Dispute over existing powers
The Conservatives say allowing sanctioned individuals and businesses to retain sponsorship rights poses a national security risk. The government says the Home Office already has the authority to revoke their licenses.
A sanction targeting a company's particular activities does not necessarily make its possession of a sponsor license a sanctions violation. The amendment would require the Home Office to withdraw licenses from any sanctioned individual or company.
Shadow Security Minister Alicia Kearns accused Labour of leaving Britain's backdoor "open to immigration sponsored by our enemies". She said: "Sanctions are supposed to punish those who threaten our national security and undermine our interests. It is therefore utterly absurd that a company can be sanctioned by Britain and still bring in workers to our country."
Kearns pledged that the Conservatives would close the loophole and prevent sanctioned firms from Russia or elsewhere from bringing workers into Britain. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "It is ridiculous that we are handing out the right to bring foreign workers into Britain to companies that have been blacklisted by our Government."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "The power to revoke sponsorship from sanctioned companies already exists." The spokesperson added: "We will not hesitate to act to protect the integrity of the system. More broadly, we have taken robust action against Russia and Iran."
Four sanctioned firms appeared on July register
The Daily Mail first published the findings on July 14, 2026, following an investigation with an independent researcher and the Centre for Migration Control. They identified four sanctioned businesses on the July 3 Register of Licensed Sponsors (Workers): Russian airline Aeroflot, cryptocurrency platform Exmo Exchange, and Iranian banks Melli and Persia International.
All four held an "A" compliance rating. That status permitted them to issue certificates of sponsorship that workers could use to apply through routes including skilled worker and health and care worker visas. Aeroflot and Exmo Exchange have since disappeared from the sponsor list.
According to the Daily Mail, Aeroflot is Kremlin-owned, and the UK Sanctions List describes it as "obtaining a benefit from and supporting the Government of Russia". Exmo Exchange's entry cites "reasonable grounds" to believe it supports the Kremlin through financial services, resources or technology provided to a person doing business in a sector of strategic significance to the Russian government.
The two Iranian banks were sanctioned in September 2025 under the UK's Iran (Sanctions) (Nuclear) scheme. They were alleged to have contributed to the proliferation or development of nuclear weapons in Iran or for use there.
Both banks had sponsored workers before those sanctions were imposed. The government told the Daily Mail that neither had sponsored any worker visas since being sanctioned. Whether workers they previously sponsored remain in the UK is unclear.
Other Russia-linked businesses
The Daily Mail also identified Chelsea Digital Ventures Ltd on the sponsor list. Companies House records named sanctioned former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich as a "person with significant control" and sanctioned oligarch Eugene Tenenbaum as an active director.
Another listed business, Russia-linked Curzon Square Ltd, retained an "A" rating despite having been sanctioned in April 2023, the newspaper reported.
A separate investigation found that UK subsidiaries of sanctioned Russian companies could still sponsor Russian nationals to enter Britain.
Sanctions and wider visa enforcement
Defending the government's sanctions record, the Home Office spokesperson said: "The UK has now sanctioned over 3,500 individuals, businesses, and ships under the Russia sanctions regime, as well as sanctioning more than 550 individuals and entities under the Iran sanctions regimes, including the IRGC in its entirety."
Separately, the Daily Mail reported in mid-July 2026 that the UK planned to ban Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under new powers being fast-tracked through Parliament. The proposals would designate the IRGC a national security threat, with members facing life imprisonment. The planned bans also covered the Iranian group Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right and Russia's GRU military intelligence volunteer corps.
On broader sponsor enforcement, Home Office migration transparency data released in August 2026 recorded 4,840 Skilled Worker sponsor license suspensions and 4,403 revocations between July 2025 and June 2026. The Work Rights Centre, which reported the figures, said the revocation total was the highest for any 12-month period since the UK adopted an employer-sponsored visa system in 2020.
