Under new Immigration Law provisions introduced in 2008 all employers of foreign nationals under certain categories of the U.K.'s Points Based System, however large or small your organisation is, must be licensed "sponsors". In order to employ a non-EEA national for your company's UK base you will need to apply for registration on the Border Agency's Sponsorship Register.

This process is called Sponsorship Licensing. Once registered, the company's appointed officers (or a legal representative, appointed as such) will assess the entitlement of a potential employee to a "Certificate of Sponsorship" and grant them a unique reference number. The employee would then apply for Entry Clearance or Leave to Remain quoting this number. This applies whether you are a sole trader seeking to employ one individual skilled worker or whether you are a multinational seeking to move scores of employees to the UK.

We can offer a bespoke service tailored to the needs of your company. Whether you require assistance with an individual case or whether you wish us to take over all your company's immigration needs, we can help. We offer flexible and practical advice in relation to all aspects of your company's immigration law needs, your employees and their dependents.

We can also refer you on to specialist help in other related areas such as employment law and taxation with our preferred professional contacts or to independent Law Society approved specialist service providers.

We can offer you advice and assistance with all aspects of the sponsorship licensing process. We can advise and assist you to enable you to carry out an assessment of your organisation's human resources systems to check for PBS compliance; offer advice and assistance with the preparation of the sponsorship licensing application and once your application is approved act as a Key Contact, Level 1 or Level 2 User if you so wish or offer advice to your company's own appointed Users in respect of the issue of Certificates of Sponsorship to proposed employees.

Educational establishments must be licensed and on the Sponsorship Register not only to employ lecturers from abroad (under Tier 2 Skilled worker) but must act as "sponsor" to foreign students enrolled at their establishments and award Certificates of Acceptance on a course of studies. The sponsorship register is open for educational establishments under both Tiers 2 and 4. The establishment must as a prerequisite, be accredited by a UK Border Agency approved accreditation body before applying to join the sponsorship register.

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