Tell me about the certificate of sponsorship

Dear Mr Bassie,

I would like to go to the United Kingdom (UK) on a Tier 5 (Temporary Worker - Creative and Sporting) Visa. I would have multiple engagements and I understand that I would need to obtain from my sponsor a certificate of sponsorship. I am hoping that you would be able to give me some more information concerning this document.

- GY

Dear GY,

You should be aware that a certificate of sponsorship is not an actual certificate or paper document, but a unique reference number that holds information about the engagements and a person's personal details. The person's sponsor will give him or her the certificate of sponsorship reference number. The sponsor will also need to give that person some of the sponsor's information used to assign the certificate, for use with the point-based calculator in making the application, for example, the salary of the job. It should be noted that if an applicant has a certificate of sponsorship, this alone does not mean that he or she will be successful in applying to go to stay in the UK. That person must meet the requirements of the tier and category that he or she is applying under as well.

The sponsor will assign certificates using the sponsorship management system, and the applicant can have only one live certificate of sponsorship in the system at any one time. A live certificate of sponsorship is one that the sponsor has assigned to the applicant, but who has yet to use it to apply.

If the applicant has given his or her personal details to a prospective sponsor and that sponsor assigns a certificate of sponsorship to him or her, then no other sponsor can assign a certificate of sponsorship to that person during the time the certificate gives you permission to come or stay. Therefore, it is very important that the applicant only give his or her personal details to a sponsor for whom he or she intends to work.

It is important that a person's certificate of sponsorship have the same details as in his or her passport; be assigned to the applicant by his or her sponsor no more than three months before the date that he or she makes the application; has not been withdrawn by his or her sponsor or by the British authorities.

You should also be aware that the certificate of sponsorship will run out if it is not used to apply within three months of the sponsor assigning it to the applicant. If a person applies using a certificate of sponsorship that has run out, that person's application will be refused and he or she must get a new certificate of sponsorship from the sponsor.

CANCELLATION AND WITHDRAWAL

In addition, a certificate of sponsorship can be cancelled or withdrawn at any time by a person's sponsor, and if this occurs, it becomes invalid and cannot be used.

If the applicant would like to withdraw a certificate of sponsorship because he or she does not want to go to the UK, he or she should ask his or her sponsor to withdraw the certificate of sponsorship. The applicant does not need to contact the sponsor licensing unit as the certificate will automatically run out three months after it was assigned by the sponsor.

Also, if the applicant does not want to take the job from the original sponsor because he or she would prefer to take a job from another sponsor, then he or she must contact or notify the first sponsor and ask that the certificate of sponsorship be withdrawn. This notification must be done in writing or by email and the sponsor must be given five working days to withdraw the certificate.

If the sponsor does not withdraw the certificate within those five days, then the applicant should send a reminder to the sponsor, who would now have another five days to withdraw the certificate of sponsorship. If the sponsor still has not withdrawn the certificate of sponsorship in this time, then he or she should contact the sponsor licensing unit in writing.

The sponsor licensing unit will contact the sponsor and get them to withdraw the certificate of sponsorship. When contacting the sponsor licensing unit, the applicant must give the following information: the applicant's full name; the applicant's nationality; the name of the sponsor that the applicant no longer wants to work for; the certificate of sponsorship reference number that needs to be withdrawn; the date that the applicant first got in touch with the sponsor to ask that the certificate be withdrawn; the date the reminder was sent to the sponsor to withdraw the certificate; the name of the new sponsor that the applicant would now like to work for; and the reason why the applicant would like the certificate of sponsorship to be cancelled.

In addition, the applicant must send a copy of any letters or emails that were sent to the sponsor, which must show to whom it was addressed in the organisation, and the applicant must also send any letters or emails that were received from the sponsor, for example, an acknowledgement email or letter.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email:lawbassie@yahoo.com