Running your Sponsor Licence - The Challenges

As an education provider you will no doubt be aware that in order to offer courses to foreign national students you need to have a sponsor licence (“SL”). This also applies to employing non-EEA academic staff. Whilst most education providers already have an SL, we are finding that the difficulty arises in the day to day running of that licence.

In order to have obtained your SL you would have had to assure the UKBA (United Kingdom Border Agency) that you have systems in place to accurately monitor the attendance and absence of students and that you can comply with your duties of compliance to the UKBA. We have seen increasingly that a number of education providers that are “A Rated” are subsequently downgraded to a “B”, with action plans then being put in place; other organisations have had their SL suspended following a subsequent compliance visit by the UKBA. The main reasons for this seem to be that the education provider or organisation is not following the human resource systems that have been previously approved by the UKBA.

The suspension or loss of a SL for the education provider has far reaching consequences for both the business of that education provider and also for the students who may no longer have the right to remain in the UK.

As one of the UKBA select approved assessors, Birkett Long has assisted education providers in reinstating their suspended SL. This has involved in depth representations to the UKBA about the running of their organisation and providing the UKBA with assurances that they are able to fulfil their duties as a sponsor, in terms of monitoring their foreign national students.

We are finding more and more that the UKBA, when conducting a compliance visit, is particularly interested in the records the education provider keeps and whether or not the actual day to day running of their systems reflects what was put forward to the UKBA when they obtained the licence.

Should you have any worries about compliance, we are able to conduct an audit of your procedures in order to identify particular problem areas prior to any compliance visit by the UKBA.

Additionally, not only does an education provider have to worry about the running of a SL in relation to monitoring of students, but also in terms of employing international staff. A topical and worrying issue for education providers at this time is the new Government’s announcement of a cap on immigration. According to a recent article in the Guardian newspaper, Nicola Dandridge (Chief Executive of Universities UK) has stated that “over 10% of all our academic staff are non-EU Nationals, and many are working in key subject areas such as science, technology and engineering. These highly skilled staff make up a core element of our workforce, and without them we would have to cut the provision of courses in areas of vital importance to the UK. This would affect the opportunities for UK students wanting to study those subjects and it is not possible to substitute those academics for UK Nationals; we simply are not producing enough graduates in these areas”.

It is important for you to remember that many academics may in fact qualify for Entry Clearance in the United Kingdom in their own right and this may be something that can be explored if you are unable to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship. We at Birkett Long are able to advise on all aspects of Entry Clearance into the United Kingdom under the tier system.

We also regularly advise employers about civil penalties for employing illegal workers and best practice on how to prevent any problems in the event of a compliance visit by the UKBA.

For more information please contact Ashlee Campbell on 01206 217357 or email ashlee.campbell@birkettlong.co.uk