The Home Office has introduced stricter mandatory revocation grounds in the recently updated Sponsor Guidance (Part 3: Sponsor Duties and Compliance), with the latest version effective from 20 May 2026. Under the revised guidance, the Home Office can now revoke a sponsor licence where it “reasonably suspects” a breach of sponsor duties, including a mandatory revocation ground for assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a role that does not meet the strict new “eligible role” criteria.
This amendment reflects the Home Office’s intensified efforts to tackle abuse of the sponsorship system and target organisations operating sham business arrangements for immigration purposes. Sponsors must ensure they can demonstrate genuine business activity, legitimate vacancies that accurately match the CoS, and a clear commercial need for sponsored workers.
Given the serious consequences of licence revocation—which includes the curtailment of sponsored workers’ permission to stay in the UK—employers should urgently review their compliance procedures and maintain robust evidence of their operations and recruitment practices.
By: Hanna Barzinji