What will be achieved by the end of the session and why it is especially relevant to practice.

The UK Border Agency, practitioners, Judges and clients alike continue to navigate their way through the maze that is Sponsorship. New policies, processes and systems are rolled-out on a frequent basis and even the most seasoned practitioners no longer rely on experience alone as all of us check and double check the ever changing rules on a daily basis. In the last few years we have seen significant policy changes affecting tier 2 and 4 sponsors, and much enforcement activity by the UK Border Agency including suspension and revocation action which has resulted in significant litigation. This session was first run in 2010 and this year we will again provide a detailed update and review.

• the sponsorship guides interpreted in a legal and business context
• review of ad hoc policy guidance issued by UKBA over the last year
• in-depth analysis of sponsor duties in the wider legal context
• problems which may arise during the life of a licence and resolving them
• a look at UKBA's visits to sponsors
• negotiating your client out of negative decisions
• ramifications of suspensions and revocations
• the legal framework challenging negative UKBA decisions through the judicial system
• what part does the Human Rights Act play?
• the legal powers of the UK Border Agency and its officers in relation to sponsors case law
• update sponsorship and other areas of law (commercial, corporate, etc)
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David Lemer

David practises predominantly in immigration, asylum, employment and general civil litigation. He undertakes cases within the Tribunal system on a regular basis and is an experienced practitioner in both the High Court and Court of Appeal. David also has experience in litigation in the European Court of Human Rights, having drafted pleadings on behalf of individual applicants and intervening parties. He has a particular interest in civil actions against public authorities, using both the common law and remedies under the Human Rights Act 1998.

David is recommended as an immigration specialist in the 2013 edition of Chambers and Partners, and is currently drafting the European Law chapter in the forthcoming 16th edition of Munkman on Employer's Liability.

David's recent case load has seen his extensive involvement in a string of public law challenges to the UKBA's removal of a number of Educational institutions from the Tier 4 sponsorship register. Having achieved successful outcomes, he is currently involved in a number of planned damages claims arising from the procedures operated by the Home Office's to suspension and revocation license holders.

David also has extensive experience in advising and lecturing to corporate, including multinational, clients as to their obligations when employing foreign workers, and regularly represents in civil penalty appeals.  As well as lecturing extensively on new developments in this rapidly changing field, David is also approved by the Law Society and acts as an assessor on the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme, for solicitors and legal representatives

David's wide-ranging civil practice, includes civil actions against the police, landlord and tenant disputes as well as general contractual matters, which have recently seen him representing Ethiopian Airways in an international dispute concerning the ownership of a Boeing 757.

Penny Salmon

Penny joined Penningtons’ immigration team in November 2009, having previously worked as a manager in KPMG’s business immigration team. She has been practicing UK immigration since 2003 and before this worked as a registered migration advisor in Australia.

Penny currently leads the corporate work stream in the immigration team. She specialises in providing immigration solutions to corporates including those in retail, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals sector. Her expertise includes coordinating global immigration cases for large international clients, especially in China and India, undertaking immigration audits to ensure compliance with UKBA regulations, managing applications for high intake graduate immigration programmes, providing immigration training to HR and recruitment teams and liaising with policy teams within the UKBA to seek changes to immigration rules.

In addition. Penny frequently works with Tier 4 educational providers, offering guidance and advice on changes to the Tier 4 system and leading the team’s compliance service in this area.

She is a frequent speaker at education and business immigration events and she provides training in both the corporate and education sector on sponsorship compliance and prevention of illegal working.