Sponsor licence emergencies in Edinburgh
Workers have 60 days. Employers can respond or challenge. Book a consultation with an Edinburgh immigration solicitor, usually within 24 hours.
A letter has arrived at your employer's office, or you've heard about it from a colleague, and there's now a question of whether you still have the right to work next month. Or you're the employer, the compliance visit didn't go the way you hoped, and the suspension or revocation letter is sitting on your desk. Two different problems on the same page, because the 60-day clock and the suspension-response window both move faster than people expect.
What we offer either way is a consultation with a qualified immigration solicitor, normally within 24 hours of you booking. £175 including VAT, 30 minutes, at our Edinburgh office or by video. After the call, both worker and employer leave with a written view on which route to take and what the next step costs as a fixed fee.
Skip to your situation:
If you're a sponsored worker
The 60-day rule
When the Home Office revokes your sponsor's licence, your visa is curtailed and you have 60 days to put yourself in a lawful position. The 60 days starts on the date the Home Office sends your curtailment letter, not the date you find out the licence has gone.
What the 60 days lets you do:
- Apply for a new Skilled Worker visa under a new sponsor
- Switch into another route you're eligible for (partner, family, Graduate, Global Talent, High Potential Individual, others)
- Leave the UK without becoming an overstayer
What it doesn't let you do:
- Keep working for the original sponsor past their licence end date
- Switch outside the published rules of any new route
What a solicitor checks first
The day-zero date on your curtailment letter. The actual licence position of any potential new sponsor (some are also under Home Office review, which is a problem you don't want to walk into). Your length of UK residence (you may be closer to ILR than you think). Whether you're inside the cooling-off period of any earlier refusal. Any dependants on your visa and their separate routes.
Common routes out for Edinburgh sponsored workers
New Skilled Worker application with a new sponsor. The cleanest where a genuine offer is on the table. Edinburgh's tech and finance employers, NHS Lothian and the universities all hold sponsor licences and can issue a Certificate of Sponsorship. A new CoS is needed, and the application has to be lodged before the 60 days end.
Switch to a partner or family route. If you live with a British or settled partner, or your relationship qualifies for one of the family routes, this can be the better long-term answer. Different financial and evidence requirements apply.
Graduate route. If you've recently finished a UK degree, the Graduate route doesn't need a sponsor and lasts two or three years.
High Potential Individual. Graduates of certain universities on the Home Office Global Universities List can apply, even if they didn't study in the UK.
Global Talent. For senior applicants in qualifying fields, with endorsement from a Home Office-approved body.
Leave the UK and re-enter on a fresh visa. Sometimes cleaner than switching in-country, especially where your eligibility for the new route is borderline.
Worker packages
After the consultation, where the route is clear, work goes onto a fixed-fee package. Worker package fees include VAT and are fixed fees per person:
Skilled Worker Visa, £1,499. New application with a new sponsor.
UK Family Visas, £1,449. Switching to a spouse, partner or family route.
PBS Dependant Visa, £1,499. Where a partner has their own work visa and you switch to be their dependant.
Home Office filing fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge are paid separately.
If you're a sponsoring employer
Suspension and revocation are different things
Suspension means the Home Office is investigating and has paused your ability to assign new Certificates of Sponsorship. Existing workers continue to work, for now. You will receive a suspension letter setting out the concerns and a deadline, usually 20 working days, to respond.
Revocation is the final decision. Your licence is gone, your existing CoS assignments are cancelled, and your sponsored workers' visas are curtailed with the 60-day window starting.
Suspension is the stage where things can still be saved. The response has to engage with each concern the Home Office raised, with documentary evidence. A response that doesn't do that usually ends in revocation.
Common triggers for compliance action
Right-to-work checks not done, or not retained for the required period.
Sponsor Management System reporting failures: a missed change of role, change of salary, absence over 10 working days, termination report, change of work address.
Salary at or below the SOC code rate, or below the relevant national threshold. Tech and finance employers in Edinburgh sometimes run into trouble where bonus, equity and share-based compensation make the base salary look thinner than it actually is on paper.
Job description in the CoS not matching the role actually being done. Common in fast-moving Edinburgh startups where job titles and responsibilities shift quickly.
Records gaps on document storage and HR audit.
What a strong suspension response does
Addresses each Home Office concern with documentary evidence. Shows what's been fixed since the compliance visit: new HR processes, training records, audit trail, mock right-to-work checks. Demonstrates the underlying risk has changed.
The Home Office reads suspension responses against published sponsor guidance. A response that doesn't engage with the right paragraphs of that guidance loses ground from page one.
If your licence has been revoked
There is no right of appeal against a sponsor licence revocation. The route to challenge it is judicial review, which starts with a pre-action protocol letter. Grounds are limited: irrationality, procedural unfairness, error of law.
The cooling-off period before you can reapply is usually 12 months. Sometimes shorter where the revocation was on narrower grounds.
Employer packages
Sponsor Licence Application, £1,799. New licence application, including re-application after the cooling-off period.
Pre-action Protocol for Judicial Review, £599. The formal challenge letter against revocation.
Employer package fees include VAT. Home Office application fees are paid separately.
What to have ready for the consultation
For workers
The curtailment letter from the Home Office, if it's arrived.
Your Certificate of Sponsorship reference and the most recent payslips.
Your passport and BRP.
Details of any potential new sponsor or alternative route you've been thinking about.
Dependants' details, if anyone else's status sits on yours.
For employers
The suspension or revocation notice from the Home Office.
The compliance visit report if you have one.
Your sponsor licence number and a current list of sponsored workers.
HR records relevant to the concerns raised.
Any internal response already drafted.
How to book
Pick a slot in the Calendly link. Most consultations are bookable inside 24 hours, evening and weekend slots usually available.
If you can't see a slot that works, email info@abimmigrationlaw.co.uk and we'll find one. Phone is 0141 237 3137. Background on our Edinburgh team is on the Edinburgh immigration lawyer page.
The 60-day window goes fast. Workers usually need a week to lock down a new sponsor and another two to three to gather documents. Employers need at least a fortnight to draft a strong suspension response. Book early.
Common questions
My Edinburgh employer hasn't told me the licence has been revoked, but I've heard from colleagues. Should I wait for the letter?
No. Book the consultation now. The 60-day clock has very likely already started, whether the curtailment letter has reached you yet or not.
Can I stay with the same employer if they get the licence back?
A revoked licence is gone. The employer would need to reapply, usually after a 12-month cooling-off period, and you would need a new Certificate of Sponsorship under the new licence. In practical terms, you usually need a new sponsor.
As an employer, can I keep sponsoring while the licence is suspended?
You can't assign new CoS during a suspension. Existing workers carry on under their existing visas, subject to whatever the suspension letter says.
Our salary structure relies on bonus and equity. Can a revocation be defended on that basis?
Sometimes. The Home Office is strict on what counts as base salary for SOC code threshold purposes. The defence depends on how the contracts are written and whether the base alone meets the rate. The consultation tells you whether it's defensible on the same facts.
Can I challenge the revocation as an employer?
Yes, through judicial review. There is no right of appeal at the Tribunal. The challenge starts with a pre-action protocol letter.
Do you do legal aid?
No, we work on fixed-fee packages.