Sponsor licence / Mergers and restructuring
Keep sponsorship intact when the business changes hands
A sponsor licence doesn’t move with a sale. Whether you’re buying, selling or restructuring, we map every sponsored worker, set every reporting deadline, and get the reports, licence applications and Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) in on time, with an IAA-regulated immigration adviser reviewing anything that goes to the Home Office.
Change of ownership · Working day 6 of 20
Northgate Care Ltd
Acquiring a homecare business · 14 sponsored workers
14 days left
14
workers mapped
11
move under TUPE
2
need a new CoS
Change of ownership report
Due in 14 working days · drafted
Review
TUPE list confirmed
11 workers · same duties
Confirmed
6 gaps in inherited files
Payslips and 1 unreported absence
Fix
Lul S., your immigration adviser, reviews anything that goes to the Home Office
Halo · 14 files
Inherited records checked, 6 gaps found
Lul S. · Adviser
TUPE list reviewed against the guidance
Reminder · 14 working days
Change of ownership report due
Iris AI agent
Helps prepare it
Your adviser
Reviews it
You
Approve it
Trusted by sponsors of every size
What you need to do depends on the deal
Your licence can’t be transferred. What you need to do depends on who the new owner is, whether workers move under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE), and whether the buyer already holds the right licence.
Buying
You take over a sponsor
Report the change within 20 working days. If you don’t hold the right licence, apply within 20 working days of the workers moving to you, or their permission can be cancelled.
Selling
Your business is sold
Report the change within 20 working days, with every sponsored worker who’s moving. Anyone who isn’t moving is reported separately, and their permission will be cancelled.
Group restructure
A new holding company
If a sponsor gets a new direct owner, even inside the same group, it needs a new licence. Workers can move to it without a change of employment application. Moving people between group entities, including intra-company transfers from an overseas branch on the Senior or Specialist Worker route, is planned on the same record.
Partial takeover
Some workers move, some stay
Both sides report within 20 working days. The old sponsor keeps reporting on the workers it still employs, and either side may need to change its CoS allocation.
Change further up
Ownership changes above you
If your parent is sold but your direct owner stays the same, you still report it. With no change to your operations or your workers’ jobs, a new licence usually isn’t needed.
One group licence
Moving sponsorship to the parent
A parent can sponsor workers who stay with the same employer, if the Home Office is satisfied it can meet the duties. Each branch licence is surrendered.
Planning a sale, a purchase or a restructure? Get your sponsored workers mapped before the deal completes.
Book a tourHow we handle a change of ownership
Every sponsored worker on the right licence, on time
Map every sponsored worker
We list each worker by licence, route, occupation code and visa end date, and mark who moves under TUPE, who needs a new CoS, and who stays.
Set the deadlines
Each report and application gets its 20 working day clock from the right date, an owner on your team, and a draft.
Check what you’re taking on
Halo, your compliance dashboard, checks every transferred file, so you know what you’ve inherited before the Home Office does.
Report, apply and assign
An IAA-regulated immigration adviser reviews each report, licence application and CoS before it’s submitted, and you approve it.
Map
Plan
Check
Submit
Map every sponsored worker
By licence, route, occupation code and visa end date
Kofi Asante · Care worker
Moves under TUPE · same duties
No new CoS
Grace Mensah · Senior care worker
Moves · role and code change
New CoS
Amara Okoye · Nurse
Stays with the seller
Stays
14 workers mapped
11 move · 2 new CoS · 1 stays
Set the deadlines
20 working days from the right date, each with an owner
Seller reports the change
Owner: seller’s Level 1 User
12 days left
Confirm responsibility
Owner: Priya S. · in the SMS
14 days left
Seller’s licence made dormant
Owner: Priya S. · request drafted
14 days left
New licence application
Not needed · route already held
Checked
Check what you’re taking on
Every transferred file, against Appendix D
Halo is checking 14 files
Right to work · Kofi A.
Valid
Absence record · Ravi P.
Not reported
Contract · Amara O.
Matches CoS
Payslips · Grace M.
Missing
6 gaps in inherited files
Each with a fix and an owner
6 to fix
Report, apply and assign
Your adviser reviews it. You approve it.
Change of ownership report
Drafted from the worker map
Drafted
2 new CoS for changed roles
Change of employment for each
Drafted
Reviewed by Lul S.
Immigration adviser · IAA regulated
Reviewed
Ready to submit once you approve.
Approve
You take on the records, and the gaps in them
From the day sponsored workers move to you, their sponsor duties are yours. These are the parts we check first.
Records
Every file, against Appendix D
Right to work evidence, contracts, payslips and contact details for each transferred worker, checked so any gap is found and fixed on your watch, with an owner.
Roles
Certificates that still match the job
Workers who move under TUPE keep their permission only while their duties stay the same. We check each role against its certificate and flag anyone who needs a new CoS.
Reporting
Workers you can’t see in your SMS
Transferred workers may not appear in your Sponsor Management System (SMS), so some reports go to the Home Office by email. Those deadlines sit on the same record as everyone else’s.
10
CoS
applications sent in about two hours after Spire Homecare acquired a care business whose licence had been revoked. All ten were approved within three weeks.
Spire Homecare · Homecare
“It took me maybe two hours to get all ten CoS applications in. They all came back approved within three weeks. That kept the team going. Without it, we would have run out of time.”
Questions we’re often asked
Does our sponsor licence transfer to the buyer?
No. A sponsor licence can’t be transferred. If the business is sold, or a share sale moves the controlling interest to a new owner, the seller’s licence is revoked, or made dormant if the workers move to another sponsor’s licence. A buyer without the right licence must apply for one.
Do workers who move under TUPE need new visas?
Not usually. They don’t need a new application or a new CoS, provided the new sponsor holds a licence for their route, confirms it accepts responsibility for them, and their duties stay the same. If the role or occupation code changes, they need a new CoS.
What happens if we miss the 20 working day deadline?
Not reporting a change in time can lead to a downgrade or revocation. If the buyer needs a licence and doesn’t apply within 20 working days of the workers moving, or its application is refused, those workers’ permission will be cancelled.
We’re taking on staff from an employer whose licence was revoked. Can they stay?
Often, if you move quickly. When a licence is revoked, workers who weren’t involved in the reasons usually have their permission shortened to 60 days. A licensed sponsor can assign each eligible worker a new CoS for a change of employment application. Your adviser checks each worker first.
When should we involve you?
As early as you can, ideally before completion, so the worker map and deadlines are ready when the clock starts. Your team runs the transaction, and we handle the sponsorship side.
Plan the sponsorship side of your deal early
Book a tour of the platform, from the worker map to every reporting deadline, with time for your questions.