⚠ Civil penalty tripled in Feb 2024 — £45,000 per illegal worker

Sponsor licence + visa management on autopilot.

Section 15 right-to-work civil penalty defence built in. Sponsor licence applications. SMS reporting on a 10-working-day clock. Compliance visit prep. From £209/month — versus £5,000–£15,000 per matter at law firms.

Run my free RTW penalty exposure check → See pricing
No card · 60-second check · Individual visa advice via our OISC Level 3 partner adviser
Free RTW Penalty Exposure Check

How much are you exposed?

The Home Office tripled the right-to-work civil penalty in February 2024 to £45,000 first offence / £60,000 repeat. Six questions, sixty seconds, no card — we'll tell you the worst-case civil penalty exposure across your current workforce.

Why SMEs end up exposed

Three patterns that catch sponsor licence holders

Active UK sponsor licences grew 49% to ~127,000 in Q1 2026. 92% are SMEs. Home Office tripled civil penalties in Feb 2024 and notices issued grew 3× to £47m total in 2024.

Trap 01
"Our RTW evidence isn't airtight"
The Section 15 statutory excuse defence only works if your evidence is timestamped, retained, and matches the prescribed method. A photocopied passport in a filing cabinet isn't enough. £45,000 per worker is the worst-case price of getting it wrong.
Trap 02
"We missed an SMS report"
Sponsors must report significant changes (address, role, salary, missed work, early termination) within 10 working days via the Sponsorship Management System. Most SMEs don't know the list. ~12% of compliance visits end in licence downgrade, suspension or revocation.
Trap 03
"Home Office sent us a visit letter"
UKVI conducts ~3,500 compliance visits a year. The letter arrives 4–8 weeks before. Most SMEs have never seen an Appendix C audit list. Lewis Silkin will quote £4,500 to prep you. Fragomen £8,000+. We'll do it as part of the Enterprise tier.
What you get

Right-to-work to compliance visit — one platform, one subscription

All the non-regulated sponsor work, automated. Individual visa advice routed to our OISC Level 3 partner adviser firm.

✓
Section 15 Statutory Excuse Evidence
Share code · IDVT · manual document routes. Timestamped audit trail. Retention dates auto-enforced. Civil-penalty defence pack per worker.
📋
Sponsor Licence Application
Guided workflow · AO / KC / L1 User assignments · supporting documents checklist · OISC partner review for borderline questions · 8–12 wk to approval.
⏰
SMS 10-Day Reporting Clock
Every reportable event auto-creates a report row · 10-working-day clock · cron alerts at -3 days · auto-drafted template · trained QA reviewer stamp · audit trail.
🪪
CoS Lifecycle Tracking
Defined vs Undefined CoS · £525 fee accounting · expiry alerts · salary threshold validation (£38,700 + RQF Level 6 from Jan 2026).
🔄
4-Year Renewal Cron
180 / 90 / 30 day alerts · pre-filled application from prior cycle · delta-highlight what's changed · auto-billing for renewal fee.
🛡
Compliance Visit Prep (Enterprise)
Mock UKVI audit · Appendix C/D gap analysis · trained QA reviewer + OISC adviser pair · day-of-visit checklist. 12% of audits end in licence action — we get you ready.

Pharoah pricing

Pharoah Immigration & Sponsorship

£209 per month

Billed monthly through Stripe checkout: card, Bacs Direct Debit, Revolut Pay or Klarna, where eligible.

Buy now — £209/month

Buying for a company? Annual invoicing and purchase orders are agreed at quote — ask us.

FAQ

The questions everyone asks

Are you a law firm?
No. Pharoah Immigration is a technology platform. The regulated work — individual visa application advice, contentious sponsor matters — is conducted by our OISC Level 3 partner adviser firm (or an SRA-regulated solicitor firm where appropriate). We run the non-regulated sponsor work (RTW checks, SMS reporting, CoS tracking, licence management) at SaaS pricing; they run the regulated advice when you need it. It's the same architectural pattern Tide Insurance uses with Anorak in financial services.
How is £209/mo possible when law firms charge £5,000 per matter?
RTW checks aren't regulated activity. Anyone can run them. What law firms are charging £5,000 for on visa applications is the regulated advice piece — which we route to our OISC partner, not undercut. The £209/mo gets you the audit trail, the statutory excuse evidence, and the civil penalty defence pack. That part is software, not advice.
What if Home Office sends us a compliance visit letter?
Enterprise tier customers get a mock compliance audit within 5 working days of uploading the letter. We check your Appendix C records, Appendix D records, sponsor duties, RTW evidence, SMS reporting history. Where any legal positioning is needed, our OISC partner adviser reviews. Most of the prep is admin — getting your records in order — and admin is what we automate.
Will you submit my visa application?
No — we prepare the inputs and route the case to our OISC partner adviser firm. They conduct the regulated advice and submit the visa application. You pay them their fee directly; we receive a referral split. The benefit is that they get pre-packaged customer + worker + CoS data and you get a workflow-driven handoff rather than starting from scratch with a solicitor.
Does the £45,000 civil penalty really apply to small businesses?
Yes. Section 15 IANA 2006 applies to every UK employer regardless of size. The Home Office tripled the rate in February 2024 — £45,000 first occurrence per illegal worker, £60,000 repeat. The statutory excuse only protects you if your RTW check was done correctly and you have the evidence. That's what we automate.
What happens after Brexit/post-April 2025 White Paper?
The April 2025 White Paper reinstated the RQF Level 6 (degree-level) requirement for new sponsor licences and effectively closed overseas recruitment for new care-sector sponsors. We've baked these rules into our validators and track Home Office policy updates weekly. If your sector is care, we'll be honest at onboarding about what's still possible.

Stop quoting £8,000 to law firms for what is mostly admin.

Free RTW penalty exposure check. £209/mo to start. Sponsor licence onboarding in 5 working days. Individual visa advice via our OISC partner adviser.

Run my free exposure check →

Want this for your business?

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£209 a month — available now from the Pharoah checkout.

Ready to start? Subscribe for £209/month. Buy now Pay monthly by card, Bacs Direct Debit, Revolut Pay or Klarna, where eligible. Buying for a company? Annual invoicing and purchase orders are agreed at quote — ask us.