Sponsorship Licence Roles
When applying for a Tier 2 Employer Sponsor Licence, you must appoint Key Personnel to be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Tier 2 Employer Sponsorship Licence and Sponsor Management System (SMS).
Key Personnel – Authorising Officer
The person nominated for this appointment must be a senior within the company with executive HR responsible for the recruitment and employment of migrant workers.
Depending on the size of company, we recommend the Authorising Officer is an executive decision maker.
Furthermore, the Authorising Officer will also determine how many company staff may access the SMS and what level of permission they might be granted. The Authorising Officer is ultimately responsible for the activities of all SMS users and their compliance with UKVI requirements.
The Authorising Officer does not have automatic access to the SMS. If they require access to the system, they will need to be set up as a Level 1 or Level 2 user. The Authorising Officer must have a system in place to check all SMS activities on a regular basis.
Key Personnel – Key Contact
The key contact is usually the person who acts as the main contact between UKVI and the Licence holder. The UKVI will make contact directly with the Key Contact during the Sponsor Licence application process.
Similar to the Authorising Officer, the key contact does not have automatic access to the SMS. If they require access to the system they will need to be appointed as a Level 1 or Level 2 user.
Key Personnel – Level 1 User
The Level 1 User can be the Authorising Officer or another person of responsibility within the business. They are also responsible for overall Human Resources personnel file management.
The Level 1 User must carry out the day-to-day sponsorship activities using the SMS, such as:
- Report migrant activity.
- Update Sponsor Management System.
- Request restricted Certificates of Sponsorship.
- Create and assign Certificates of Sponsorship.
Level 2 User
The Level 2 User is limited to what they can do on the SMS. For instance, the Level 2 User is appointed so that they may access the SMS in the Level 1 Users absence. Level 2 Users are able to access the Sponsor Management System to assign CoS’s to workers. In addition, they can also report migrant worker activity directly to the UKVI.
