Joanne Hennessy

A trusted go-to in immigration law, her expertise includes securing and maintaining sponsor licences; identifying appropriate immigration routes for employees and securing visas; right to work compliance and navigating the time-sensitive immigration actions triggered by mergers and acquisitions.

UK immigration law is jargon heavy and the implications of getting it wrong are wide-ranging. Jo particularly enjoys working closely with clients to demystify the UK’s complex immigration rules, enabling them to confidently and compliantly manage their immigration processes in a cost-effective manner. This includes compliance training; regular legal updates; conducting mock-compliance audits and providing bespoke immigration policies and procedures for client teams. Jo and her team provide Level 1 Support on sponsor licences, with enhanced sponsor compliance back-up.

Jurisdiction: Scotland

• Providing legal representative and level 1 support to a wide range of clients, enabling second-eyes oversight and support and handling administrative applications and sponsorship.
• Advising a professional services firm on the time-sensitive reports and applications required following multiple business acquisitions to ensure the central sponsor licence had an appropriate corporate and geographic footprint and the continued employment of vital sponsored migrants.
• Conducting compliance audit for global energy company, stress testing right to work and sponsorship compliance and subsequently supporting in implementation of more robust processes.
• Advising global employer on allegations of illegal working, supporting in cooperation with Home Office enforcement investigations and avoiding enforcement of civil penalties.
• Supporting global employer to identify most appropriate route for senior executives employed in group overseas to work in the UK and working with client to sponsor those individuals and secure their visas.