As the UK’s immigration landscape becomes increasingly digital and data-driven, so too does the way compliance is monitored and enforced. One significant evolution in the sponsorship system is the digital compliance audit. This is a remote inspection mechanism introduced by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to assess whether sponsor licence holders are fulfilling their duties.
What is a digital compliance check?
A digital compliance check (also referred to as a Home Office desktop audit) is an immigration audit conducted remotely by UKVI to ensure that a sponsor licence holder is adhering to their legal obligations.
Instead of visiting your premises in person, UKVI will review your compliance through the following means:
- Document requests submitted electronically
- Interviews conducted via video conferencing
- Checks against internal Home Office databases and third-party information
- Verification of your HR systems.
These checks may involve interviews with key sponsorship personnel, such as your Authorising Officer.
Why are digital compliance checks conducted?
The ability to sponsor workers is a privilege that comes with significant responsibilities. UKVI may initiate a compliance check for various reasons, including:
- A pre-licence assessment following a new application for a sponsor licence
- Concerns raised by intelligence from within the Home Office or other government departments
- A history of non-compliance with UK immigration or employment law
- Random checks or risk-based reviews as part of routine monitoring.
The overarching purpose is to ensure that:
- The information provided to UKVI is accurate and complete
- The sponsor is genuinely trading in the UK
- Sponsored roles are genuine vacancies and meet salary and skill-level requirements
- Sponsored employees are complying with visa conditions
- The sponsor is actively managing their responsibilities under the sponsor licence regime.
What will UKVI be looking at?
During a digital compliance audit, UKVI will evaluate several key areas of your operations, including:
- HR systems: Are your processes and documentation sufficient to meet your record-keeping and reporting duties?
- Right to Work checks: Are you carrying out initial and follow-up checks for employees with time-limited visas (so-called “List B” workers)?
- Sponsor Management System (SMS) activity: Are you using the SMS to report changes in a timely and accurate manner (e.g. changes in role, salary, work location or employee status)?
- Ongoing sponsorship justification: Does your current allocation of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) still reflect your genuine business needs?
- Genuine vacancy compliance: Are the roles you are looking to fill appropriate for sponsorship under the relevant immigration route?
What happens if you fail the audit?
At the end of the compliance audit, UKVI will issue a rating. If you meet the requirements in all areas, your score will be ‘Met’. However, if you fail to meet at least one of the mandatory criteria, your overall score will be ‘Not Met’ – even if you pass the others.
This can lead to the following consequences:
- Suspension of your sponsor licence pending further investigation
- A downgrade of your licence rating, requiring you to pay for and complete an official action plan
- In serious cases, revocation of your sponsor licence, making it illegal to continue sponsoring workers.
Common areas of non-compliance
UKVI has highlighted several frequent problem areas uncovered during digital audits:
- Missing or insufficient HR records for sponsored workers
- Failure to track and act on visa expiry dates for List B workers
- Minimal or no activity on the SMS system
- Delays or failures in reporting NMC PIN updates, salary band changes or leavers/switchers
- Inadequate documentation to demonstrate genuine vacancies.
How to prepare for a digital compliance check
Preparation is crucial and should be built into your day-to-day sponsorship practices. Here is how to get started:
- Review and strengthen your HR policies
- Ensure your recruitment and onboarding processes meet the sponsor duties, including:
- Accurate record-keeping
- Regular Right to Work checks
- Maintaining current contact and work location details for all sponsored staff.
- Ensure your recruitment and onboarding processes meet the sponsor duties, including:
- Conduct a self-audit
- Review your records and documentation as if a UKVI officer were about to inspect them. Pay close attention to:
- CoS justifications
- Employee contracts and job descriptions
- Records of absences, pay and work addresses.
- Review your records and documentation as if a UKVI officer were about to inspect them. Pay close attention to:
- Keep training and knowledge up to date
- Regulations evolve frequently
- Stay informed of changes to sponsorship guidance and provide internal training to all relevant HR or legal staff.
- Record everything
- The Home Office is looking for a consistent, well-documented approach
- If in doubt, record it – everything from interview notes to training logs to internal communications.
If you are an employer who sponsors migrant workers, it is essential to understand what a digital compliance check entails and how to prepare for it in order to maintain your licence and avoid serious consequences.
Updated: 14 April 2025
How Gherson can assist
Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on UK visa matters. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.
The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.
©Gherson 2025