A licence problem is urgent. Suspension stops you assigning new certificates, and revocation can affect the permission of every sponsored worker. Take advice before you respond to the Home Office.
Information checked against the sources listed below on 10 October 2026. Rules, fees and thresholds change; this is general information, not advice on your case, and does not assess whether you qualify.
What the official guidance says.
- Suspension: Home Office guidance says you cannot assign certificates of sponsorship while suspended. Workers with valid permission are unaffected unless the licence is revoked.
- Downgrading to B-rating: you must follow a fixed three-month action plan, pay a fee, and cannot sponsor new workers until your A-rating is restored.
- Revocation: this can happen without prior suspension for serious breaches. The guidance says there is no right of appeal, and you generally cannot reapply for at least 12 months.
- Where a decision has no right of appeal, other remedies, such as judicial review, may exist but have strict time limits. Which applies depends on the decision.
- Workers affected by a revoked licence have a limited time to find a new sponsor or leave. The consequences for them depend on what the Home Office tells them.
What usually decides the outcome.
- The exact notice you have received and the dates and deadlines in it.
- The reasons given and what evidence the Home Office relied on.
- Your records and what can be shown to answer the concerns.
- How sponsored workers will be affected and communicated with.
How we can help.
Depending on what you need, support can range from a first conversation to full representation. Ask for the scope of any work, and an explanation of our fees and separate government charges, in writing before you instruct the firm.
- Initial consultation and eligibility assessment. A conversation about your circumstances, the routes that may apply and the risks.
- Written advice and immigration planning. A considered view on your options and a plan that looks ahead to extensions, settlement or citizenship.
- Document and application checking. A review of an application or evidence you have prepared, before you submit it.
- Full application preparation and representation. Preparing and submitting the application, and dealing with the Home Office on your behalf.
- Responses to Home Office requests. Help answering requests for further information, interviews or evidence.
- Refusal analysis and next steps. Understanding why an application failed and whether to seek review, appeal, judicial review or make a fresh application.
- Ongoing business immigration support. Continuing help for employers with sponsorship, reporting, record keeping and right-to-work compliance.
Before you contact us
- Write a short summary of your circumstances and what you want to achieve.
- Note any decision dates, expiry dates or deadlines.
- Do not send passport numbers or sensitive documents in the first enquiry. We will explain how to share them securely.