What is the 10-Day Reporting Rule?
As a sponsor licence holder, you have a legal duty to report certain changes and events to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) within 10 working days. This is one of the most frequently breached compliance requirements and a common reason for licence downgrading or revocation. The 10-day clock starts from the date you become aware of the change — not the date it occurred.
Failure to report within 10 working days is an automatic compliance breach. The Home Office treats late reporting as evidence of poor compliance systems, regardless of the severity of the change itself.
Even well-managed organisations fail this requirement because they rely on manual processes that cannot guarantee timely reporting across all employees.
Changes You Must Report
The following changes must be reported to UKVI within 10 working days:
- Worker fails to start employment on the expected date
- Worker is absent without permission for 10+ consecutive working days
- Worker's employment ends (including resignation, dismissal, or redundancy)
- Significant change in worker's job duties or job title
- Reduction in worker's salary below the going rate for the SOC code
- Change in worker's work location (if different from CoS)
- Worker's sponsorship is no longer required
- Any criminal conviction of a sponsored worker
- Change to your organisation's details (name, address, ownership)
- If you suspect the worker is breaching their visa conditions
How to Report Changes
The correct process for reporting changes to UKVI:
- 1
Log into the Sponsorship Management System (SMS) using your Level 1 user credentials.
- 2
Navigate to the relevant sponsored worker's record.
- 3
Select the appropriate reporting category for the change.
- 4
Provide full details of the change, including the date it occurred and the date you became aware.
- 5
Submit the report and save the confirmation reference number.
- 6
Record the report in your internal compliance system with the date and reference.
The 10-Day Absence Rule Explained
One of the most critical reporting obligations relates to unauthorised absences. If a sponsored worker is absent without your permission for 10 or more consecutive working days, you must report this to UKVI. Weekends and bank holidays do not count as working days. Approved leave (holiday, sick leave with medical evidence, maternity/paternity leave) does not count towards the 10-day threshold. However, if an employee is on sick leave without proper documentation, those days may count as unauthorised absence.
How LuwaSuite Prevents Late Reporting
LuwaSuite's absence monitoring engine automatically tracks consecutive working day absences for all sponsored workers, cross-referencing against approved leave records. The system generates tiered alerts at 5 days (warning), 8 days (critical), and 10 days (breach), giving you time to investigate and report before the deadline passes. All changes are logged with timestamps in the audit trail, and the LuwaScore™ Domain D (Change Reporting) score reflects your reporting timeliness.