Automatic renewal of Sponsor Licences from 6 April 2024 with no additional fees for 10 years!

The Home Office on 24 January 2024, put an unexpected but welcome notice on the message board of the Sponsor Management System stating:

• Sponsor Licences will be automatically renewed for licences which need to be renewed from 6 April 2024 for a period of 10 years – for those who have received notices to renew this can be ignored and for those who have already paid will be due for refunds
• for those whose licences need to be renewed the existing renewal fee is payable if the licence was due to expire by 6 April 2024 but thereafter there will be no need to renew the licence for 10 years.

It does require a second read! The current fees are £1476 or £536 for a small or other sponsor - that is a substantial saving over 10 years.

The removal of having to renew Sponsorship Licences will remove the administrative burden for all Sponsor Licence holders from 6 April 2024 periodically – this will mean not having to pay renewal fees for 10 years and the headache of having to remember to renew the Sponsor Licence, as the failure to do so would lead to significant consequences for the organisation and existing migrant personnel.

Given the recent increase in immigration application fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge fees, and the forthcoming changes to minimum salary requirements for sponsoring workers this is indeed a surprise – we would normally have expected a consultation period or prior announcement, but in the current immigration climate this really is a free for all! No explanation or rationale has been provided for the automatic renewal of Sponsor Licences and the removal of fees and one can only speculate.