RWK Goodman: Sponsor Licence Compliance

For care providers, the latest Home Office enforcement figures point to a much tougher environment for recruitment, staffing and compliance. Enforcement against care providers is at an all-time high and repercussions of Home Office action in the care sector are severe.

Fewer visas for care workers

The latest figures show that visas grants for care workers are now down 97% from their highest point in 2023. Visa grants for nurses over the same period have also significantly reduced by 73%.

Increase in licence revocation and compliance action

At the same time, the Home Office is taking a much tougher line with sponsors. Revocations have reached record levels: 1,516 licences were revoked in the final quarter of 2025, followed by 1,545 in the first quarter of 2026. In 2025, there were roughly nine times the number of revocations that we saw in 2023. Q1 of 2026 suggests that we are set to see a record number of revocations again this year.

The Home Office has suggested that this is partly due to it accessing pay information through HMRC and using this to verify that sponsored workers are being paid the minimum required salary. Care providers are becoming increasingly familiar with letters from the Home Office following these sorts of checks, which can lead to licence revocation if they are not able to satisfy the Home Office there have not been any breaches.

Impact

After a sponsor licence is revoked, sponsored workers will be issued with a letter giving them 60 days to find another sponsor or leave the country. The care provider is prevented from sponsoring new workers and usually prevented from applying for a new licence for 12 months.

More fines

The enforcement figures are also increasing. Employer fines for illegal working rose from around £28 million in 2023 to £130 million in 2025. The average fine per case has risen too, from about £17,600 in 2023 to £53,600 in 2025.

Fines can be issued for any worker who is working outside of the restrictions of their visa. This is much wider than many providers appreciate. For example, students working more than 20 hours a week during term-time or care workers promoted to seniors where their visas have not been updated.  

Action

Care providers need to take steps now to ensure they are complying with their duties to the Home Office. Train your key personnel so they are aware of their duties, carry out a mock compliance audit to identify potential gaps in compliance, stay on top of visa expiry dates, monitor changes in job role or pay, and act quickly if a worker’s status changes. What might appear to be small oversights can now have big consequences.

Key takeways

• Sponsor licence compliance is now a major operational risk as the Home Office is taking a much tougher approach.
• A focus on the care sector means it is becoming increasingly hard for care providers to keep their sponsor licences.
• Pay, role and hours data are likely to be scrutinised more closely, including through HMRC checks.
• Fines for illegal working are significant and apply even where the care provider is unaware of a breach.
• It is crucial that a care provider ensures it is up-to-speed with compliance requirements and regularly audits its records in order to keep its sponsor licence.

The message is simple: the care sector is facing a tighter labour market and a stricter compliance regime at the same time. Providers who get organised now will be in a much stronger position than those who wait for a letter from the Home Office.

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