When a work location change needs to be reported
If a sponsored worker moves to a different site, office, or branch from the one recorded on their Certificate of Sponsorship, this must be reported to the Home Office via the Sponsor Management System (SMS). This applies whether the move is permanent or long-term. Short-term or temporary moves to cover shifts at another location do not generally require a formal location change, but sponsors should keep a record of these for compliance purposes.
What counts as a new location
A new location is any address that is not already registered on your sponsor licence. This includes newly opened offices, branches acquired through expansion, and locations that were previously unregistered. If you are operating across multiple sites, all active work locations should be registered on your licence.
How to update the SMS
Work location changes are reported through the SMS. The change should be reported within 10 working days of the worker moving to the new location. If you are unsure whether a location is already registered on your licence, check your current licence details on the SMS before making any change.
Adding a new address to the licence
If the new work location is not yet registered on your sponsor licence, you will need to add it before you can report the worker's location change. Borderless can assist with this process for customers who have SMS integration in place. Customers without SMS integration should contact their Borderless CSM to arrange this via a screen-share session.
Government guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/workers-and-temporary-workers-guidance-for-sponsors-part-3-sponsor-duties-and-compliance#S3
Moving workers to a site that is not yet on your licence
You do not always need to wait for a new branch to be added to your licence before workers move. Home Office guidance allows a sponsored worker to start working at a branch that is not yet registered, provided all of the following are met: the branch and your organisation are under common ownership or control (automatically satisfied where it is simply another location of the same legal entity), you retain full responsibility for the worker's duties and outputs, you report each worker's change of work location on the SMS within 10 working days of the move, and you submit the request to add the branch to your licence within 20 working days of the date the first worker starts there.
The scenario where you must wait for approval first is where a different legal entity, such as a newly acquired subsidiary, will have day-to-day responsibility for the worker. If your request to add the branch is rejected, you must not continue to sponsor the worker at that site. No new CoS is needed for a location move as long as the SOC code, duties, hours and salary stay the same.