Sponsor reporting duties, with the clock running where you can see it
Most changes to a sponsored worker have to reach UKVI within 10 working days of the change itself. Miss enough of them and the licence is downgraded, suspended or revoked. The duty is not complicated — it is just a deadline nobody is counting.
What has to be reported, and by when
Within 10 working days
Changes to a sponsored worker
The guidance lists these, in its own words:
- a sponsored worker does not start the role for which you are sponsoring them within 28 days
- a sponsored worker is absent from work without your permission for more than 10 consecutive working days
- a sponsored worker is absent from work without pay, or on reduced pay, for more than 4 weeks in total in any calendar year
- a sponsored worker's salary or pay is otherwise reduced from the level stated on their CoS
- there are significant changes to the details of the worker's employment — a change of job role, job title or core duties, or a promotion, within the same occupation code
- a sponsored worker's normal work location changes
- you stop sponsoring a worker for any reason
- if you are sponsoring an offshore worker, the dates they arrive in and leave UK waters
Plus any route-specific changes. Some changes need a new application rather than a report — the guidance says which.
Within 20 working days
Changes to your company
Stopping trading or becoming insolvent, a substantial change in the nature of the business, a merger or takeover, and changes to your own details such as an address or an allocated role.
Both limits come from the Home Office's sponsor duties and compliance guidance (2 September 2026 edition) — 10 working days at paragraph C1.13 for the changes listed at C1.15, 20 at C2.3. Guidance changes; check the current version before you rely on a date.
Work out a date for one change: the free sponsor reporting deadline calculator says whether the change is reportable, when the clock starts and the deadline, with UK bank holidays taken out.
Where the clock runs in MadyHR.ai
Log the change with the date it happened
Not the date you got round to it. The Home Office counts from the change, so MadyHR.ai asks for that date and defaults it to today only because most changes are logged the same day.
The deadline is counted for you
10 working days, Monday to Friday. Bank holidays are not deducted, so the date shown is sometimes earlier than the true deadline and never later — the safe direction for a date you cannot miss.
See what is still to report
Every logged change carries Reported, Due in N days or Overdue by N days, and the company-wide log filters to what is outstanding or already past its deadline.
Record that you reported it
When your Level 1 User has filed it on the SMS, record the date. It sits with the change, names who recorded it, and goes into the append-only audit log — which is what a compliance officer asks to see.
MadyHR.ai does not submit anything to the Sponsorship Management System. Only your Level 1 User can do that, and no HR system can do it for them. What this product does is tell you what is outstanding, count the deadline, and keep the evidence that you reported it.
What happens if you miss it
A missed report is a breach of a sponsor duty. UKVI decides what follows, and the guidance sets out the range:
Downgraded to a B-rating
The licence is cut to a B-rating and you are put on a time-limited action plan, which carries a fee. While you are B-rated you cannot assign a Certificate of Sponsorship to anyone new — so hiring stops, not just reporting.
Suspended
A suspension applies across every route on the licence while UKVI investigates. You keep every duty you already had, and you cannot assign a CoS.
Revoked
The licence goes, your sponsored workers' permission is curtailed, and the guidance sets a cooling-off period of 12 to 24 months before you can apply again.
This is general information for UK employers, not legal advice. MadyHR.ai is HR software, not an immigration adviser — for your own situation, take advice from someone regulated to give it.
Questions people ask
How long do I have to report a change to a sponsored worker?
10 working days from the day the change or event happened, under paragraph C1.13 of the Home Office's Part 3 guidance, for the changes listed at C1.15. Changes to your own company — stopping trading, insolvency, a merger or takeover, a change of address or of key personnel — get 20 working days from when you became aware of them, under paragraph C2.3. Replacing your Authorising Officer or Key Contact is the exception: there is no fixed number of days, so report it promptly.
What counts as a working day?
The Home Office excludes weekends and bank holidays. MadyHR.ai counts Monday to Friday and does not deduct bank holidays, so in a week containing one the date it shows is earlier than the true deadline — never later. It is stated on screen, and it is the conservative direction: report by the earlier date and you are inside the window either way.
Does MadyHR.ai report to UKVI for me?
No, and no HR system can. Reporting is done by your Level 1 User through the Sponsorship Management System. MadyHR.ai tells you what is outstanding, counts the deadline, links straight to the SMS reporting guidance, and keeps your record that you reported it — that record is the thing a compliance visit asks for.
What if I have already missed a deadline?
Report it anyway, as soon as you can, and keep the evidence of when you did. A late report is a breach of a sponsor duty and the consequences are UKVI's to decide, so if a deadline has been missed on a worker you are still sponsoring, take advice from a regulated immigration adviser — that is not something this page or this product can do for you.