Skilled Worker Sponsor Management System (SMS) will be temporarily unavailable

Last week we posted an article discussing the drastic increases to the minimum salary thresholds for Skilled Worker applications – in case you missed it, from 4 April 2024 the general salary threshold will increase from £26,200 to £38,700 per annum and individual occupation codes will see significant salary threshold increases. 

To add to these changes, the Home Office has recently announced that the Skilled Worker Sponsor Management System (SMS) will be unavailable from 2 April 2024 (from 7pm) to 4 April 2024 (until 9am). 

During this period, sponsors will be prevented from assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for a prospective Skilled Worker application. Failure to assign a CoS before the deadline will mean that applicants will need to meet the new, higher salary thresholds.

This will be unpleasant news for sponsors who wish to assign a CoS before the changes take place as there are now less days to take the relevant steps for the application, especially given the 2 upcoming Easter bank holidays!

Recommended steps

If you would like to benefit from the current salary thresholds, you should take the required action now so that you are able to assign the CoS before 7pm on 2 April 2024.