The Home Office quietly released its latest daily update to the Register of Licensed Sponsors (Workers) on 6 February 2026, a data set closely watched by HR and global-mobility teams that employ non-UK nationals under the Skilled Worker and Scale-up routes. The refreshed CSV shows 100 newly approved sponsors—many in high-tech manufacturing and life sciences—and 42 removals, including several adult-care providers whose compliance audits found salary or record-keeping breaches.
Maintaining sponsorship is mission-critical: once a licence is revoked, sponsored staff have 60 days to find a new employer or leave the UK. The daily register therefore functions as an early-warning system for employees on assignment and for businesses arranging intra-company transfers. Corporate mobility managers should download the updated list (dated ‘6 February 2026’) and cross-check their supply-chain partners to avoid inadvertently placing workers with non-compliant firms.
The uptick in approvals aligns with the government’s post-Brexit strategy of targeting ‘high-value sectors’ while tightening rules elsewhere. However, the simultaneous removals illustrate the Home Office’s increasing readiness to act against abuse: 566 care providers lost licences between 2022 and mid-2025, and ministers have hinted at even longer exclusion periods for repeat offenders.
![Home Office publishes 6 February update to licensed-sponsor register: 100 more employers gain approval, 42 lose status]()
Immigration lawyers note that the daily publication cadence gives little margin for error. They recommend that sponsors conduct internal audits at least quarterly, ensuring payroll, right-to-work evidence and change-of-circumstance filings remain up to date. Businesses planning large 2026 recruitment rounds should monitor the register weekly and build licence-suspension triggers into vendor contracts.
VisaHQ’s compliance team tracks these register changes in real time and can alert your HR or mobility unit as soon as a supplier’s licence status shifts. Via our dedicated UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/), you can also arrange individual Skilled Worker applications, schedule reminder audits and outsource right-to-work checks—streamlining the processes that keep your own sponsorship in good standing.
The register update arrives as English-language requirements for new Skilled Worker applicants rise to CEFR B2 on 8 January 2026, further raising the compliance bar for employers.
Maintaining sponsorship is mission-critical: once a licence is revoked, sponsored staff have 60 days to find a new employer or leave the UK. The daily register therefore functions as an early-warning system for employees on assignment and for businesses arranging intra-company transfers. Corporate mobility managers should download the updated list (dated ‘6 February 2026’) and cross-check their supply-chain partners to avoid inadvertently placing workers with non-compliant firms.
The uptick in approvals aligns with the government’s post-Brexit strategy of targeting ‘high-value sectors’ while tightening rules elsewhere. However, the simultaneous removals illustrate the Home Office’s increasing readiness to act against abuse: 566 care providers lost licences between 2022 and mid-2025, and ministers have hinted at even longer exclusion periods for repeat offenders.
Immigration lawyers note that the daily publication cadence gives little margin for error. They recommend that sponsors conduct internal audits at least quarterly, ensuring payroll, right-to-work evidence and change-of-circumstance filings remain up to date. Businesses planning large 2026 recruitment rounds should monitor the register weekly and build licence-suspension triggers into vendor contracts.
VisaHQ’s compliance team tracks these register changes in real time and can alert your HR or mobility unit as soon as a supplier’s licence status shifts. Via our dedicated UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/), you can also arrange individual Skilled Worker applications, schedule reminder audits and outsource right-to-work checks—streamlining the processes that keep your own sponsorship in good standing.
The register update arrives as English-language requirements for new Skilled Worker applicants rise to CEFR B2 on 8 January 2026, further raising the compliance bar for employers.
