announced that from April 6, 2024, the requirement for sponsors to renew their sponsor licence will be removed. The Home Office has extended the expiry date on all licences due to expire on or after April 6, 2024, by 10 years.

According to the UK Visas and Immigration information on gov.uk, the UK sponsor licence was a must for people who want to employ someone from outside the UK, including citizens of EU member countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland who arrived in the UK after December 31, 2020. Education providers, too, needed a sponsor licence to get overseas students and faculty into the UK.

This means that if your sponsor licence is due to expire on or after this date, you will no longer need to apply to renew your licence or pay a renewal fee. Those who have received a notice to renew the licence have been advised to ignore the notice.

Those who have already submitted an application to renew their sponsor licence, will receive a refund of the renewal fee.

Previously, sponsors were required to submit an application to renew their licence 90 days before the expiry date. For medium and large sponsors, the renewal fee was £1,476, while small or charitable sponsors were charged £536 for each renewal application. Sponsors, usually, had to wait up to 8 weeks to receive a decision from the Home Office on their renewal application.

Despite the renewal requirement being removed, sponsor compliance remains high on the Home Office’s list of priorities.