The legal position
The licence must retain eligible operational users
A sponsor must maintain eligible key personnel and at least 1 Level 1 User able to manage its sponsorship record. If the only Level 1 User leaves and nobody can access the sponsorship management system, the sponsor should use the Home Office sponsor change of circumstances form to request a replacement while protecting outstanding reporting duties.
Reading tools
How Authorising Officers, Key Contacts and Level 1 and Level 2 Users should be selected, governed and supported.
01
Select people who can exercise real control.
Key personnel must satisfy the applicable suitability and connection requirements. The Authorising Officer should be sufficiently senior and responsible for the organisation’s sponsor compliance.
A nominal appointment without time, information or influence creates a governance gap even where the individual meets the formal definition.
02
Separate system access from decision authority.
Level 1 and Level 2 Users carry out specified SMS activity. Internal governance should state who may decide that a report is required, approve a Certificate of Sponsorship and escalate uncertainty.
Access should be reviewed when roles change, people leave, responsibility transfers or the sponsor’s structure changes.
03
Build continuity and oversight.
Absence or departure of one individual should not disable the licence. Deputies, access control, handover records and periodic Authorising Officer review support continuity.
A concise governance report should show sponsored population, upcoming decisions, exceptions, late items, remediation and material changes requiring senior attention.
Working checklist
Questions before the next step.
- Verify suitability and eligibility
- Define decision rights
- Review SMS access
- Create absence and departure cover
- Train key personnel
- Report material risks to the Authorising Officer
Primary sources
Rules and official guidance.
Reviewed 24 August 2026. Check the current provision and complete facts before relying on this resource.
How to use the source record
Verify the current instrument, commencement date, transitional position and caseworker guidance against the application date and complete facts. The source may change after this resource was reviewed.
Questions
Points that commonly alter the answer.
Can an external adviser be a Level 1 User?+
The sponsor guidance permits external representation in defined circumstances, but the sponsor must retain eligible internal key personnel and remains responsible for compliance.
Must the Authorising Officer use the SMS?+
Not necessarily for every transaction, but the role carries senior responsibility for the sponsor arrangements and should have effective oversight.
What happens when key personnel leave?+
Changes should be managed and reported as required without leaving the sponsor unable to access or operate its licence.
Continue within this subject
Follow the sponsor position from licence to continuing control.
Applications, sponsored roles, reporting, payroll and inspection readiness form one regulatory system. Continue with the part of that system that determines the present risk.
Urgent sponsor governance review
Restore eligible control and preserve the true chronology.
Quastels can assess the successor, SMS access, reporting route and any period without effective oversight before the vacancy becomes a wider licence issue.
Request a key-personnel review ↗︎