PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Visas: Sponsorship (7 September 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employers have (a) applied for and (b) been refused UK Visa and Immigration sponsorship status in each of the last 10 six month periods.

Asked by:
Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party)

The table below shows the number of applications made by employers for a sponsor licence, and the number of applications that were refused, in each of the last 10 six month periods.

Table 1

2010	Jan-Jun	Jul-Dec		2011	Jan-Jun	Jul-Dec
Applied	-	6129		Applied	5221	4377
Refused	-	367		Refused	559	630
2012	Jan-Jun	Jul-Dec		2013	Jan-Jun	Jul-Dec
Applied	3861	3855		Applied	4236	4448
Refused	563	405		Refused	412	522
2014	Jan-Jun	Jul-Dec		2015	Jan-Jun	Jul-Dec
Applied	4273	4002		Applied	3691	-
Refused	724	994		Refused	800	-

Note 1: The number of applications received includes all applications for a sponsor licence under the Tiers and sub-categories that permit employment.

Note 2: Not all applications refused in a given six month period were received in the same six month period.

Note 3: An application for multiple Tiers and/or categories may be partially granted; therefore refusals also includes those application where a licence may have been granted under one Tier, but refused under a different Tier.

Answered by:
James Brokenshire (Conservative)
14 September 2015