Why a sponsor disappears from the register
When an organisation stops appearing in the published register, the register itself gives no reason. The sponsor guidance describes the ways a licence can end.
Ways a licence ends, according to the guidance
- Revocation. The Home Office withdraws the licence, for example after a compliance visit finds serious breaches of sponsor duties.
- Surrender. The sponsor gives the licence up, for example because it no longer employs sponsored workers.
- Expiry. Licences run for a fixed period; one that is not renewed lapses.
- Change of organisation. A merger, takeover or insolvency can end the licence, and the successor may be listed under a different name.
Other reasons an entry changes
An organisation can also seem to disappear because its name or town on the register changed. We treat a town change on a uniquely named sponsor as an address change rather than a removal, and record it as such in the changes feed. A rename is recorded as a removal and an addition because the register carries no identifier to connect the two.
What the guidance says happens to sponsored workers
Part 3 of the sponsor guidance sets out what the Home Office does when a licence is revoked, including how it treats the permission of workers the sponsor had assigned certificates to. That is a question about an individual's own immigration status, which only a regulated adviser or the Home Office can answer for them.
Common questions
- Can a sponsor reappear after being removed?
- Yes. Organisations re-apply and are relisted; our change history shows both the removal and the later addition.
- Does this site know why a particular sponsor was removed?
- No. We record that an entry left the register between two publications. The reason is not published.
Sources
Regulated advice
We publish the facts. An adviser explains what they mean for you.
Questions about a sponsor licence, a rating, or a change on the register can only be answered for your own circumstances by an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, or by a solicitor.
Ask a regulated adviser