In March and April this year the Home Office updated its sponsor guidance. The updates appear to significantly expand the scope of sponsor duties around preventing illegal working and conducting right to work checks.
In this article, Alex Christen and Jake Hayward consider what the updated guidance means for sponsors, and the potential implications for those who fail to conduct the required right to work checks. It also gives a reminder of the changes to the right to work landscape on the horizon.
How has the guidance changed?
The pre-March 2026 version of Part 2 of the guidance for sponsors (under ‘Right to work checks’) simply provided an obligation on sponsors to check that any worker it wished to employ or sponsor had the right to work in the UK. This made sense and reflected the fact that a sponsor is not limited to sponsoring employees, but can also sponsor others, including self-employed individuals.
On the 6th of March 2026, Part 2 of the guidance was amended and the obligation to conduct right to work checks was extended to “any worker you wish to employ or sponsor (including a worker who is not your direct employee).”
Other changes elsewhere in the guidance were made in March, none of which were particularly clear. However, a conservative reading of the March 2026 guidance does firmly imply that the duty on sponsors to conduct right to work checks now extends to employees and sponsored individuals (even where the sponsored individual was not an employee).
On the 8th of April 2026 the same section of part 2 of the guidance for sponsors was amended again, as follows (the bold text is our emphasis of key points):
“You must check that any worker you wish to sponsor (including a worker who is not your direct employee), or any worker you otherwise wish to employ or directly engage, has permission to enter or stay in the UK and can do the work in question before they start working for you. This applies even if the worker is, or appears to be, a British citizen or other settled worker. If you fail to carry out a right to work check, or any necessary follow-up checks, you will be in breach of your sponsor duties and may be liable for a civil penalty under illegal working legislation. If you are issued with a civil penalty, or otherwise fail to carry out the correct checks, we will normally revoke your licence. For guidance on how to carry out the relevant checks, and the evidence you must keep, see:
Right to work checks: an employer’s guide
Appendix D to the sponsor guidance”.
The first part of the sentence aligns with the pre-March guidance – a sponsor must check the right to work for all individuals it sponsors, not just direct employees. So far so good.
The second part goes further and appears to extend the duty on sponsors to conduct right to work checks on their own employees and anyone that they “directly engage.” This is new and potentially extends the previous obligations beyond simply employees and sponsored individuals.
The new version of Part 2 of the guidance now states that if right to work checks are not carried out, a sponsor will be in breach of its duties. The guidance continues to make it clear that sponsors may be liable for civil penalties or even have their licence revoked in such instances.
Other changes made elsewhere to the sponsor guidance in March and April do not fully align with the new requirements under Part 2.
For example, Part 3 of the sponsor guidance now states that in order to comply with the Home Office’s immigration laws, a sponsor must “ensure any worker you sponsor or employ has the legal right to work for you and do the work in question by carrying out the appropriate right to work checks” (again, bold text is our emphasis). There is no reference here to those who are engaged by the sponsor, directly or otherwise.
Confusingly, Part 3 of the guidance goes on to discuss when right to work checks must be carried out and states there is no obligation to carry out a repeat check if the person a sponsor employs or engages has no restrictions on their right to remain in the UK.
So, what exactly are the new duties of sponsors?
Unfortunately, the terms ‘engage’ or ‘directly engage’ are not defined in the guidance or newly published sponsor glossary. Employers and potential sponsors are now asking; should the guidance continue to be interpreted in line with its previous iterations, to focus on right to work checks for sponsored individuals and employees, or does it now mean there is a duty on sponsors to conduct right to work checks on wider groups?
If the latter is true, it could mean that, since the 8th of April 2026, sponsors have had a duty to conduct right to work checks on individuals including:
- Self-employed individuals carrying out work directly for them (whether sponsored or not),
- Independent contractors carrying out work for them,
- Consultants contracted to work for them,
- Workers contracted to carry out work for them,
- Employees, and
- Anyone they sponsor (regardless of their status).
Therefore, due to the ambiguous nature of the current wording, sponsors should start doing checks on wider groups, particularly given that the new versions of the guidance have a stronger emphasis on licence revocation for getting it wrong.
Legislation in the pipeline
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (Border Act 2025) was enacted in December 2025. Parts of the Border Act 2025 are already in force, save for section 48 which is aimed at further preventing illegal working in the UK, by ensuring that a wider range of individuals have the requisite legal right to work in the country before companies can hire them.
Section 48 of the Border Act 2025 will effectively extend the duty on all businesses (not just sponsors) to conduct right to work checks on wider groups than just employees, specifically:
- individuals engaged under a worker contract (ie a contract for services),
- individual sub-contractors, and
- those provided via an online matching service (ie gig economy workers).
Businesses who do not carry out checks on these wider groups face civil penalties of up to £60,000 per person if that person is working in the UK illegally. If the business is a sponsor, it faces compliance action up to and including licence revocation.
There are wider sanctions as well, including disqualification of directors, and even criminal sanctions for those who knowingly engage illegal workers.
The government is yet to confirm the implementation date for section 48, although many believe it will come into force from the 1st of October 2026.
The changes expected under the Border Act 2025 may put the recent changes to the sponsor guidance into perspective. Perhaps the Home Office is starting a soft launch of section 48 (rightly or wrongly) via the sponsor guidance.
The detail is frustratingly unclear, and more specific guidance (including an overhaul of the employer’s guide to right to work checks) is needed, and fast.
Next steps for employers and sponsors
These developments demonstrate one thing – there is a clear and growing focus on preventing illegal working and ensuring that everyone who carries out work in the UK has the right to do so.
Sponsors would be well advised to look at their current right to work checking processes and extend them to anyone who could be defined as ‘directly engaged’ by them, whether sponsored or not.
For support with the changes and right to work checks more generally, get in touch with our immigration team today and we’d be happy to help talk through your situation.
How can we help?
For further information about issues raised in this article, please contact a member of our Business Immigration team.
Alex Christen
Partner
Business Immigration, Employment, Employment Investigations, Equality & Diversity, International
Alex is a Partner in our Employment and Immigration team. Alex leads the business immigration team, successfully supporting companies and individuals with immigration issues, including understandin... Read More
Jake Hayward is a Trainee Solicitor in our Employment and Immigration team. Jake studied both LLB Law and his LPC LLM at Swansea University.... Read More
