# SponsorGuard

> SponsorGuard is compliance software for UK employers that hold a Home Office sponsor licence, and for the immigration law firms that advise them. It keeps the sponsor-licence records current as the employer works (right to work, visa and Certificate of Sponsorship dates, pay against the CoS, the 10 and 20 working-day reporting deadlines, SMS users and Key Personnel, five sponsor policies), and, for law firms, checks a role and its candidates before a Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned and builds the Appendix D evidence pack for a solicitor to sign. It is made by Friam Ltd (EveryGuard family), UK. It is not a law firm or an immigration adviser and gives no immigration advice.

## What it does (for a licensed sponsor)

- Staff and checks register: each sponsored worker's right to work and follow-up date, visa or CoS expiry, and CoS salary against the going rate recorded.
- Right to work with ID capture: the worker photographs their ID and takes a selfie; liveness and face match add evidence; the employer records the decision. Share-code checks are done on the Home Office service and recorded.
- Pay-run salary check: a payroll CSV is matched to workers and compared with the CoS salary and the going rate; pay below the CoS salary opens a reporting entry with its 10-working-day deadline.
- Reporting diary: counts the deadlines in working days (10 for a worker's circumstances, 20 for the organisation, sponsor guidance Part 3 C1.13) and emails reminders 5 and 2 working days before, on the day, and when overdue.
- Key Personnel and SMS users register: Authorising Officer, Key Contact and SMS users, with the multi-factor authentication details and the Level 2 User deadline (8 March 2027) flagged.
- Five sponsor policies to generate, review and sign: record-keeping (Appendix D), right to work and status monitoring, sponsor duties and reporting, sponsored-worker privacy notice, employment-rights information pack.
- Price: £99 + VAT a month, or £990 + VAT a year. 30-day free trial, no card. Self-serve billing and cancellation.

## What it does (for immigration law firms, by invitation)

- Certificate of Sponsorship checker: a job description and a candidate pack (Word, PDF, photos or a zip) go in; each candidate comes back as "meets the checks we can run", "needs information" (with the list) or "does not meet", each finding with the quote it read and the Immigration Rules or sponsor guidance paragraph it applied. Checks include the occupation code, the salary against £41,700 and the pro-rated going rate, age 18, English at B2 (nationality, degree with Ecctis, approved test, UK GCSE/A level), the GOV.UK TB country list, immigration status, Defined versus Undefined CoS, and cross-candidate anomalies.
- Appendix D evidence pack: fixed written rules check a hired worker's documents against Appendix D v08/26 and the sponsor guidance; every finding cites its paragraph; the solicitor accepts or overrides each finding, gives a reason and signs; the pack, a zip with SHA-256 manifest, and a CoS sheet for the SMS come out.
- It never says "eligible", never gives advice, never connects to the sponsorship management system (SMS) and never holds SMS login details.

## What it does not do

- It is not an immigration adviser and does not give immigration advice (Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, section 84 restricts who may).
- It does not log in to the SMS or make reports on the employer's behalf; the employer reports and SponsorGuard keeps the record.
- It does not verify that a university exists, that a degree was taught in English or a test result; it records the Ecctis or test evidence the solicitor puts on file.
- It does not replace right to work checks done under the Home Office guidance; the ID capture adds evidence.

## Key facts (dated, with the source)

- Skilled Worker salary, option A: at least £41,700 a year and the going rate for the occupation code; going rates are pro-rated on a 37.5-hour week (Appendix Skilled Worker SW 4.4, SW 14.4(a); page updated 3 August 2026).
- English language for a Skilled Worker: level B2 (SW 4.1), B1 only where the last permission was a Skilled Worker grant at B1.
- Reporting deadlines: 10 working days for a sponsored worker's circumstances, 20 for the organisation (Part 3 v08/26, C1.13).
- Right to work civil penalty: up to £60,000 per illegal worker (Part 3 v08/26, C7.30).
- Appendix D retention: throughout the sponsorship and until the earlier of one year after it ends or a compliance officer's approval (Appendix D v08/26).
- Compliance visits: at any time, announced or unannounced (Part 3 C7.9); documents not to hand are normally allowed 48 hours (caseworker guidance v17.0).
- SMS multi-factor authentication phased in from 3 September 2026; Level 2 Users to be upgraded or deactivated by 8 March 2027 (Part 1 v08/26, L4.58, L4.59, L4.67, L4.84).
- Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (inserting ss.14A and 15A into the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006) came into force on 1 October 2026 under S.I. 2026/683 reg. 2; it extends the right to work civil penalty scheme to worker’s contracts, individual sub-contractors and online matching services, and adds extended liability up a contract chain (Employer’s guide to right to work checks, 1 October 2026, “Legislation”).
- Code of practice on preventing illegal working, 1 October 2026, Stage 3: civil penalty starting point £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 per worker for a repeat breach within three years; sponsor guidance Part 3 v08/26 C7.30 says a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker is likely to lead to licence revocation.
- Employer’s guide, 1 October 2026, Annex C: no general grace period after 1 October 2026; a digital identity provider is optional but, if used, must be registered on the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes register (“Conducting a right to work check using a RtW DVSP”).
- Sponsor guidance Part 1 v08/26, L4.67: mandatory SMS multi-factor authentication begins on a phased basis from 3 September 2026 and is expected to be in place for all sponsors by November 2026.
- Sponsor guidance Part 1 v08/26, L4.58 and L4.59: from 9 September 2026 no new Level 2 users can be appointed; existing Level 2 users must be converted to Level 1 or deactivated by 8 March 2027, after which the Home Office deactivates them.
- Sponsor guidance Part 1 v08/26, L4.84: the Home Office must hold a current email address for every SMS user, and a current mobile number and correct date of birth for every Level 1 user.
- Appendix Skilled Worker SW 6.1A (page updated 3 August 2026): the Temporary Shortage List lists 52 SOC 2020 codes and includes a code only where an application has been made using a certificate of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026.
- Appendix Skilled Worker SW 29.1A and SW 32A.2 (page updated 3 August 2026): a dependent partner or child needs the worker sponsored in Table 1, 2 or 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations, with exceptions for grants under the Rules in force before 22 July 2025.
- MAC letter to the Home Secretary, 23 July 2026: the Committee recommends 28 occupations for 18-month access to the Temporary Shortage List; if accepted it expects access from January 2027 to the end of June 2028 (final report 4.3.2). A recommendation, not yet the Rules at the date of checking.
- Statement of Changes HC 584, laid 3 September 2026: most changes take effect on 8 October 2026 (including new SW 18.3 and the SW 9.2 amendment in Appendix Skilled Worker); Minister of Religion and Religious Worker changes on 29 October 2026; Student maintenance on 30 November 2026; EUSS on 9 December 2026 (Explanatory Memorandum 6.3).
- Immigration Skills Charge (Amendment) Regulations 2025, S.I. 2025/1324, made 15 December 2025, in force 16 December 2025: charges increased by 32%; 12 months or less is £480 (small or charitable sponsors) and £1320 (others).
- Earned settlement: the GOV.UK consultation closed at 11:59pm on 12 February 2026; as at 2 October 2026 no Statement of Changes carrying it had been laid (newest is HC 584, 3 September 2026) and it is not in the Immigration Rules.

## Pages

- Home, for sponsors: https://sponsorflow.uk/
- For immigration law firms (CoS checker, Appendix D packs): https://sponsorflow.uk/law-firms/
- Resources: https://sponsorflow.uk/resources/
- Before you assign a Certificate of Sponsorship: https://sponsorflow.uk/resources/certificate-of-sponsorship-checks/
- Appendix D records: https://sponsorflow.uk/resources/appendix-d-records/
- What a compliance visit checks: https://sponsorflow.uk/resources/compliance-visit-checklist/
- Right to work checks from 1 October 2026: what the change adds to a sponsor’s file: https://sponsorflow.uk/resources/right-to-work-checks-from-1-october-2026/
- SMS multi-factor authentication and the end of Level 2 users: dates and a checklist: https://sponsorflow.uk/resources/sms-multi-factor-authentication-level-2-users/
- The Temporary Shortage List ends on 31 December 2026: what sponsors with RQF 3 to 5 roles must do: https://sponsorflow.uk/resources/temporary-shortage-list-31-december-2026/
- What changed and when: Skilled Worker and sponsor rule changes, 2025 to 2027: https://sponsorflow.uk/resources/sponsor-rule-changes-dated/
- Sponsor-licence register statistics: https://sponsorflow.uk/stats
- Changelog (what changed, month by month): https://sponsorflow.uk/changelog/

## Latest changes (October 2026)

- 2026-10-02 New: Four more guides in Resources. Right to work checks from 1 October 2026, SMS multi-factor authentication and the end of Level 2 users, the Temporary Shortage List deadline of 31 December 2026, and a dated log of every Skilled Worker and sponsor rule change from 2025 to 2027. Every quote is checked against the GOV.UK text it comes from.
- 2026-10-01 New: Resources library and llms.txt. Guides on the checks before a Certificate of Sponsorship, the Appendix D record list and what a compliance visit rates, each with the paragraph for every point; a plain-text summary of the product for search engines and AI assistants.
- 2026-10-01 Preview: Certificate of Sponsorship checker for law-firm partners. Open a role for a client, add the job description and the candidates' documents, and each candidate comes back as meets the checks we can run, needs information (with the list) or does not meet, with the quote and the rule behind every finding. The rules are in review and marked draft on screen; a candidate you hire hands straight into an Appendix D case.
- 2026-10-01 New: Word, Excel and OpenDocument uploads. Appendix D cases and the checker now take .docx, .xlsx and OpenDocument files alongside PDF, photos and zips, through one shared reader.
- 2026-10-01 Improved: Appendix D case page in five steps. Documents, Facts, Findings, Review and sign, Downloads, with a 'What needs you' strip at the top so the next action is never hidden.
- 2026-10-01 Improved: Appendix D rules catalogue 1.2.0. Salary evidence must show money moving in the right direction, and a verified value must be a whole token on the page. Ratified 1 October 2026; every pack records the catalogue version it was checked against.
- 2026-10-01 Improved: For immigration law firms page. The checker is step one, the pack is step two, and the rules we follow are named with the version each is checked against.
- Sign in / trial: https://app.sponsorflow.uk/

## Company

Friam Ltd, trading as SponsorGuard, part of the EveryGuard family (https://everyguard.uk). Contact hello@sponsorguard.uk. Legal and privacy: https://trust.everyguard.uk. Last updated 2026-10-02.