Appendix A Sponsor Licence Documents

Food Businesses that are required to be registered with or approved by a Food Authority

You must send evidence of your registration or approval to the Home Office which can be a rating or a letter from the registering or approving authority.

Charities

If you are registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, or the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), you do not need to include any documentation as the Home Office will conduct an online check to confirm your claims.

Ecclesiastical establishments must send evidence that they are established for charitable purposes while schools that hold academy status need not send any evidence.

If you are not registered according to a relevant charity legislation, you must explain why it is so.

Graduate Trainee and Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility)

As evidence that you are linked by common ownership or control, or through a joint venture agreement, to a qualifying overseas business, you must send one of the following to the Home Office:

• Head Office’s audited accounts or audited annual report clearly showing the link between both entities.
• An affidavit signed by a senior partner/executive within the UK entity, identifying all of the connected entities both in the UK and overseas.
• Certified copy of the agreement naming both entities as parties or one entity as a party and the other entity as the subject of the agreement which allows one entity to control the composition of the other entity’s board.
• Certified copy of the share register or equivalent of one or other of the entities showing ownership by the entity or a copy of the share registers of both entities showing the common parent company.
• Certified copy of the agreement naming both entities as parties or one entity as a party and the other entity as the subject of the agreement which allows one entity to cast or control the casting of more than half the maximum number of votes that might be cast at a general meeting of the other entity.
• A notarised statement by the company secretary of the organisation, setting out the global corporate structure with ownership percentages of each related corporate entity detailed if registered on the London Stock Exchange or one of the FCA-approved international stock exchanges.
• A certified copy of the joint venture agreement naming both entities as parties or one entity as a party and the other entity as the entity formed by that agreement.
• A certified copy of the agreement which allows both entities to use a trademark which is registered or established under the laws of the UK and the jurisdiction of the other entity’s country of operation – this is only applicable to accountancy or law firms
• A certified copy of the agreement which allows both entities to operate under the same name in the UK and in the jurisdiction of the other entity’s country of operation – this is only applicable to accountancy or law firms.
• A certified copy of the agreement naming both entities as parties or one entity as a party and the other entity as the entity formed by that agreement that would constitute a joint venture agreement other than for the fact that joint venture agreements are not permitted in the country of operation; or one of the entities is not permitted to enter into joint ventures in the country of operation.
• Articles of Association.

Applicants under the Graduate Trainee route must also provide evidence of their graduate training programmes, such as a brochure for the course, evidence of the recruitment for the programme, or a company website giving details of the programme.

UK Expansion Worker (Global Business Mobility)

For the UK expansion worker route, you must send evidence related to each of the following categories:

• Proof of UK footprint e.g. proof of a UK registered branch or proof that you bought or leased business premises in the UK.
• Evidence of overseas trading presence – You must submit the following unless specified otherwise
  • Evidence you have been trading overseas for at least 12 months before the date of your application.
  • Evidence your business was trading overseas three years before the date of application.
• Evidence of your planned expansion to the UK which must include the following:
  • At least one document showing your capability to fund your planned expansion by detailing funds available to cover the initial costs for the first 12 months, as projected in your expansion plan.
  • At least two documents showing evidence of your expansion plans.
• Other documents such as
  • annual reports and investor information.
  • Evidence of engagement with, or advice sought from, specialist advice companies, such as company formation businesses, relocation firms, UK corporate law services, tax services, or the British Chamber of Commerce.
  • Details of any recruitment campaigns you have run, or plan to run, in the UK for employees of the UK business once trading begins.
  • Articles of Association for your overseas business or equivalent document.
  • Details of any tendering or process where any activity relating to your business expansion plan, such as the commission of market research, has been conducted by an independent third party.
  • Any document from List 4.

Secondment Worker (Global Business Mobility)

You must send proof that you have a contract with an overseas business for goods or investments worth at least £10 million per year, and no less than £50 million in total.

Student or Child Student

You must send the following:

• Proof that you are based in the UK.
• Proof of your lawful operation and trading in the UK
• Proof that you have registered for VAT with HM Revenue and Customs where required to do so
• A written record of a fire risk assessment conducted by a competent person.
• Evidence to show that you have appropriate planning permission or local planning authority consent to operate the relevant type or class of organisation at your trading address.
• Any documentation which is required to demonstrate that your sites, exceptional arrangements and/or partnerships, where applicable, meet all of the relevant requirements of the Student sponsor guidance.

If you are a new independent school, you must send evidence that you have been formally registered by the relevant Government Department in your country.

You must submit all the following if you are an overseas educational institution offering short-term ‘study abroad’ programmes in your own premises in the UK to students who are enrolled in their home country:

• Overseas accreditation, which can be confirmed by Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC), that your programmes are UK Higher Education equivalents.
• Proof that you only teach part of your programmes in the UK.
• Proof that you have full legal control of the premises you use.

You can send any of the following documents where applicable:

• Evidence that you have employer’s liability insurance cover for at least £5m from an authorised insurer.
• Proof of your listing on the London Stock Exchange AIM market.
• Proof of your listing on one of the Financial Conduct Authority-approved international stock exchanges.
• Proof of registration with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as self-employed.
• Current financial report or audited annual report showing the name of the accountant who should be a member of an accredited accounting body such as the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA).
• Original or certified copies of evidence of Registration with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as an employer to pay PAYE & National Insurance.
• Latest acknowledgement of a Company Tax Return CT620, or the completed CT600 tax return and the CT603 notice.
• Evidence of submitting returns to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) – Foreign Entertainers Unit.
• Evidence that you have the appropriate planning permission to operate your type/class of business at your trading address where this is a Local Authority requirement.
• Proof of listing as an overseas company on the London Stock Exchange International Companies listing.
• Your latest audited annual accounts clearly showing the name of the accountant, who must be a member of an accredited accounting body such as:
  • Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
  • Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
  • Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA).
• Latest annual self-assessment tax return to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
• Latest corporate/business bank statement and/or a letter from your bank setting out the dealings it has had with you, including the nature and duration of its dealings.
• Proof of ownership or lease of your business premises (showing the signatures of all parties concerned).
• Licence for premises to serve alcohol issued by the local authority/court.

After you have verified that your business is eligible, the following are the steps required to apply for a sponsor licence application process:

• Check to ensure the job is eligible for sponsorship.
• Decide the type of licence you want to apply for.
• Choose those who will manage the sponsor management system (SMS).
• Complete an application online, submit documents and pay all required application fees.

If your application is approved, you will receive an A-rated licence and your business will be listed in the register of sponsors.

The A-rated licence is a full sponsor licence which allows you to start assigning certificates of sponsorship if you have jobs that are suitable for sponsorship.

The sponsor licence is valid for four years after which you may renew it upon meeting the conditions for renewal.

To be eligible to submit a sponsor licence application as an employer, you must not:

• Have had a sponsor licence revoked in the last 12 months.
• Have any unspent criminal convictions for offences in areas such as immigration, money laundering and fraud.

To be eligible for a sponsorship licence, you and your sponsor team must not:

• Have an unspent criminal conviction for any of the relevant offences listed in the sponsor licence guidance and not pose any threat to UK immigration control.
• Have been fined by UKVI in the past 12 months.
• Have been reported to UKVI.
• Have broken the law.
• Have been a ‘key person’ at a sponsor that had its licence revoked in the last 12 months.
• Have failed to pay VAT or other excise duty.

Furthermore, you and your team must be based in the UK most of the time, not have a history of non-compliance with sponsor requirements, and not be a contractor or consultant contracted for a specific project.

Also, the team must not be subject to a bankruptcy restriction order or undertaking, or a debt relief restriction order or undertaking.

You must demonstrate that you are a genuine organisation operating lawfully in the UK. If you have branches in the UK, you may apply for one licence to cover all your linked UK branches or separate licences for each branch, depending on your circumstances.

The Home Office must be satisfied that you can offer genuine employment in a skilled occupation and that you will pay the correct rate of salary, as specified by the Home Office.