We are proud to share a significant win for one of our clients: a mandatory injunction granted by the Administrative Court in a sponsor licence judicial review, requiring the Home Office to reinstate the sponsor licence forthwith.
This is an important outcome, and the circumstances behind it deserve to be understood properly.
What Happened
Our client held a sponsor licence and had a number of sponsored workers. The Home Office raised concerns relating to one sponsored employee. Those concerns centred on absences, reporting obligations, and a salary shortfall connected to that worker.
Before any legal proceedings were brought, the business had already taken steps to address the shortfall. They had acknowledged the reporting failure and committed to strengthening their compliance going forward. The issues were isolated, connected to one worker, and the business itself was well established.
The Home Office revoked the licence anyway.
A sponsor licence revocation does not just create a legal problem. It can disrupt operations immediately, destabilise the workforce, damage commercial continuity, and place sponsored workers in immediate uncertainty.
The Legal Challenge
We moved quickly. Judicial review proceedings were issued in the Administrative Court and we applied for interim relief on an urgent basis.
The Court granted the mandatory injunction. The Home Office was ordered to reinstate the sponsor licence forthwith, pending the next stage of the proceedings.
In reaching that decision, the Court expressly recognised the severe difficulties the business would face in continuing to provide care, the commercial disadvantages that would follow revocation, and the impact on both vulnerable clients and sponsored workers.
The Court also held that there is a strong prima facie case that the Home Office:
Failed to follow its own guidance
Failed to give adequate reasons for the revocation
Acted in a way that was Wednesbury unreasonable
Why This Result Matters
The case arose from an isolated incident involving one sponsored employee in an otherwise well-run sponsorship operation. The Court treated it as such.
This matters because sponsors sometimes accept revocation as a final outcome when it does not have to be. The sponsor licence revocation process gives the Home Office wide discretion, but that discretion is not unlimited. Where the Home Office has failed to apply its own guidance correctly, acted without adequate reasons, or reached a decision that no reasonable decision-maker could reach, the courts can and do intervene.
If you are facing a sponsor licence suspension, our sponsor licence suspension page sets out what the process involves and what options are available. If revocation has already taken place, our sponsor licence revocation page covers what routes exist to challenge the decision.
What Sponsor Licence Holders Should Take Away From This
A revocation is not automatically the end of the road. In the right case, swift and strategic public law action can protect not only the legal position, but the business itself.
We would also add: prevention matters. A sponsor licence compliance audit before problems arise is far less costly, in every sense, than urgent litigation after a revocation decision.
This is a strong and important outcome. It is also a reminder that sponsor licence revocations are not beyond challenge.
If your sponsor licence has been suspended or revoked, or if you are concerned about a compliance issue, do not wait.
Book a consultation with Nara Solicitors today, or call us on +44 20 4576 4977.
