Compliance / Refusals and enforcement
When the Home Office says no, or steps in
A refusal, a downgrade or a suspension can put sponsored hiring on hold across your whole organisation, and a compliance visit can lead to any of them. We help you understand why it happened, fix the cause, and take the next step open to you. Our IAA-regulated immigration advisers take you through each step, and tell you early if your case needs a specialist.
Licence refusal · Next steps
Northgate Digital Ltd
Worker licence · refused 2 Oct 2026
Adviser review
2 reasons given · each with a fix
Job description too vague
Didn’t match the occupation code
Fix
Insurance expired
Renewed certificate requested
Requested
Error correction checked
No caseworker error found
Checked
Eligible to reapply 2 Apr 2027
After the six month cooling-off period
Plan
Lul S., your immigration adviser, tells you early if your case needs a higher level of advice
Refusal letter · 09:20
2 reasons logged, records checked
Lul S. · Adviser
Fix plan agreed for both reasons
Reminder · 2 Apr 2027
First day you can reapply
Iris AI agent
Helps prepare it
Your adviser
Reviews it
You
Approve it
Regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority
Ref. F202309005
900+
UK businesses supported
4.9
average rating on Google
Decisions we help you deal with
Each one has its own rules, deadlines and next steps. Here’s what the Home Office guidance says, and where we come in.
Refused licence
A refused sponsor licence
There’s no right of appeal. You can usually reapply after a cooling-off period, normally six months. We find the cause, fix it, and prepare the new application for the day you’re eligible.
Refused CoS request
Fewer certificates, or none
The Home Office can allocate fewer certificates than you asked for if it isn’t satisfied by the justification or the role. We look at why, strengthen the evidence, and help you ask again.
Compliance visit
A visit, announced or not
We help you get your records in order before a visit, and work through anything the officer raises afterwards.
Downgrade
A B-rating and an action plan
You have 10 working days to accept the plan and pay the fee, or the licence is revoked. The plan runs for three months. We help you meet every point in it.
Suspension
A suspended licence
You can’t assign any CoS, and you have 20 working days to respond in writing. We help you find and fix the issues behind it.
Civil penalty
An illegal working penalty
Up to £60,000 for each illegal worker, and a penalty is likely to cost you your licence. We help you check your right to work records and close the gaps.
Facing a refusal or a Home Office visit? See how Borderless and your adviser handle the response.
Book a tourFrom the letter to the next step
Read the decision with you
We go through the letter line by line, so you know exactly what the Home Office found and which deadline applies.
Plan the response
Your adviser sets out your options and the deadline, and tells you early if your case needs a specialist.
Fix the cause
Your adviser checks the records behind each reason, and every gap gets a fix and an owner on your team.
Take the next step
An IAA-regulated immigration adviser reviews the new application, request or response before it’s submitted, and you approve it.
Read
Scope
Fix
Next step
Read the decision
Every reason in the letter, matched to what you sent
Job description too vague
Reason 1 · role and code didn’t match
High
Insurance certificate expired
Reason 2 · document out of date
Medium
Error correction window
14 calendar days from the letter
Day 4
Documents you sent
All 8 received and listed
Confirmed
Check the scope, early
What we can help with, and what needs someone else
Fix the cause and reapply
Within Level 1
In scope
Error correction request
Scope checked with the advice team
Checking
Tribunal, court or judicial review
Outside Level 1 · we’d say so
Refer early
Plan agreed with Priya S.
Fix both reasons, then reapply
Agreed
Fix the cause
Each reason gets a fix and an owner
Checking your records
Job description · Engineer
Rewritten
Insurance certificate
Renewed
Contract template
Consistent
Key personnel
Checked
Both reasons fixed
Evidence attached to each
Ready
Reapply when you’re eligible
Your adviser reviews it. You approve it.
Cooling-off ends 2 Apr 2027
Application ready for that day
Planned
Reviewed by Lul S.
Immigration adviser · IAA regulated
Reviewed
Logged to your audit trail
Every step, with who did it and when
Ready to submit once you approve.
Approve
Where we come in
Hands-on help after a decision
Our IAA-regulated immigration advisers work through the decision with you, fix what caused it, and get you ready for the next step.
Fix and reapply
Fixing the cause and reapplying
Understanding a refusal, fixing what caused it, and preparing a new licence application or CoS request.
Action plans
Working through a B-rating
Your adviser takes you through each point of the action plan, with your records checked as you go.
If you need more
Appeals and court work
If a case needs an appeal, tribunal or court work, your adviser tells you early, so you can instruct the right specialist.
3
weeks
to a granted sponsor licence through Borderless for Spire Homecare, after its first application, made elsewhere, was refused over one line in a contract template.
Spire Homecare · Homecare
“Knowledge and support is power. Pay for the right support and the right system, so you can be assured you’re doing everything you should be.”
Questions we’re often asked
Can we appeal a refused sponsor licence?
No. There’s no right of appeal. If the refusal came from a caseworker error, or evidence you sent wasn’t considered, you can send an error correction request within 14 calendar days of the decision letter. For sponsor licence refusals, we prepare the request for you and your Authorising Officer sends it. It isn’t a full reconsideration, and new evidence isn’t accepted. Otherwise you reapply once the cooling-off period ends.
Our licence has been suspended. What happens now?
You can’t assign any CoS while it’s suspended, and you must keep meeting all your sponsor duties. Workers who already have valid permission aren’t affected unless the licence is revoked. You have 20 working days from the letter to respond in writing. Your adviser tells you early what we can help with, and when you need a lawyer.
Can you represent us at a tribunal or in court?
No. Level 1 doesn’t cover appeals, tribunal or court work, or judicial review. There’s no right of appeal against a licence revocation, so if you want to challenge one, we’ll tell you early that you need a lawyer.
We’ve been given a B-rating. How can you help?
You have 10 working days to accept the action plan and pay the fee, and the plan runs for three months. While you’re B-rated, you can’t assign a CoS to a new worker. We help you work through each point, with your records checked as you go, so you’re ready for the follow-up check.
Can you guarantee the next application will be approved?
No. Nobody can promise a Home Office decision. What we can do is find the cause of the refusal, fix it, and check everything before it’s submitted.
Get a clear next step after a Home Office decision
Book a tour of the platform and how your adviser works through a decision with you, with time for your questions.