Staff & manager sponsorship responsibilities

As the manager of a sponsored visa holder both you, your sponsored worker and Imperial College must meet several ongoing legal requirements. These include:

Right to work checks

Imperial College must confirm the individual’s right to work in the UK as part of any initial verification checks. For sponsored workers, these checks are conducted by the Staff Compliance Team. Where evidence is not provided, the individual will not be able to start work and start date will be postponed.

Please note, follow up checks are required before individual’s existing permission expires. Where these time periods are not met, or specific documents received then the individual will not be able to continue working.

The Staff Compliance Team undertake the pre-employment and follow-up RTW reminders and checks for all sponsored workers, and will keep the line manager/department informed where necessary (e.g. -pre-employment conditions met work start date confirmation, extension of sponsorship, and any follow-up RTW check issues).

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

Where the successful candidate/employee requires permission to work in the UK under the Skilled Worker or Temporary Worker Government Authorised Exchange route; and

• will be employed in a research, academic, engineering or technician role
• undertaking research activities at PhD level or above
• in one of the Academic Subjects/Fields of Research relevant to ATAS; and
• is not an ATAS exempt national,

they will be required to obtain a free of charge ATAS certificate before Imperial College can issue a Certificate of Sponsorship and they can apply for a visa / visa extension to work in the UK.

The ATAS certificate must accurately reflect the HEI/research institute which employs/hosts the research, and the research project, job title and duration. If any of these details change the sponsored employee and manager should check whether they require an ATAS certificate and apply for a new certificate if required.

Please see the ATAS information here and gov.uk guidance here

Absence/attendance

Maintaining an up-to-date record in Teamseer of:

• Absences that are part of Imperial College’s normal processes:
• Planned absences such as Annual Leave; Family Leave (i.e. Maternity Leave, Paternity /Maternity Support Leave, Shared Parental Leave, Adoption/Surrogacy Leave & Parental Leave); and Special Leave such as Jury Service/Witness Duty, Sabbatical Leave/Leave of Absence, Secondments, Study Leave, leave for Public Duties & Volunteer Reserve Forces, etc. N.B. planned absence should be notified in advance.
• Unplanned absences such as Sickness Absence; and Special Leave such as Compassionate Leave and Domestic/Family Emergency Leave, etc. N.B. unplanned absence should be notified as soon as possible, ideally on the day the absence occurs
• Any other occasions where the individual is working away from their usual Imperial College work location and/or is not contactable e.g. attending Conferences outside the UK, etc. N.B. Absences that are part of the normal work related comings and goings such as working from home, travel to conferences within the UK, etc. do not need to be recorded providing the individual has provided you with their up-to-date contact details and is contactable within a reasonable period of time.
• Aside from overseas conference / meeting attendance, any period of absence from the UK where work may need to be undertaken from outside the UK should be recorded in Teamseer and must follow Imperial College overseas working process

Travel outside the UK

Please be aware that:

• If the individual is outside of the UK and their leave to remain expires, they will not be able to re- enter the UK unless they make a further successful application for leave, which would require a new Certificate of Sponsorship.
• Their leave to remain will automatically lapse if they leave the UK and common travel area (Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands) and they do not have a UK visa that has been granted for 6 months or more.
• For any future application to obtain UK Indefinite leave to remain (Settlement) UKVI rules dictate that any total absences from the UK over 180 full days in any 12 month period of the qualifying period, are likely to cause a settlement application to be ineligible unless a permitted exemption applies (overseas research / travel disruption due to pandemic) or there are serious and compelling reasons for the absence.
• Any period of absence from the UK where work may need to be undertaken from outside the UK must follow the Imperial College overseas working process and guidance should be taken from the International Mobility Team. 

• Only allow a sponsored employee to start/continue work where the Staff Compliance Team have confirmed that a pre-employment/follow-up right to work check has been satisfied.
• Review and approve absence or leave requests the individual raises in Teamseer
• Ensure that your member of staff understands the responsibilities of sponsorship, including the requirement to raise absence requests using Teamseer and how to do this.

Report any of the following circumstances to the Staff Compliance Team immediately, and in advance wherever this is possible:

• The individual does not arrive for their first day at work as expected (new appointments / associations only) or if the start date of employment changes from the date confirmed by HR/Staff Compliance Team
• The individual’s contract/work/research project ends - this should be confirmed to the HR Staff Hub via a completed Leavers Form sent to the HR portal as soon as possible prior to the individual’s end date.
• The individual requests a period of unpaid leave in excess of 4 weeks in any calendar year (this can be one period of absence, or a number of absences totalling 4 weeks over a calendar year). This refers to any unpaid leave that does not fall under one of the permitted exemption categories (maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption, industrial action strike days and long-term sickness absence)
• Take into account the above sponsored leave conditions when considering any special/unpaid leave requests in order to protect the individual’s sponsorship status. Under UKVI rules, any non-exempt unpaid leave taken more than 4 weeks per calendar year would require the College to end their sponsorship, and the individual would lose their right to work in the UK with immediate effect.
• Any significant change to their research that may require a new ATAS check, where applicable.
• The individual is absent from work without permission for more than 10 consecutive working days
• The individual advises you of a change to their UK immigration status or nationality
• You suspect that the individual is in breach of their leave conditions

Imperial College has a legal requirement to report the above circumstances to UKVI either immediately, or within 10 business days of the change.

The individual is sponsored to undertake the specific role as detailed in their certificate of sponsorship. Any additional paid work for Imperial College or any other employer must meet all requirements for ‘supplementary work’ otherwise would be classed as a breach of the individuals leave conditions.

Skilled worker visa holders may undertake additional voluntary work/volunteering. However, this is not always possible for T5 GAE visa holders. Please check with the Staff Compliance Team where unsure if this can be permitted.  

If the individual’s immigration status changes and no longer require sponsorship, please ensure that they contact the Staff Compliance Team and provide their new RTW evidence documents so that we may update their records. Imperial College is required to notify UKVI to end sponsorship once they have provided evidence of their new Immigration status, at which time the above requirements will also cease.

As a sponsored visa holder both you and Imperial College as your sponsor have to meet a number of ongoing legal requirements. These include:

Right to work checks

Demonstrating your right to work in the UK as part of any initial and follow up verification checks.

The Staff Compliance Team will undertake your initial pre-employment right to work check, and any follow-up checks required during your employment/engagement with Imperial College. 

Aside from any informal pre-joining meetings, please do not start any induction or work activity in your new department until the Staff Compliance Team/HR have confirmed all pre-employment conditions are met.

Absence/attendance

Maintaining an up-to-date record in Teamseer of:

• Any absences that are part of Imperial College’s normal processes:
• Planned absences such as Annual Leave; Family Leave (i.e. Maternity Leave, Paternity /Maternity Support Leave, Shared Parental Leave, Adoption/Surrogacy Leave & Parental Leave); and Special Leave such as Jury Service/Witness Duty, Sabbatical Leave/Leave of Absence, Secondments, Study Leave, leave for Public Duties & Volunteer Reserve Forces, etc. N.B. planned absence should be notified in advance.
• Unplanned absences such as Sickness Absence; and Special Leave such as Compassionate Leave and Domestic/Family Emergency Leave, etc. N.B. unplanned absence should be notified as soon as possible, ideally on the day the absence occurs.
• Any other occasions where you are working away from Imperial College and/or are not contactable e.g. attending Conferences outside the UK, etc. 
  • N.B. Absences that are part of the normal work-related comings and goings such as working from home, travel to conferences within the UK, etc. do not need to be recorded in Teamseer providing you have provided your manager with up-to-date contact details and you are contactable within a reasonable period of time.
  • College records of leave would be required for any future application for Indefinite leave to remain (Settlement), so it is particularly important that you record this accurately and keep full records of all absences from the UK during your period of sponsorship.
  • For any future application to obtain UK ‘Settlement’ UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) rules dictate that any total absences from the UK over 180 days in any 12 month period, are likely to cause a settlement application to be ineligible unless an exemption applies (Designated PhD role, and overseas research, absences caused by travel restriction due to pandemic) or where there are serious and compelling reasons for the absence.  
  • Any period of absence from the UK where work may need to be undertaken from outside the UK should follow the Imperial College overseas working process and guidance should be taken from the International Mobility Team.

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

Where an employee requires permission to work in the UK under the Skilled Worker or Temporary Worker Government Authorised Exchange route; and

• will be employed in a research, academic, engineering or technician role
• undertaking research activities at PhD level or above
• in one of the Academic Subjects/Fields of Research relevant to ATAS; and
• is not an ATAS exempt national,

you will be required to obtain a free of charge ATAS certificate before Imperial College can issue a Certificate of Sponsorship and you can apply for a visa / extension to your visa to work in the UK.

The ATAS certificate must accurately reflect the HEI/research institute which employs/hosts the research, and the research project, job title and duration. If any of these details change the sponsored employee should check whether they require an ATAS certificate and apply for a new certificate if required.

Please see the ATAS information here and gov.uk guidance here.

Contact details

Keeping your contact details (home address, home telephone number (if you have one) and mobile telephone number) up-to-date via the employee self-service portal.

Sponsored Researchers (T5 GAE) will not have access to the above portal and should email any changes to the Staff Compliance Team to update their record

Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and keeping UKVI Account updated

Reporting if your BRP is lost, stolen or damaged or changes to address, personal details or circumstances. If you have an account keep your UKVI account updated

If you do not hold a BRP, you still need to keep your UKVI account updated with any required changes. 

Travel outside the UK

Please be aware that:

• If you are outside of the UK and your leave to remain expires, you will not be able to re- enter the UK unless you make a further successful application for leave, which would require a new Certificate of Sponsorship.
• Your leave to remain will automatically lapse if you leave the UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands (Common Travel Area), and you have been granted leave to remain in the UK for 6 months or less.
• If you make an application to extend your leave to remain in the UK whilst in post, you cannot leave the UK or Common Travel Area whilst the application is in process, otherwise this will cause your application to be automatically cancelled by UKVI.
• You should maintain your own detailed record of all UK absences, in addition to recording annual leave and other work absences via Teamseer
• For any future application to obtain UK Indefinite leave to remain (Settlement) UKVI rules dictate that any total absences from the UK over 180 full days in any 12 month period of the qualifying period, are likely to cause a settlement application to be ineligible unless a permitted exemption applies or there are serious and compelling reasons for the absence. 
•  Any period of absence from the UK where work may need to be undertaken from outside the UK (e.g. fieldwork/overseas research) should be discussed with your line manager/department initially. Where this can be agreed, your department will need to follow the Imperial College overseas working process and guidance should be taken from the International Mobility Team. 
• Additionally, where the agreed absence from the UK is agreed and is likely to be for a significant period that may be deemed as a temporary change in your work address, please notify the Staff Compliance Team  directly once this is fully approved.

• Provide the Staff Compliance Team original documents that confirm your right to work in the UK as part of any initial and follow up checks.
• If you have been issued with a UK Entry vignette in your passport, which you used to travel to the UK, you must collect your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) from a designated Post Office within 10 days of your first arrival into the UK. Once you have collected your BRP card you will be able to generate a share code for a right to work check.
• Please note that designated Post Offices are allocated according to the post code you provide on your application for entry clearance. You may therefore wish to consider providing the post code of the Imperial College campus you will be working at if it would be easier for you to collect your BRP during the working day.
• Notify your line manager of your leave and absences as soon as possible via the TeamSeer absence management system.
• Advise us of any changes to your contact details. You can do this via the employee self-service portal(Personal Details)
  • Sponsored Researchers (Tier 5/TWR) will not have access the employee self-service portal and must email any changes to contact details directly to the Staff Compliance Team to update their record.
• Advise the Staff Compliance Team if you are intending on undertaking any supplementary / secondary employment in addition to your sponsored post, with agreement from your Head of Department/Faculty
• If you are a sponsored researcher – also check if supplementary voluntary activity is permitted or not.
• Report a lost, stolen or damaged BRP or changes to your address, personal details or circumstances to UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) immediately.
• Advise the Staff Compliance Team of any change to your immigration or employment status that means sponsorship is no longer required.  Imperial College is required to notify UKVI to end sponsorship once you have provided evidence of your new immigration status at which time the above requirements and responsibilities specific to sponsored employees will also cease.

Imperial College is obliged to inform UKVI (within 10 business days) if:

• You do not arrive for your first day at work (new appointments/associations only), or the start date of your employment changes
• Your contract/work/research project ends
• You take a period of unpaid leave more than 4 weeks in any calendar year (this can be one period of absence, or a number of absences totalling 4 weeks over a calendar year). This refers to any unpaid leave that does not fall under one of the permitted exemption categories (maternity, paternity, shared parental (not parental leave under the ‘special leave’ category), adoption, industrial action strike days and long term sickness absence) *
• Any special/unpaid leave requests will take into consideration your sponsored leave conditions, in order to protect your sponsorship status. Under UKVI rules, any non-exempt unpaid leave taken more than 4 weeks would require Imperial College to end your sponsorship.
• Any significant changes in circumstances e.g. promotion, reduction in hours / salary, maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption or long-term sick leave in excess of one month, work location, duration of contract or TUPE transfer
• You are absent from work for more than 10 consecutive working days without permission
• We suspect that you are in breach of your leave condition