In order to be eligible for the offers, you must instruct us using the same email address used during the sign-up for the newsletters.
The email address must remain the same and used to liaise until the matter closure.
You will be eligible for a 10% discount on your total conveyancing costs, once you sign our client care letter.
You will be eligible for a Free Will only when your conveyancing matter file is closed and the bills for the same are cleared.
Though Aristone carry out regular checks to confirm your eligibility, this may not always be practicable or possible and consequently we urge all clients to claim their free Will and 10% discount off Conveyancing fees by emailing the appropriate case handler with a print screen of the news letter subscription.
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Covid-19 business update
Business Updates:*
We’d like to take this opportunity to reassure you and our loyal clients that Aristone are operating as usual following Government guidelines.
We have made changes to ensure that we can continue to provide you with the high quality services you expect from us. Our staff have been briefed and we have put the appropriate measures in place to assist with mitigating any risks. Our contingency plans are robust and have been proved to be effective over the last few weeks, and we continue to deliver our services to you.
A visit from the Home Office can be a daunting prospect, but doesn’t have to be a doomsday scenario. Every business in the UK is obliged to ensure it operates in complete compliance with all applicable immigration law and legislation. To employ migrants who do not have the legal right to work in the UK is to contravene Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. Where businesses are found to have breached the terms of the immigration act – knowingly or otherwise – heavy fines and criminal prosecution may apply.
Why Might the Home Office Pay You a Visit?
Some Home Office visits are completely random, as it’s not always the most obvious employers that could be breaking UK immigration rules. As such, there’s a chance you may be visited by the Home Office at any time for no specific reason whatsoever. However, you’re far more likely to be visited by the Home Office if you hire non-EEA migrants on a regular basis, or have numerous non-EEA migrants already working for your organisation.
What happens during an Immigration Audit?
A
typical Home Office immigration audit plays out as follows:
1.
Immigration Audit Notification
You
may or may not be issued with an official immigration audit notice, which will
inform you of the date and time you can expect officers to visit your business.
The contact person assigned at the time you applied for your sponsorship
license will receive the notification, which will usually take place within
days of the notice being issued. In some instances, the Home Office may
demonstrate flexibility and organise a convenient time and date to suit the
business being audited.
However,
it is becoming increasingly common for the Home Office to visit businesses and
carry out intensive audits completely unannounced. There is no guarantee you
will be provided with notice of any kind, so you have to assume that compliance
officers could arrive at your premises at any time. Even if there is no
evidence of the respective business having broken any UK migrant worker rules,
they may still be visited unannounced and expected to demonstrate their
compliance.
We
therefore strongly recommend the implementation of regular internal audits,
along with periodic consultations with legal advisors to ensure your on-going
compliance.
2.
Preparation for the Audit (Where Applicable)
In
the days (or weeks) leading up to the audit, it’s essential to ensure you make
the evidence the Home Office is likely to request accessible and available.
Compliance officers focus heavily on the transparency of the organisation they
visit – the easier it is to access the information they need, the more credible
and responsible the business appears. As there are no fixed rules regarding the
checks carried out during the audit, you need to ensure you are prepared for
every eventuality.
Please
note that if the officers evaluating your business encounter excessive difficulties
in accessing the information they need, your company may be formally declared
“partially compliant” or “non-compliant” as a result. It’s your responsibility
to ensure all required information and documentation is present, correct and
legible.
3. The Day of the Audit
When the day of the audit arrives, one or more
compliance officers will visit your premises and request a series of documents
and records. They’ll expect to see evidence of your approach to non-EEA migrant
immigration, the strength and efficiency of your HR framework, information
collected during migrant working hiring processes and so on. They’ll also ask a
variety of questions, which may be directed at you, your colleagues, your
migrant workers – anyone of interest to the compliance officers.
Please note that you will not be given any
indication whatsoever as to the outcome of the audit on the day itself.
Instead, you can expect a relatively neutral demeanour and will be advised as
to when you’ll be hearing from the Home Office.
4. After the Audit
A summary of the findings during the audit will be
sent to the business in due course, which will detail the Home Office’s
decision and any action to be taken or improvements to be implemented where
applicable.
Immigration audits are awarded scores of 1 to 3 – 3
being the highest possible score the audited business can achieve. Points are
awarded or subtracted across three key compliance areas, which are as follows:
HR Systems:
– This takes into account the extent to which the company has a strong and
effective HR system in place to monitor both the initial hiring and the status
of non-EEA migrants during the course of the stay in the UK.
Convictions and Civil
Penalties: – Thorough checks to ensure that the
non-EEA migrants working for the business do not have any unspent convictions
or are liable for civil penalties of any kind.
Migrant Compliance:
– Verification that the organisation complies with all applicable rules as
outlined in official UK immigration policy. Examples of which include working
hours limitations, the nature of the work carried out, salaries paid and so on.
What are the Consequences of Non-Compliance?
If the Home Office finds no grounds for dispute
regarding your compliance, your business will retain its sponsorship license
and no further action will be taken. You will also be unlikely to undergo
another Home Office inspection for some time.
In the event that evidence of non-compliance is
discovered by the Home Office, action may be taken by way of one or more of the
following:
Suspended
or revoked licences
A
downgrade to a B-Rating
Business
reputational damage
A
reduction in a company’s Certificates of Sponsorship
Penalties
of up to £10,000 per illegal migrant worker
Should
the Home Office suspect that a business has knowingly hired migrants who do not
have the legal right to work in the UK, they may be sentenced to up to two
years in prison with an unlimited fine payable.
Experienced
Immigration Audit Lawyers in Luton
Whether
preparing for an upcoming audit or dealing with the aftermath of an imperfect
inspection, we can help. Our business immigration lawyers have unrivalled
experience and expertise in all aspects of non-EEA worker immigration law for
small and large companies alike. We can help ensure your business remains 100%
compliant with applicable immigration rules at all times, in order to
successfully pass any future Home Office inspections.
By
implementing a mock audit, we’ll be able to pinpoint potential weaknesses in
your HR framework and general areas for improvement. Always remember that not
all immigration audits are announced – you may be selected for a random
inspection at any time.
Don’t take chances on
something as important as immigration law. Contact the team at Aristone
Solicitors today to discuss our corporate immigration services in more detail.
In order for an individual to enter United Kingdom under the Tier 2 migrant scheme, it is usually necessary for them to be sponsored by a person or organisation already residing legally in the UK. An employer will typically sponsor an overseas employee they wish to bring into the country, just as a settled individual […]
What is a Sponsor License Compliance? Under the terms of the new immigration legislation implemented as of November 2008, UK employers are obliged to obtain sponsor licences from the Home Office, in order to legally employ workers from outside the EEA. Please note that sponsorship licenses are only granted upon the respective organisation meeting several […]
The Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa is designed for individuals planning to start a UK business from scratch, take over an existing business or invest in a business they are already involved with in some way. The most important requirement to qualify for a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa is access to a minimum of £200,000 (£50,000 […]
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We are still open for business
Covid-19 business update: We are still open for business
We’d like to take this opportunity to reassure you and our loyal clients that Aristone are operating as usual following Government guidelines.
We have made changes to ensure that we can continue to provide you with the high quality services you expect from us. Our staff have been briefed and we have put the appropriate measures in place to assist with mitigating any risks. Our contingency plans are robust and have been proved to be effective over the last few weeks, and we continue to deliver our services to you.
Brexit
Call us to discuss on below trending topics:
Ankara Agreement Set to End with Brexit on December 31 – read more
Application process and deadline dates for EU Settlement Scheme
Travelling to the EU – What you need to do to travel to Europe from 2021
Continue living and working in the EU – What you need to do to stay in the UK
Other
Call us to discuss about:
Writing a Will: Considerations in Times of Crisis – read more
UK Innovator Visa Overview and Eligibility – read more
What to do when someone has died?
Guidance for visa applicants in the UK and abroad
Got a question?
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Covid-19 business update: We are still open for business
We’d like to take this opportunity to reassure you and our loyal clients that Aristone are operating as usual following Government guidelines.
We have made changes to ensure that we can continue to provide you with the high quality services you expect from us. Our staff have been briefed and we have put the appropriate measures in place to assist with mitigating any risks. Our contingency plans are robust and have been proved to be effective over the last few weeks, and we continue to deliver our services to you.
Learn more about our exclusive services we offer to businesses impacted by Covid-19:
In order to be eligible for the offers, you must instruct us using
the same email address used during the sign- up for the newsletters.
The email address must remain the same and used to liaise until the matter closure.
You will be eligible for a 10% discount on your total conveyancing costs, once you sign our client care letter.
You will be eligible for a Free Will only when your conveyancing matter file is closed and the bills for the same are cleared.
Though Aristone carry out regular checks to confirm your eligibility, this may not always be practicable or possible and consequently we urge all clients to claim their free Will and 10% discount off Conveyancing fees by emailing the appropriate case handler with a print screen of the news letter subscription.
Subscribe to our newsletter for a FREE WILL, and get 10% off Residential conveyancing fees*,