The Court of Appeal's judgment of 4 September 2026 concerns appeals by a supermarket and a care provider against the revocation of their sponsor licences, and matters to licensed sponsors and the workers they employ.
Key facts
- Who: Employers holding sponsor licences, particularly under the Skilled Worker route, and the workers they sponsor
- From: 4 September 2026 (judgment date)
- Source: J's Supermarket Limited, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWCA Civ 1147
The Court of Appeal (Civil Division) handed down its judgment in [2026] EWCA Civ 1147 on 4 September 2026, after a hearing on 16 June 2026. Lord Justice Dingemans, Senior President of Tribunals, gave the judgment. Lord Justice Peter Jackson and Lady Justice Asplin also sat.
Background
Two employers appealed against High Court decisions dismissing their judicial review claims. Both had held sponsor licences for the Skilled Worker route, and the Home Office had revoked both licences.
J's Supermarket runs a medium-sized supermarket in Tooting with about 10 employees. It was granted a licence on 16 January 2023. After a compliance visit on 9 May 2024, the Home Office concluded that two sponsored workers were doing low-skilled duties that differed from their certificate of sponsorship job descriptions. It suspended the licence on 22 August 2024 and gave 20 days to respond. There was no response. The judgment records that the director appears to have been abroad for the school holidays and on his return did not see the suspension decision. The licence was revoked on 10 October 2024. After a pre-action letter, the Home Office reconsidered and upheld the revocation on 12 November 2024.
Prestige Social Care Services Ltd is a care provider. Its licence was suspended on 26 March 2024 over concerns about high attrition and recruitment irregularities, including 111 certificates of sponsorship assigned since August 2021. The Home Office later said over 40% of sponsored workers were no longer sponsored. Prestige responded with evidence that turnover is common in the care sector. The licence was revoked on 15 October 2024, with the attrition figure recalculated at 60%. The Home Office also relied on concerns about how particular workers had been recruited.
The questions
The appeals raised the circumstances in which the Home Office may revoke a sponsor licence. They also raised how the procedural fairness principles in Balajigari [2019] EWCA Civ 673 and Prestwick Care [2025] EWCA Civ 184 apply to employers with sponsor licences.
The court was also asked to construe the Home Office's "Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for Sponsors". That included:
- the definition of a "genuine vacancy" (paragraph C1.44), which excludes roles with dissimilar or predominantly lower-skilled duties;
- the phrase "threat to immigration control" (paragraphs C7.3 and C10.1); and
- the mandatory and discretionary revocation grounds in Annexes C1 and C2.
Both employers also challenged how the judges used section 31(2A) of the Senior Courts Act 1981. The Secretary of State cross-appealed in Prestige's case.
What this means for sponsor licence holders
The case concerns how the Home Office's own guidance is applied when a licence is suspended or revoked. The guidance gives 20 working days from written notification of a suspension to respond in writing, with supporting evidence. It says that if no response arrives within the time allowed, the Home Office will go ahead with whatever action it believes appropriate.
The guidance also requires sponsors to keep records, including job descriptions, and treats a role that includes dissimilar or predominantly lower-skilled duties as not genuine. Sponsors may wish to check that the job descriptions on their certificates of sponsorship match the duties workers actually perform, and to get advice before a deadline passes.
Sources
- J's Supermarket Limited, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2026] EWCA Civ 1147, Court of Appeal (Civil Division), 4 September 2026: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/civ/2026/1147