Sponsorship Management System (SMS) — UK Sponsor Guide

Quick disambiguation. The Sponsorship Management System (SMS) is the Home Office's own portal at points.homeoffice.gov.uk — the only place a UK sponsor can assign Certificates of Sponsorship and file reports to UKVI. This guide explains how that portal works. SMS System (this website, smssystem.co.uk) is a separate independent compliance product that tracks the deadlines, evidence, and audit records the Home Office portal itself does not — we are not the Home Office and there is no login link to the UKVI portal here. If you are looking for the UKVI SMS login, use the points.homeoffice.gov.uk link above.

The Sponsorship Management System is the Home Office portal that every UK sponsor licence holder uses to assign Certificates of Sponsorship, report changes about sponsored workers, and manage the licence itself. It is the only channel UKVI accepts for these duties — there is no email, postal, or third-party alternative.

The official user manuals are published by the Home Office on gov.uk and run to several hundred pages across multiple PDFs. This page summarises what most sponsors actually need to know about the SMS in day-to-day operation, plus the gaps that every sponsor has to cover with its own systems.

Who can log into the SMS

Access to the SMS is restricted to the named personnel on the sponsor licence:

Authorising Officer (AO) — most senior person responsible for sponsorship; ultimately accountable for everything done in the account.
Key Contact — the main liaison between the sponsor and UKVI.
Level 1 Users — full operational access; at least one is mandatory at all times.
Level 2 Users — restricted access for routine CoS assignment and some reports.

Level 1 vs Level 2 Users

Almost every operational decision flows through this distinction:

Level 1 Users can assign CoS, add and remove other users, submit any report, renew the licence, request additional CoS allocations, and surrender the licence. They are the only users allowed to act on the licence itself.
Level 2 Users can assign CoS to workers and submit a narrow set of worker-related reports, but cannot manage users or change the licence. They exist so a sponsor can delegate day-to-day CoS work without granting full control.

A sponsor must have at least one Level 1 User at all times. Operating without one is a compliance breach in its own right.

What you do in the SMS

The portal covers three operational areas:

Assign Certificates of Sponsorship. Both Defined CoS (for out-of-country Skilled Worker applicants) and Undefined CoS (for in-country switches and most other routes) are issued through the SMS. See Defined vs Undefined CoS for the difference.
Report changes about sponsored workers. Salary, job title, SOC code, working hours, work location, unauthorised absence over 10 working days, and the worker leaving employment all have specific deadlines. The detail and timings are in our reporting deadlines guide.
Manage the sponsor licence. Address changes, key personnel changes, ownership changes, additional CoS allocation requests, and the licence renewal itself.

What the SMS does not do

The SMS is a record-of-actions portal, not a compliance system. It does not:

Calculate or display upcoming deadlines.
Warn you about a missing right-to-work record or an expiring visa.
Send reminders for the 10 or 20 working-day reporting windows.
Hold the underlying evidence — payslips, contracts, RTW checks — that UKVI asks for at audit.

Every sponsor is therefore expected to maintain its own external system covering deadline tracking, evidence storage, and audit readiness. UKVI's published guidance is explicit that lack of an effective internal HR system is grounds for downgrade or revocation.

Common SMS failure modes

Sole Level 1 User leaves the business. Losing the only Level 1 User locks the sponsor out of CoS assignment and reporting. Always maintain at least two.
Personal email addresses on the account. If the named user leaves, the inbox goes with them — including the SMS reset link.
Late reports because no one was watching the deadline. The SMS itself does not flag overdue reports; UKVI sees them at the next audit.
Out-of-date Authorising Officer. If the named AO has left the organisation, every action taken under their authority is exposed at audit.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Sponsorship Management System?

The Sponsorship Management System (SMS) is the Home Office online portal at points.homeoffice.gov.uk that every UK sponsor licence holder must use to assign Certificates of Sponsorship, report changes about sponsored workers, and manage the sponsor licence itself. It is the only channel UKVI accepts for these duties — there is no email or postal alternative.

Who can log into the SMS?

Only the named Authorising Officer, Key Contact, and Level 1 / Level 2 Users on the sponsor licence can access the SMS. Each user has their own login. The Authorising Officer is ultimately responsible for everything done in the account, including actions taken by Level 2 Users.

What is the difference between a Level 1 User and a Level 2 User?

A Level 1 User has full access — assign CoS, add and remove users, submit reports, and renew the licence. At least one Level 1 User is mandatory at all times. A Level 2 User is restricted: they can assign CoS and submit some reports, but cannot manage users or change the licence itself.

What reports must be submitted through the SMS?

All sponsor reports go through the SMS: changes to a worker's salary, job title, SOC code, working hours or work location within 10 working days; unauthorised absences over 10 working days; a worker stopping employment within 20 working days; and changes to the sponsor organisation itself (address, ownership, key personnel) within 20 working days.

Is there an SMS mobile app?

No. The SMS is a browser-only portal and the interface has not materially changed in years. It does not send reminders, calculate deadlines, or warn you about missing records — every sponsor is expected to track its own duties externally.

What happens if no one in the organisation can access the SMS?

If the sole Level 1 User leaves, is locked out, or the account is suspended, the sponsor cannot assign CoS or submit reports. UKVI treats prolonged loss of access as a compliance failure. Add a second Level 1 User as soon as possible and never rely on a single named individual.