Sponsor licence revocations hit a new record high in Q1 2026
23 May 2026
If you are on a Skilled Worker visa, your right to stay in the UK depends on your employer keeping their sponsor licence. A record number of employers lost that licence in the first three months of 2026.
Free Movement reported on 22 May 2026, drawing on the latest Home Office transparency data, that "Q1 2026 saw 1,545 Skilled Worker licence revocations, breaking that record immediately" after the previous record of 1,516 in Q4 2025. For context, 2025 as a whole saw around 3,100 revocations, "roughly nine times higher than the 2023 total of 337". Enforcement has increased sharply and shows no sign of slowing.
When a licence is revoked, the consequences are immediate for workers. As Free Movement explains: "when a licence is revoked, every sponsored worker has 60 days to find a new sponsor or leave the UK." That 60-day window applies to every worker on that employer's licence, regardless of whether you personally did anything wrong.
To protect yourself, check regularly that your employer still holds a valid sponsor licence. The Home Office publishes a searchable register of licensed sponsors on GOV.UK. If your employer's licence is suspended or revoked, take action straight away. The 60-day window is short. You can switch to a new employer during that time without having to leave the UK first, but finding a new sponsoring employer quickly is essential.
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