Appeals & reviews · IAA-regulated advice
Sponsor Licence Suspension and Revocation Advice in Birmingham & London
If the Home Office suspends or revokes your sponsor licence, deadlines are short and your sponsored workers are affected. We explain the letter, your deadline and what happens to your staff, refer representations and any court challenge on straight away, and help you get compliant and apply again, for a fixed fee agreed in writing.
Last checked 11 October 2026 · Reviewed by Vishal Gautam, IAA-regulated adviser
Overview
What do licence suspension and revocation mean?
Suspension is a holding step while the Home Office looks into a possible breach of your sponsor duties. You can’t assign certificates of sponsorship and you’re taken off the public register, but workers you already sponsor aren’t affected unless the licence is revoked. You have 20 working days to respond in writing.
Revocation ends your licence on every route. The Home Office will normally cut your sponsored workers’ permission, there’s no right of appeal, and you can’t apply again for at least 12 months. Some breaches lead to revocation straight away, without a suspension first. Representations and court challenges need a higher level of advice, so we explain your position and refer you on quickly.
✓This page is for you if…
- Your sponsor licence has been suspended and you’ve received a letter with reasons
- Your licence has been revoked and you need to know what happens next
- You want to know what happens to your sponsored workers
- You want to get compliant and be ready to apply again
Quick check
Where do you stand? Six questions, one minute
Answer honestly. Nothing is saved or sent: this is a general guide, not advice on your case.
Do you know the date on your suspension or revocation letter?Deadlines run from the date of the written notice.
If you’re suspended, are you still within 20 working days of the letter?More time is given only in exceptional circumstances.
Has a solicitor or higher-level adviser been asked to prepare your response?We explain the letter and can refer you straight away.
Are you still meeting all your sponsor duties?Keep reporting changes and keeping records during a suspension.
Have you stopped assigning certificates of sponsorship?None can be assigned while your licence is suspended.
Do you know which workers could be affected, and when their permission ends?If the licence is revoked, most will normally be left with 60 days.
Eligibility
Sponsor licence suspension and revocation: how it works
Read the letter carefully: it says whether your licence is suspended or revoked, gives the reasons and sets any deadline.
If your licence is suspended
- You can’t assign certificates of sponsorship, and you’re removed from the public register while suspended
- Your sponsor duties continue throughout
- Your response must be in writing, say which grounds are wrong and why, and include your evidence and any mitigating circumstances
- New reasons found during the 20 days bring another 20 working days to respond to them
More time is given only in exceptional circumstances. If no response arrives in time, the Home Office decides anyway.
What the Home Office can decide
- Reinstate your licence with an A-rating
- Reinstate it with a B-rating and an action plan, possibly with fewer or no certificates
- Stop you assigning new certificates, or using ones assigned but not yet used
- Revoke your licence
A B-rated sponsor can’t sponsor new workers and has a 3-month action plan to regain an A-rating. If it doesn’t, the licence is revoked.
If your licence is revoked
- Revoked on every route you’re licensed for, and removed from the register
- There’s no right of appeal
- Some breaches mean revocation straight away, without a suspension first
- Surrendering your licence during compliance action that would have led to revocation brings the same cooling-off period
If a licence was revoked in error, the Home Office will contact you to reinstate it.
What happens to your sponsored workers
- Suspension alone doesn’t affect workers with valid permission, but their applications on your certificates, and settlement applications, are put on hold
- On revocation, workers who weren’t involved normally have their permission cut to 60 calendar days; anyone with 60 days or less left keeps what they have
- Workers the Home Office believes were knowingly involved normally lose all their permission
- Certificates you assigned become invalid, and visas granted to people who haven’t yet travelled are cancelled
Within the 60 days, a worker can apply to stay on another route they qualify for, for example with a new sponsor. The Home Office tells them about the revocation, but not why.
Challenging a revocation
- There’s no appeal: the court route is judicial review, which asks whether the decision was lawful
- A claim must be made promptly, and the court’s permission is needed
- Written representations, pre-action letters and court work all need a solicitor or higher-level adviser
We explain the decision and refer you on straight away, so no deadline is missed.
Documents
Sponsor compliance documents: the easy part
Every sponsor must keep records for each sponsored worker. What matters is whether they show you’ve met your duties, and what they reveal.
What everyone needs
- The suspension or revocation letter
- The records you must keep for each sponsored worker
- Your sponsorship management system reports and their dates
- Right to work checks for your staff
- £Payroll records for your sponsored workers
- Details of any changes to your business or Key Personnel
The Home Office can ask for documents at any time, and not providing them by the deadline can itself lead to revocation.
Costs & timeline
Sponsor licence revocation costs and timescales
If you’re downgraded, or reinstated with a B-rating, the action plan costs £1,579, paid within 10 working days. After a revocation you can’t apply for at least 12 months, and a new licence then costs £611 or £1,682.
If you’re given a B-rating
| Sponsor action planif you’re B-rated; a second plan costs the same againpay within 10 working days or the licence is revoked | £1,579 |
Home Office fees from the fees table in force from 8 October 2026 and GOV.UK, checked 11 October 2026. After a revocation and the cooling-off period, a new Worker licence costs £1,682, or £611 for small sponsors and charities. Fees aren’t refunded if a new application is refused. Our consultation fees →
Suspension letter
Day 0Read the reasons. You can’t assign certificates, and your sponsor duties continue.
Your written response
Within 20 working daysRepresentations and evidence must be prepared by a solicitor or higher-level adviser. We refer you straight away.
Home Office decision
Usually within 20 working daysReinstatement with an A or B-rating, limits on certificates, or revocation, taking effect from the date of the decision letter.
If revoked
Workers: 60 daysWorkers who weren’t involved normally have 60 days to apply on another route or leave. Judicial review must be started promptly.
Apply again
After at least 12 months24 months after more than one revocation. You must show the problems are fixed; after dishonesty, the Home Office wants compelling evidence.
Protect your licence
Common reasons for licence suspension and revocation
Most enforcement action follows a compliance check. These are the breaches we look for first in a compliance review.
Changes not reported
Most changes to a sponsored worker’s circumstances must be reported within 10 working days, and significant changes to your business within 20.
We check: your reports against your records and the deadlines.
Paying less than the certificate says
Paying a sponsored worker less than stated, without reporting it or where the cut isn’t allowed, is a ground for revocation.
We check: payroll against each certificate of sponsorship.
A job that doesn’t match
If a worker’s actual role doesn’t match the occupation code or job description on their certificate, the licence will be revoked.
We check: what each worker really does against their certificate.
Illegal working
Employing someone without permission to do the work, without proper right to work checks, normally leads to revocation and may bring a civil penalty.
We check: your right to work checks for all staff, not just sponsored workers.
Passing on sponsor costs
Recovering the licence fee or certificate of sponsorship fee from a worker will normally lead to revocation.
We check: contracts and deductions for anything that recovers sponsor costs.
Records you can’t produce
Not co-operating with a compliance check, or not providing required documents by the deadline, normally leads to revocation.
We check: you could produce every required record on request.
How we help
How we help with suspension and revocation
We explain where you stand, refer the challenge on quickly, and help you put things right.
Letter and deadline check
We explain the suspension or revocation letter, your deadline and what it means for each sponsored worker.
Fast referral
Written representations and any court challenge go to a solicitor or higher-level adviser, and we refer you straight away.
Compliance review
If you’re not facing action yet, we check your records, reporting and HR systems and help you fix gaps before a Home Office visit.
New licence
After the cooling-off period, we help you show the problems are fixed and prepare a new application for you to submit.
Our scope: we’re regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority at Level 1. There’s no right of appeal against revocation. We explain the process and your deadlines, and refer representations and any challenge to a solicitor or higher-level adviser. We carry out compliance reviews before any enforcement action, help you carry out the Home Office action plan if your licence is reinstated with a B-rating, and help you apply again later.
FAQs
Sponsor licence revocation questions, answered
Can I appeal a sponsor licence revocation?
No. There’s no right of appeal against revocation. If the decision may be unlawful, the court route is judicial review, which must be started promptly and within 3 months, and needs a solicitor. If your licence was revoked in error, the Home Office will contact you to reinstate it.
What happens to our sponsored workers if the licence is revoked?
The Home Office will normally cut their permission so they have 60 calendar days left, unless they already have 60 days or less. In that time they can apply to stay on another route, for example with a new sponsor, or must leave the UK. Workers believed to have been knowingly involved in the breach normally lose all their permission.
Can our workers keep working while the licence is suspended?
Yes. Workers with valid permission aren’t affected unless the licence is revoked. But you can’t assign new certificates, and any application made using one of your certificates, or for settlement with your support, is put on hold until the suspension is resolved.
How long do we have to respond to a suspension?
20 working days from the date of the letter. More time is given only in exceptional circumstances, and if new reasons are added you get another 20 working days to answer them. The response must be in writing, as there’s no hearing, so we refer you to a solicitor or higher-level adviser to prepare it.
Can we surrender the licence instead?
You can, but if you surrender it while the Home Office is taking compliance action that would have led to revocation, the same cooling-off period applies as if it had been revoked.
When can we apply for a new licence?
At least 12 months after the date of the revocation notice, or 24 months if you’ve had a licence revoked more than once. Some civil penalties and convictions mean longer. You must show the problems are fixed, and if the revocation involved dishonesty, the Home Office will want compelling evidence.
What is a B-rating?
A downgrade for less serious breaches. You pay for and follow a 3-month action plan (£1,579), and you can’t sponsor new workers until you’re back to an A-rating. Not paying within 10 working days, or not meeting the plan, leads to revocation.
Does a revocation affect our directors?
It can. Someone named as Key Personnel at an organisation whose licence was revoked in the last 12 months may find another organisation’s licence application is normally refused, and for longer after more than one revocation.
Related routes
Other sponsor and review pages
Ready when you are
Compliance, sorted.
Book a consultation, or start with the free quick check on this page.