Home Office Reverses The Expansion Of Right To Work Checks For Sponsors

In a welcome update to the sponsor guidance made on 20 May 2026, the Home Office has undone its April 2026 change, which mandated that sponsors perform right to work checks on 'directly engaged' workers. Businesses can breathe a sigh of relief that the previous more narrow requirement to check direct employees and sponsored workers has been restored.

The 20 May 2026 version of the sponsor guidance includes other updates, which we'll provide a summary of separately.

What's the current position?

The updated sponsor guidance published on 20 May 2026 states (our emphasis):

S1.40. 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 (whether sponsored or not), has the appropriate immigration permission to work in the UK and 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

Additional sponsor guidance documents, including Appendix D: record-keeping duties, have been updated to reflect this change.

This reverses the 8 April 2026 change, see below.

What was the 8 April 2026 position? 

The previous sponsor guidance published on 8 April 2026 stated (our emphasis):

S1.40. 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

This change widened the scope of right to work checks expected as part of sponsor duties. It seemed to partially pre-empt the implementation of the upcoming expanded illegal working regime, which would have been premature since the legislation giving rise to the expanded regime hasn't yet come into force. The change also didn't give sponsor licence holders any lead-time to change their operating systems to allow them to comply, and due to poor drafting, raised more questions than answers. Read our previous article for further information. 

The 20 May 2026 amendment appears to provide confirmation that 'or any worker you otherwise wish to employ or directly engage' was imprecise and had unintended consequences. It has now been deleted and replaced with the wording indicated above.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.