Apply For A Health & Care Worker Sponsor Licence

• Published date: 08 March 2022
• Law Firm: Richmond Chambers Immigration Barristers
• Author: Catherine Taroni

In order to obtain a sponsor licence to bring sponsored healthcare workers to the UK, there has to be a company with a sponsor licence and the workers must be sponsored to work for that company.

As has been widely publicised, the healthcare workers route has been expanded - further details are available in our earlier post here.

Purpose of the Healthcare Worker Route

The skilled worker route is to enable companies to bring workers to work for them.

This must involve a genuine vacancy - a real job that the overseas worker can do and will be paid to do by the sponsor. A Certificate of Sponsorship has to be issued by the Sponsoring company to each migrant worker, which sets out the particular job they will be doing.

A company looking to obtain a sponsor licence will need to satisfy UK Visas & Immigration that:

• The company is a genuine organisation operating lawfully in the UK;
• They are honest, dependable and reliable;
• They are capable of carrying out their sponsor duties and evidencing their compliance in an appropriate timeframe and manner;
• They can offer genuine employment that meets the skill level and appropriate rates of pay.

Genuine Vacancy Requirement

The jobs being sponsored must be genuine. The Guidance sets out:

Genuine vacancy

You must not award points for sponsorship if you have reasonable grounds to believe the job the applicant is being sponsored to do either:

• does not exist
• is a sham (for example, the job exists but the applicant will not be doing it)
• has been created mainly so the applicant can apply for permission

To assess this, you may request additional information (see Requesting more information).

Whether the job has been exaggerated to make it appear to meet the Skilled Worker requirements is considered separately, when awarding points for a job at the appropriate skill level.

Genuine vacancy concerns...