New rules on visa sponsorship costs: Cutting back the clawbacks

On New Year's Eve, the Home Office introduced changes to the guidance on what visa sponsorship costs can be passed on to employees. 

These changes come in response to increasing allegations in various sectors that employers are placing the financial burden of visa sponsorship costs onto the sponsored workers, as opposed to the employer bearing the cost themselves. The recent changes now expand on the number of visa sponsorship costs that cannot be recouped by an employer from sponsored employees. 

The changes now prohibit sponsors from recouping the cost for: 

1. certificates of sponsorship, 
2. sponsor licence application fees, 
3. Immigration Skills Charge, and 
4. associated administrative costs related to the application. 

Employers should be exercising caution about associated administrative costs, as that could be read rather broadly in terms of immigration compliance. 

Some employers will typically cover all costs associated with sponsorship, whereas others will only cover those that employers are formally obliged to. There is also a common trend for employers to seek to use ‘clawback’ provisions in contracts as a means of either recouping the permitted costs in various circumstances. 

With these changes, employers will need to urgently review their existing approach to the costs associated with visa sponsorship and what costs, if any, they will seek to pass on to employees. Standard working in ‘clawback clauses’ might also need to be reviewed. 

Our experienced team of immigration lawyers is here to guide you through the complexities of the UK immigration system. We're happy to discuss how we can assist your organisation.

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