Guidance

PBS sponsor licensing – certificates: caseworker guidance (accessible)

Updated 16 April 2025

Version 6.0

This guidance tells you how to consider applications for defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS) for Skilled Workers and sponsor a worker (SpAW) submissions for Government Authorised Exchange workers.

About this guidance

This guidance tells caseworkers how to consider applications for defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS) and sponsor a worker (SpAW) submissions.

It contains guidance on:

• how the sponsor applies for DCoS and makes SpAW submissions

• the mandatory and optional checks you need to make

• how to grant DCoS and approve SpAW submissions

You must use this guidance together with the existing sponsor guidance. Any differences in the workflow processes and how you consider applications for DcoS are highlighted in this guidance.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think the guidance has factual errors, email Economic Migration Policy.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance, email the Guidance Review, Atlas and Forms team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 6.0

• published for Home Office staff on 11 April 2025

Changes from last version of this guidance

This guidance has been changed to provide information on how to process SpAW submissions created on the new Sponsor UK platform and reflects changes to the Immigration Rules.

Defined certificates of sponsorship and sponsor a worker submissions

This page tells you about defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS) and sponsor a worker (SpAW) submissions.

A sponsor must request DCoS for each named position before they assign them to workers applying for entry clearance in the Skilled Worker route. A DCoS must specify the job and salary details for the worker.

Similarly, a sponsor using the new Sponsor UK platform must make a submission to sponsor any workers on specific immigration routes, which begins with selected sponsors with licences in the Government Authorised Exchange route. The SpAW submission should include sufficient information to consider any entry clearance or leave to remain application and will only reach a sponsorship caseworker in limited circumstances.

Applying for defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS) and making sponsor a worker (SpAW) submissions

DCoS requests

Only A-rated sponsors can apply for DCoS.

There is no fee to apply for a DCoS.

The application must include:

• the number of DCoS required

• the job title and standard occupation classification (SOC) code:

  • for SOCs 6135 and 6136, the location of the role and, if applicable, confirmation that the care worker recruitment requirement has been met

• the salary

• how many hours they will work each week – an average figure is acceptable if this varies

• an explanation of how it meets the relevant salary option, including:

  • whether the post meets the Immigration Salary List criteria

  • whether the worker has a PhD and if so, it should state - why the qualification is relevant to the job, whether the PhD is in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) subject) and if so, how

• the work start and end date

SpAW submissions

Only selected sponsors in the Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) routes can sponsor a worker using the new Sponsor UK platform.

Successful SpAW submissions incur a fee which must be paid in order to generate the Sponsorship Reference Number which the worker will need for their visa or permission to stay application.

The submission must include:

• confirmation of which GAE scheme the worker is to be sponsored under

• confirmation the role is supernumerary

• role details

  • the job title

  • a description of the role

  • the occupation code (SOC code)

  • whether an agent or a recruiter was used

• details of the worker:

  • whether the user or superuser is a close relative or partner of the worker

  • worker’s full name, date of birth, nationality and passport details

  • whether the worker is currently in the UK and, if so, on what basis

  • whether the worker has been sponsored previously by the sponsor on the GAE route

  • the work start and end date

  • if the worker is aged under 18, confirmation the sponsor has adequate child safeguarding measures in place (If the worker is under the age of 18, the case should be referred to the Hub, who are a group of specialist caseworkers).

• salary and financial maintenance details:

• details of the salary and hours to be worked

• whether the sponsor will certify maintenance for the worker and any dependants

• a copy of an ATAS certificate (If the job is in a relevant occupation code and the worker is not an exempt national)

Automatic validation

This page tells you how applications for defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS) are validated prior to Administrative Officer (AO) consideration.

All validating is performed automatically by the sponsor management system (SMS) and Metastorm, or the new Sponsor UK (SpUK) platform.

SMS

To apply for DCoS, the sponsor must hold an A-rated licence. The application must be submitted by the sponsor’s level 1 user. SMS undertakes an automatic validation which:

• prevents the sponsor from submitting the application if they do not hold the appropriate rating in the Skilled Worker route

• checks the information provided by the sponsor, for example:

  • the salary and occupation code

  • whether the information provided is consistent (if, for example, the sponsor selects ‘shortage occupation’ but then selects a non-shortage occupation code, SMS prevents the application from being submitted)

Metastorm

Metastorm automatically validates the application to prevent DCoS being granted to sponsors who have been downgraded to a B or have had their licence suspended.

Sponsor UK platform

The SpUK platform performs automatic validation requiring the sponsor to fill in the required information for the chosen route before submission. Only A-rated sponsors will be allowed to make sponsor a worker (SpAW) submissions but B-rated sponsors will be allowed to make ‘Extend a worker’ submissions.

Extend a worker is a submission by the sponsor whereby sponsoring organisations enter a new end date for the sponsorship of a worker through the ‘Migrant change of circumstance’ function of SpUK. Depending on the circumstances, it will then create a case or advise the sponsor to stop sponsoring the worker.

Once a submission has been made, SpUK then either requests payment from the sponsor or routes the SpAW submission to a casework tasklist for a caseworker to review on Atlas.

Cases sent for caseworker review will have triggered streaming criteria, such as the National Minimum Wage legislation not being met, or, more rarely, be subject to random checking. These will appear in the organisation summary view task list.

Administration Officer duties

The Administration Officer (AO) receives the case intake from PRAU On demand and performs an initial assessment on defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS) applications to decide which:

• can be granted

• can be rejected

• require a request for further information

• require further consideration and referral to an executive officer

Official – sensitive: start of section

The information in this section has been removed as it is restricted for internal Home Office use.

Official – sensitive: end of section

Cases to be marked for further scrutiny

The AO must make a pre-assessment to determine the risk of non-compliance with the guidance and Immigration Rules, for example, the job description details are incomplete or suggest non-compliance or a non-genuine vacancy or there is a marker on the licence that requires further action.

Only cases that seem to meet the skill and salary criteria in the initial sift and do not have a marker that requires further action do not need further information or review. These can be put forward for approval through the automated DCoS panel. If you decide further information is required, you must mark the request for Executive Officer [(EO) consideration.

All other cases should be marked for further scrutiny by a caseworker.

To begin the process, use the ‘Ad Hoc’ caseworking function in Metastorm to:

• change the application status to ‘Under Review’

• update the comments field with details of the check

• withdraw the application

Running the panel for DCoS requests

This is conducted each working day. Cases that are not marked for further scrutiny should be considered the next working day after the request has been submitted to us.

An application is not considered as valid until all appropriate checks are complete. If the DCoS Team has written to the sponsor or further checks are required, the application may not receive an outcome on the relevant working day.

Executive Officer duties

Cases are referred further scrutiny from the Administration Officer (AO) to the Executive Officer (EO) caseworker. This occurs when the AO has to write out to the applicant to request more information or flags that there are other concerns.

It is the job of an EO to perform checks on cases marked for processing by the AO and, if necessary, request further information not requested by the AO.

Genuine employment checks

This section tells you how to undertake genuine employment checks for a defined certificate of sponsorship (DCoS) or sponsor a worker (SpAW) submission.

These are designed to make sure the sponsor is able to show that they can:

• offer the job described in the request

• offer a job that exists and hasn’t been created for the worker (for DCoS requests)

• offer a role that is supernumerary (for GAE SpAW submissions)

• justify the number of DCoS requested

The checks could include, but are not limited to:

• salary confirmation (including hours per week)

• clarification of occupation code and skill level requesting:

  • references to confirm the worker’s experience if appropriate

  • job descriptions (to compare to Appendix Skilled Occupations)

• hierarchy chart showing current employees and any vacancies that need to be filled

• service contracts if appropriate to ensure the sponsor is responsible for providing a non-routine service or project

• previous CoS usage and DCoS requests, including for vexatious or persistent requests following previous rejections

• where workers are named, check for any links to the sponsor, such as previous employment or family relationships

• whether any outside agency was involved in the recruitment

• for regulated industries such as health or education, any inspection reports issued by the regulator to check their views on staff to client ratios and for appropriate registration

DCoS cases will be allocated when a genuine employment check is required and the type of application submitted will determine which letter is issued to the sponsor.

For SpAW submissions, Atlas allows you to select further actions and will indicate which template to use, or reject the request, as appropriate.

Occupation code

You must check that the occupation code chosen by the sponsor is listed in the relevant table of Appendix Skilled Occupations in the Immigration Rules (and is therefore eligible for the Skilled Worker route or Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) route, as appropriate). It must also be consistent with the type of business carried out by the sponsor or business hosting the worker on a GAE scheme and, if appropriate, the GAE scheme itself.

For DCoS requests, you must then compare the information given about the position to the:

• example job tasks

• relevant salary rates depending on any salary points that might be claimed

as listed under the corresponding occupation code in the relevant table of Appendix Skilled Occupations of the Immigration Rules.

For occupation codes 6135 (Care workers and home carers) and 6136 (Senior care workers), you must also check:

• the location of the role

• if the role is based in England

Regardless of where the sponsor is based, the role under occupation code 6135 or 6136 must involve carrying out regulated activities and the sponsor must have active Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration status.

As CQC’s remit extends to England only, devolved areas have separate bodies that carry out regulation/inspection for care providers. The regulatory bodies are below and you can search the registers by clicking on the links:

• The Care Inspectorate (CI) in Scotland

• The Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) in Wales

• The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in Northern Ireland

Further, if the above criteria applies and the proposed worker doesn’t have valid leave as a Skilled Worker, or hasn’t been legally working in the UK for the sponsor, in these occupations, the sponsor must provide confirmation from the relevant regional hub that they have tried to recruit a relevant Skilled Worker from the pool of workers whose previous sponsor has had their licence revoked or not provided sufficient work, or otherwise has been identified as requiring assistance to obtain new sponsorship.

If the sponsor has not provided sufficient information and evidence, for example, references to confirm the migrant’s experience if required, a job description or salary information, you must discuss the case with your line manager and include this in your request for further information.

Once you have sufficient information, you should assess whether the most appropriate occupation code has been used; rejecting the application where you think it hasn’t. If you need more information to help you decide whether particular occupation codes are the most appropriate, you can look them up on Cascot Web.

Check salary

For DCoS requests, you must check the salary is in line with those listed in Appendix Skilled Occupations in the Immigration Rules depending on any salary points that might be claimed. If you think a worker wouldn’t score salary points, you must discuss rejecting the case with your line manager.

Note: if the sponsor hasn’t identified and provided details of a worker chosen for the position, you must assume they will not qualify as a new entrant or having a relevant PhD qualification unless the application clearly justifies it.

If the salary on a DCoS application doesn’t meet the requirements, a full assessment will be required.

Government Authorised Exchange workers must be paid in accordance with National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation.

Where a case is streamed, you must consider whether the proposed role meets the requirements of the route, taking all of the information in the submission into account, not just that which triggered the case to be streamed. If you are unsure if the submission meets or have concluded it doesn’t, you must tick the relevant box on the ‘review the role- step 1 of 3’ page on Atlas.

Points for salary for Skilled Workers

The worker must be paid at least the higher of one of the following:

• £38,700 per year, £15.88 per hour and the going rate for the occupation code

• £34,830 per year, £15.88 per hour and 90% of the going rate for the occupation code if the worker has a PhD in a subject relevant to the job

• £30,960 per year, £15.88 per hour and 80% of the going rate for the occupation code if the worker has a PhD in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) subject relevant to the job

• £30,960 per year, £15.88 per hour and the going rate for the occupation code if the worker’s job is listed in the Immigration Salary List

• £30,960 per year, £15.88 per hour and 70% of the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is a new entrant at the start of their career

• £29,000 per year, £12.82 per hour and the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a Health and Care ASHE salary job or qualifies under the transitional provision

• £26,100 per year, £12.82 per hour and 90% of the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a Health and Care ASHE salary job and they have a PhD in a subject relevant to the job or qualifies under the transitional provision

• £25,000 per year, £12.82 per hour and 80% of the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a Health and Care ASHE salary job and they have a PhD in a STEM subject relevant to the job or qualifies under the transitional provision

• £25,000 per year, £12.82 per hour and the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a Health and Care ASHE salary job and it is listed in the Immigration Salary List or qualifies under the transitional provision

• £25,000 per year and 70% of the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a Health and Care ASHE salary job and they are a new entrant at the start of their career or qualifies under the transitional provision

• £25,000 per year and the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a job in a health or education listed in Table 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations

Relevant PhDs for Skilled Workers

If the worker has a PhD or other academic qualification, the sponsor must provide a credible explanation as to how it is relevant to the job, to meet the requirements for a relevant lower salary level. If the qualification is from an institution overseas, UK NARIC must confirm it is of equivalent standard to a UK PhD. If the worker doesn’t have a PhD or you don’t think it is relevant to the job, you must assess whether the worker will be paid at least the higher of either:

• £38,700 per year, £15.88 per hour and the going rate for the occupation code

• £29,000 per year and the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a Health and Care ASHE salary job or qualifies under the transitional provision

Similarly, if the worker has a PhD or other academic qualification in a STEM subject, the sponsor must provide a credible explanation as to how it is in a STEM subject and also how it is relevant to the job, to meet the requirements for a relevant lower salary level. If the qualification is from an institution overseas, Ecctis must confirm it is of equivalent standard to a UK PhD. If the worker doesn’t have a PhD or you don’t think it is relevant to the job, you must assess whether the worker will be paid at least the higher of either:

• £38,700 per year, £15.88 per hour and the going rate for the occupation code

• £29,000 per year and the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a Health and Care ASHE salary job or qualifies under the transitional provision

If you don’t think the PhD is in a STEM subject but is relevant to the job, you should assess whether the worker will be paid at least the higher of either:

• £34,830, £15.88 per hour and 90% of the going rate for the occupation code

• £26,100 per year and 90% of the going rate for the occupation code if the worker is doing a Health and Care ASHE salary job or qualifies under the transitional provision

Immigration Salary List requirements for Skilled Workers

Where the applicant has applied and indicated that the role on the Immigration Salary List, you must:

• check the occupation code provided in the application is correct

• ensure the details of the job match the description set out in the relevant tables in Appendix Immigration Salary List

If you are unsure, discuss the case with your line manager.

Skilled Workers who are new entrants

To qualify as a ‘new entrant’, the worker must meet one of the following requirements:

• the applicant will be under the age of 26 on the date they apply for entry clearance

• the job offer is a postdoctoral position in any of the following occupation codes:

  • 2111 Chemical scientists

  • 2112 Biological scientists

  • 2113 Biochemists and biomedical scientists

  • 2114 Physical scientists

  • 2115 Social and humanities scientists

  • 2119 Natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified

  • 2162 Other researchers, unspecified discipline

  • 2311 Higher education teaching professionals

• the job offer is in a UK-regulated profession and the worker is working towards a recognised UK professional qualification for that profession

• the worker is working towards full registration or chartered status with the relevant professional body for the job they are being sponsored for

• the worker applied for permission to stay and their most recent permission was as a Graduate or a Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) Migrant

• the worker is a recent UK graduate and meets the additional requirements below

To qualify as a new entrant on the basis of recent graduate-level study, the worker must have met all of the following conditions:

• their most recent permission must have been as a Student or Tier 4 (General) Migrant

• that permission must have expired less than 2 years before the date of application

• in that permission (or any previous permission as a Student or a Tier 4 (General) Migrant, the worker was sponsored to study any of the following:

  • a UK bachelor’s degree

  • a UK master’s degree

  • a UK PhD or other doctoral qualification

  • a Postgraduate Certificate in Education

  • a Professional Graduate Diploma of Education

• the worker either:

  • must have completed the relevant course mentioned above

  • applied no more than 3 months before they were expected to complete the relevant course above

  • was studying a PhD and had completed at least 12 months’ study in the UK towards that PhD

Workers do not qualify as a new entrant if granting their application would mean their permission as a Skilled Worker, Tier 2 Migrant and / or Graduate, would exceed 4 years in total. This applies whether or not the 4 years is continuous or cumulative.

If you don’t think the worker would qualify as a new entrant, you must assess whether the worker will qualify for points in one of the other tradeable options.

Transitional provision for Skilled Workers

This transitional provision applies to applications where the worker for whom a DCoS is being sought meets all of the following requirements:

• they were granted permission as a Skilled Worker under the Immigration Rules in force before 4 April 2024

• they have had continuous permission as a Skilled Worker since then (continuous permission may include periods without permission that were disregarded under paragraph 39E of the Immigration Rules)

• they are being sponsored for a job in an eligible occupation listed in Table 2 or 2a of Appendix Skilled Occupations

• if being sponsored for a job in Table 2a, they were sponsored by the applicant in their most recent grant of permission and the applicant is seeking to continue to sponsor them

This transitional provision applies to applications for permission made before 4 April 2030, after which it will end.

SpUK Streaming

Sponsor UK (SpUK) has functionality which either approves submissions automatically or streams them for a manual casework review based on the information supplied by the sponsor.

Where a sponsor a worker submission meets one or more of the following, it will be streamed for manual caseworking:

• the worker is under 18

• the worker is in the UK and does not already have permission to be in the UK

• the sponsor selects ‘Other’ for the type of permission they worker currently holds

• the worker has previously been sponsored on a GAE scheme

• the worker will be paid below National Minimum Wage (NMW)

• the worker is not being paid, whether an exemption to the NMW applies or not

• the working hours exceeds 48 hours per week and ‘Another Reason’ for why is selected

• the case is randomly selected for streaming

The sponsor a worker submission includes valid reasons for why working hours exceed 48 hours per week, and it is only where none of those are applicable that the case is streamed.

Initially 100% of cases were to be streamed for review and it is now a minimum 10% sample on top of any case meeting one or more of the above.

Caseworkers must view the application as a whole and consider other details related to the worker, this includes viewing the role the worker is being employed for.

Check the role is Supernumerary (GAE)

When submitting a SPaW request, the applicant is required to confirm that the role is supernumerary, providing a full explanation as to why it is. Supernumerary means that the role is in addition to the UK employing organisation’s regular, required, or standard number of staff and does not fill a permanent position or ongoing vacancy in that organisation’s workforce, even on a temporary basis.

This supernumerary requirement applies to the actual employer not the over-arching sponsoring organisation.

You must check for indicators that a role might not be supernumerary. These include:

• where the salary arrangements exceed what would normally be expected for an individual undertaking the programme the applicant is applying to undertake - for example, where the salary is high enough that a worker in that role would meet the salary requirements on another Worker or Temporary Worker route for which that role is eligible

• where the job description, role title, or further information provided about the role suggests it is not in addition to normal staffing requirements – for example, their working hours exceed 37 hours per week for a full-time role, or they are applying to fulfil a role that is unlikely to be supernumerary, such as directors

• the individual’s work history in the UK – for example, the individual has previously undertaken similar roles for the same sponsor or employer, which may suggest a pattern of regular employment or recurring need within the business

If any of these arise, they need to be weighed against the applicant’s explanation and indicators that the role might be supernumerary in any event, such as funding following the worker or posts being ring-fenced for the training of overseas workers.

Non - supernumerary example

The GAE authorised applicant requests to sponsor a worker from overseas who is to undertake work experience with them as the UK employing organisation. The caseworker has researched the businesses and found that the work experience description aligns with an existing vacancy the organisation is recruiting for. On assessment of the applicant’s explanation and no contrary indicators being present, the role does not meet the supernumerary requirement and the SPaW request is refused on these grounds for not meeting the requirements of the GAE route.

Request further information for DCoS requests

This section explains how to request further information from a sponsor requesting one or more defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS).

Prior to a write out, you must perform genuine employment checks to see whether you need to request further information or evidence from the sponsor.

You must write out for further information using the request for further information letter template.

If you are unsure about what information and evidence you require from the sponsor, discuss the case with your line manager.

You must then:

• contact the sponsor using the relevant ‘request further information’ letter

• allow 5 working days for a response

• attach the request for further information letter template, to the application using the ‘standalone letter’ function in Metastorm

If the sponsor does not respond by the deadline date, then using the ‘Ad Hoc’ caseworking function in Metastorm, you must:

• change the application status to ‘rejected’

• update the comments field with details of the rejection

• include notes on Sponsor Summary Search detailing the reasons for rejection

You must then:

• send the sponsor a letter advising them that their application has been rejected from the ‘CoS Docs Requested mailbox’, using the ‘Application rejected – further information not provided’ letter

• attach the template to the application using the ‘Standalone Letter’ function in Metastorm

• consider referral of the sponsor for compliance action

If the sponsor responds and provides all the requested information, you must check the information provided by the sponsor is consistent with the application details.

If the sponsor provides information that is inconsistent with the application details, for example:

• the sponsor has applied for a shortage occupation post, but the job description indicates the job is not one of the roles outlined on the shortage occupation list

• the salary is not in line with relevant going rate for the occupation code applied under

• the skill level of the job is not pitched at appropriate level

• an incorrect occupation code has been used

You must reject the application:

• changing the application status to ‘Rejected’ using the ‘Ad Hoc’ caseworking function in Metastorm

• updating the comments field with details of the rejection

• including notes on Sponsor Summary Search detailing reasons for rejection

• sending the sponsor the ‘Application rejection – General’ letter advising them of the reasons their application has been rejected from the CoS Docs Requested mailbox

• attaching the template to the application using the ‘standalone letter’ function in Metastorm

If the information confirms the application is valid, using the ‘Ad Hoc’ caseworking function in Metastorm, you must:

• change the application status to ‘Grant’

• update the comments field with details of the information received

Review a role on Atlas

If a sponsor has made a sponsor a worker (SpAW) submission on Sponsor UK, the “review a role” task is set for a caseworker to perform an assessment on Atlas. If there are concerns that the role doesn’t meet the requirements of the route, you should select “yes” to the question “do you have any concerns about the role” and proceed with further investigation.

Further investigation

This page tells you when to refer an application for defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS) or sponsor a worker (SpAW) submissions for further investigation.

You must refer applications for further investigation when:

• a marker is identified on the sponsor’s licence

• genuine employment checks show the sponsor has provided incorrect or inconsistent information in their application and the application has been rejected

• for DCoS, the application has been granted, but there are concerns about the application – for example, that the sponsor may not be employing the worker in the job specified on the application or be paying the salary stated on the application

Where a marker has been noted on the sponsor’s licence on Metastorm, the relevant team should be emailed to establish whether there are any reasons the DCoS or SpAW submission should be placed on hold. Such reasons include, but are not limited to:

• a compliance visit has been arranged

• a compliance visit has recently taken place and further action is under consideration

In these cases, if using Metastorm, the status of the application on ‘Ad hoc’ should be changed to ‘Under Review’ and a note added stating ‘Internal Checks required’. Depending on the response, the application should remain on hold or the status changed to ‘Pending’ if the application can be considered.

If using Atlas, it will hold the submission until any further actions have been cleared.

Where other concerns with an application are identified, you should email the Work Central Risk Hub.

Further investigation on Atlas

If a submission was made on the Sponsor UK platform and it is tasked for review, you must provide details of concerns you have about the submission and indicate if this should be tasked for further investigation. You should choose the option to record that you have either:

• referred the submission to another unit or organisation such as the Work Central Risk Hub

• sought advice on how to process the case from a manager or another team

• requested further information from the sponsor

Review applicant response on Atlas

You must review a sponsor’s response to any request for further information and confirm you have done so. You must then select ‘Complete further action’ on the Sponsorship task list to note any observations before you either:

• Save progress

• Save and complete

Outcome

This page tells you how to notify a sponsor of the outcome of an application for defined certificates of sponsorship (DCoS) or a sponsor a worker (SpAW) submission.

Reject

Using the ‘Ad Hoc’ caseworking function in Metastorm for DCoS applications:

• change the application status to ‘Rejected’

• update the comments field with details of the rejection

• include notes on Sponsor Summary Search detailing reasons for rejection

• send the sponsor the ’Application rejection – General’ letter advising them of the reasons their application has been rejected from the ‘CoS Docs Requested mailbox’

• attach the template to the application using the ‘standalone letter’ function in Metastorm

If you reject a SpAW submission, Atlas will generate an email template to be sent to the sponsor. You must add the reason for the rejection to the template.

Accept

You do not have to issue written confirmation of the outcome. The sponsor’s sponsorship management system (SMS) account is updated automatically with the outcome of the application immediately once the application has been granted. Sponsors are notified of the outcome of their application by a system generated email after the decision is made.

Managers should refer to the Metastorm User Guide: Managing the monthly allocation of CoS for details of how to use Metastorm to manage the allocation of DCoS.

Caseworkers should also refer to the Metastorm User Guide DCoS Ad Hoc Process when applying ad hoc changes to DCoS requests.

If you approve a SpAW request, Atlas will send a payment request to the sponsor. Once payment is received, the sponsor can inform the worker and they can apply for entry clearance or permission to stay.

Sponsor licence suspended or revoked

When a sponsor’s licence has been surrendered or revoked, their DCoS application will be automatically cancelled providing the status of the application is either:

• ‘pending’

• ‘pending – granted’

• ‘pending – refused’

• ‘under review’ will be automatically cancelled

Sponsor licence re-rated or suspended

When a sponsor’s licence has been re-rated to ‘B’ or suspended during the allocation period, no changes are applied to their application until the sponsor is re-rated to an ‘A’, providing the status of the application is either:

• ‘pending’

• ‘pending – granted’

• ‘pending – refused’

• ‘under review’

Reclaimed DCoS

This page tells you the circumstances where a defined certificate of sponsorship (DCoS) will be reclaimed and how to do so.

DCoS can only be reclaimed from sponsors when it is discovered that the sponsor’s application for the DCoS was not valid, and the DCoS has been granted but not yet assigned.

Whether the sponsor returns the DCoS or it is reclaimed, you must amend the status of the application to update the sponsor’s sponsor management system (SMS) account.

If you are reclaiming DCoS due to an invalid application, you must:

• search for the granted application

• change the status of the application to ‘Reclaimed’

• advise the sponsor their DCoS has been reclaimed and the reason why

• update the ‘Notes’ field with all details including the number of DCoS reclaimed