An update to the Immigration Rules from 9 April 2025 acts as a reminder for host employers that Government Authorised Exchange scheme roles must be in addition to their staffing needs. Employer hosts can expect greater scrutiny from Government Authorised Exchange scheme sponsors on this requirement.
What is the change?
The Immigration Rule change concerns one of the requirements for having a valid Certificate of Sponsorship under the Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) route. Under the revised wording, the Certificate of Sponsorship must:
- Confirm that the role is supernumerary, i.e. that it is in addition to the host employer's regular, required, or standard number of staff;
- Confirm that the role does not fill a permanent position or ongoing vacancy in the host employer's workforce, even on a temporary basis; and
- Include a full explanation of why the role is supernumerary.
The current wording states that the role must be supernumerary to the sponsor's staffing needs, so this update is correcting a longstanding drafting error. This is because the sponsors under this route are mainly organisations offering work experience programmes of up to 12 months, or research and training programmes of up to 24 months.
What is the wider context of this change?
Although this is a technical change, it has been made in the context of the Home Office moving GAE scheme sponsors onto the new 'Sponsor UK' IT system. This process will have been an opportunity for the Home Office to scrutinise the existing processes of GAE sponsors and to place renewed emphasis on their responsibility to be satisfied that individuals participating in their scheme are carrying out only supernumerary activities that are consistent with the scope and purpose of the scheme they offer.
We anticipate that employer hosts can expect GAE sponsors to be more active in asking for detailed information about proposed placements, and in rejecting proposals where they are not satisfied the requirements of the scheme are met.
Our compliance tips for GAE scheme for host employers
The Home Office is actively looking at GAE scheme arrangements and our broad suggestion is for employer sponsors to review their usage of GAE schemes with a view to ensuring this is consistent with their scope and purpose.
Areas to review include:
- Internal mechanisms for deciding whether proposed activities are supernumerary and within the scope of a relevant GAE scheme, or if they constitute a genuine vacancy that requires sponsorship under another route such as Skilled Worker, Senior or Specialist Worker or Graduate Trainee; and
- Internal mechanisms for monitoring the activities of GAE scheme participants to ensure these do not go beyond the activities they are authorised to undertake within the terms of the scheme (and therefore remain within the scope of their right to work in the UK).
Employer hosts that hold a sponsor licence should pay careful attention to the fact that right to work compliance is integral to sponsorship compliance. Use of GAE schemes should be flagged as a sponsorship compliance risk area and managed accordingly.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
