We are pleased to share another compliance success for a sponsor licence holder.
On 22 September 2026, the Home Office confirmed it would take no further action in respect of our client's sponsor licence.
The whole process took 18 days from the first letter to the decision.
On 4 September 2026, the Sponsor Licensing Unit at the Home Office wrote to our client about their sponsor licence. The letter requested information as part of a compliance check.
The request related to salary levels, and the Home Office asked to see payroll information for the sponsored workers.
Salary is one of the areas UKVI examines most closely. Sponsors are expected to pay the salary stated on the Certificate of Sponsorship and to report relevant changes to UKVI, so a request of this kind asks a sponsor to show its records rather than explain itself.
A compliance check is also routine in the sense that it is part of how UKVI supervises the system. Receiving one does not mean a sponsor has done anything wrong. What matters is whether the records answer the question.
Our client came to us with the letter and a deadline. We reviewed what the Home Office had asked for, worked through the payroll records with the client, and prepared the response.
Alongside the documents, we made written representations setting out what those records showed.
The response was submitted on 18 September 2026, two weeks after the request.
Four days later, on 22 September 2026, the Home Office replied. The Sponsor Licensing Unit wrote:
"We have fully considered the information and documents submitted by you and we are now writing to tell you that we will be taking no further action at this time."
The letter also thanked our client for their cooperation.
So the timeline reads:
- 4 September 2026: the Home Office requests payroll information
- 18 September 2026: our client submits the response and our representations
- 22 September 2026: the Home Office confirms no further action
The compliance check is closed and the licence is unaffected.
If you have had a letter from the Sponsor Licensing Unit, book a consultation with us quickly. These requests carry a deadline, and the response you send is the case you get to make.
Two points are worth drawing out.
The first is that a question about salary is answered with records. The Home Office asked for payroll information, considered it, and closed the matter. Good record keeping is what makes a short response possible, and our client had theirs in order.
The second is in the wording. Read paragraph three again: no further action "at this time".
The Home Office kept the right to carry out further compliance checks and to continue any investigations at a later date. It also reminded our client that sponsors must keep acting in line with immigration law, the Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor guidance, and wider UK law such as employment law.
So the matter is closed, not finished. Compliance is a continuing duty and salary is an area UKVI returns to.
For sponsors reading this who have not had a letter, the useful question is whether your own payroll records would answer one. Pay and hours change. Shift patterns change. Roles change after a Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned. Each of those is reportable, and each of them lives in the payroll before it ever reaches a file.
A sponsor licence compliance audit checks your payroll and HR records against your sponsor duties, so that if a request arrives you already know what the records say.
At NARA Solicitors, we handle sponsor licence applications, compliance audits, and the suspension and revocation of sponsor licences. We also help sponsors respond to Home Office compliance checks and payroll requests. You can read more outcomes in our success stories.
If you are facing something similar, NARA Solicitors is here to help. Our team of experienced solicitors is ready to give you the guidance and support you need.
Book a consultation with NARA Solicitors today.
