Sponsor Management System

Herrington Carmichael is a full service law firm offering legal advice to UK and international businesses as well as individuals and families.
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Sponsor Management System

As a Sponsor Licence holder, you will need to appoint people within the organisation to fulfil three key roles on the Sponsor Management System (SMS). These are as follows:

  • Authorising Officer: This person has overall responsibility for the Sponsor Licence. You will need to appoint a senior person who is based in the UK.
  • Key Contact: This person will be the main point of contact with the UKVI. This is usually the Authorising Officer or Level 1 user.
  • Level 1 user: This person will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Sponsor Management System including assigning Certificates and reporting migrant and business activity. You can have more than one Level 1 user, and as your legal representative, we can also be added as a user.

We are regularly nominated as the Level 1 user by our clients to effectively manage the Sponsor Management System on their behalf.

Our services include:

  • Acting as a Level 1 User who will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Sponsor Management System including assigning Certificates, and reporting migrant and business activity.
  • Acting as the Key Contact who will be the main point of contact with the UKVI.
  • Reviewing your HR processes to ensure you have policies and procedures in place to fulfil your obligations as a sponsor.

How can we help

Our service is personalised, and our team is ready to assist your organisation with the management of your Sponsor Licence. We will also ensure that the right systems are in place to comply with your ongoing sponsorship duties.

We advise clients to notify us of any changes, no matter how minor, and we will confirm if reporting is required.

Key contact

Usof Shah PNG
Usof Shah
Legal Director

What our clients say about us

We have also greatly benefited from the excellent work of Usof Shah, Immigration Director, whose expertise has been instrumental in helping our members address critical skills shortages in the construction industry. Usof has provided clear, actionable guidance on immigration laws, empowering our members to legally employ skilled foreign workers and sustain their businesses. His commitment extends beyond traditional legal services - he has delivered live webinars and offered free advice to some of our SME members, which was highly valued and, in several cases, helped save their companies. This combination of deep legal expertise, accessibility, and genuine care for clients' success sets him apart from others in the field.

Throughout my UK career, I came across many solicitors and solicitor firms. But Herrington Carmichael is the best so far. Their quick response, wider knowledge, and straightforward decisions come with a very competitive advisory fee. I can easily recommend them, and I did. Their success rate for me is 100%. In a nutshell, they are brilliant.

The individual deals with my requirements and makes sure I fully understand what he is advising and what the best way to proceed is.

Responsive, commercial, and able to explain immigration requirements in clear, simple terms.

The individuals we work with stand out for being approachable, knowledgeable, and responsive. Usof Shah, in particular, has been extremely professional, helpful, and practical in his advice.

Usof Shah stands out for his strong combination of technical expertise, commercial awareness, and responsiveness. He is able to explain complex immigration matters in a clear and practical way while remaining highly approachable and solutions-oriented throughout the process. What differentiates him from competitors is the level of personal attention and ownership he brings to matters. He is proactive, detail-oriented, and demonstrates a strong understanding of the operational and business needs of his clients rather than approaching matters from a purely technical perspective. I have particularly valued his responsiveness, clear communication, and ability to manage matters efficiently under tight timelines. He consistently provides pragmatic advice and maintains a high level of professionalism, which creates a strong sense of confidence and reliability throughout the engagement.

Usof Shah and his team stood out for their professionalism, responsiveness, and clear communication.

Herrington Carmichael’s team stands out for its strong expertise in immigration matters, combined with a highly personalized and responsive service. Over the past few years, they supported me and three members of my family, managing each of our individual cases efficiently and professionally. Compared to other firms, they are notably more organized and responsive.

Thank you for helping me to apply the exceptional assurance and I got the application succeed very quickly.

Usof was a pleasure to work with and his wealth of knowledge on the topic of immigration law was evident. We collaboratively delivered a successful webinar to hundreds of construction professionals on the post-Brexit immigration system and Usof was able to answer complex questions on the spot, demonstrating his attention to detail and professionalism. We would not hesitate to recommend Usof and Herrington Carmichael.

Usof Shah has been a great source of information and guidance both in setting up to become a sponsor and also in getting candidates sponsored.

The team provides useful guidance and support on the pitfalls and processes of being a sponsor. The team helps set everything up to become a sponsor as well as assisting with processing CoS applications.

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Meet our experts

Dedicated professionals ready to assist you.

Usof Shah PNG
Legal Director
Neelu-Gurung-PNG
Paralegal

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to your most pressing questions about our services and processes.

A Sponsor Licence grants an organisation permission to sponsor migrant workers (including EEA nationals who have not registered under the EU settled status scheme).

A sponsor management system (SMS) is an online tool where the Home Office provides access to an organisation after granting them a Sponsor Licence, so the business can do the following: Draft and assign the certificate of sponsors Report migrant activities Apply for a certificate of sponsor allocations Report changes to your licence

The sponsor is responsible for reporting any relevant worker activities, including, but not limited to, changes in the migrants’ circumstances, failure to attend work, change of work address and withdrawal of sponsorship.

Sponsors are also required to report certain changes to the organisation, such as a change of address and a change of business name.

Level 1 users should be reporting migrant activity within 10 working days. If a migrant worker is absent from work or leaves employment, this should be reported within 10 working days. In some circumstances, the reporting period is extended to 20 working days and we will advise when this is the case.

We can act on your behalf for all of the roles besides the Authorising Officer role. This role has to be a competent and senior person within your organisation.