Business Immigration Update 2026 –27 Online Conference

Date: 17 November 2026
Time: 2 PM – 5.15 PM (includes tea break)

Business immigration continues to move at remarkable speed.

Employers are having to deal simultaneously with tighter sponsorship requirements, changing right to work rules, greater compliance scrutiny and difficult questions about who they can recruit — and what happens when the circumstances of an existing sponsored worker change.

This live and recorded online conference brings together leading business immigration specialists to examine the most important developments affecting employers and their advisers in 2026, and to look ahead at the direction of immigration policy.

The emphasis throughout will be on the practical consequences for employers, HR teams and professional advisers: what organisations need to do now, where the compliance risks lie and how changes in government policy may affect workforce planning and recruitment.

The conference will be streamed live online to your desktop, tablet or smartphone, so you can participate wherever you are.

Delegates will be able to submit questions to the speakers, and everyone who registers will receive the full recording and conference materials after the event, allowing you to revisit individual sessions or catch up afterwards.

Prices

£249 + VAT per organisation

This is a per-organisation price, allowing up to 20 additional delegates from the same organisation to participate at no extra cost, even if they are joining from different locations.

For example, if 10 colleagues attend, the cost per delegate is just £24.90 + VAT each.

Special rate for smaller firms:

Law firms with four or fewer partners and sole practitioners can book a single place for £99 + VAT.

Conference Topics

Workforce Strategy, the Future of Skills and the Immigration Policy Space

How should employers think about workforce planning when immigration policy, domestic skills policy and recruitment pressures are increasingly interconnected?

This session will consider the wider policy environment and what it may mean for employers seeking to plan their future workforce.

Responding to Civil Penalties Against a Background of Expanded Right to Work Checks

Civil penalties can have serious financial and reputational consequences for employers.

This session will look at the practical issues arising when an employer is faced with a civil penalty and the importance of effective right to work procedures against a background of expanding compliance obligations.

Sponsor Licence Compliance – What Is UKVI Looking For Now?

For employers holding a sponsor licence, compliance cannot simply be considered at the point of application.

What is UKVI currently focusing on? Where are employers most likely to encounter difficulties? And what steps can sponsors take to reduce the risk of compliance action?

The Next Phase of UK Immigration Policy: What the Burnham Government Could Mean for Employers

A forward-looking examination of how a change in government and immigration policy could affect employers.

What might change in relation to recruitment, sponsorship and workforce planning — and what should employers and their advisers be watching?

Skilled Worker Sponsorship in 2026 – Who Can Employers Still Recruit?

Changes to the Skilled Worker route have made recruitment decisions increasingly difficult for employers.

This session will examine the current position and the practical question facing organisations:

Who can employers still recruit through the sponsorship system in 2026?

October Right to Work Changes

A focused update on the October changes to right to work requirements and what employers need to do to ensure that their recruitment and checking procedures remain compliant.

When a Sponsored Worker’s Employment Changes

Sponsorship obligations do not end when the employee starts work.

What happens when a sponsored worker is:

• Promoted?
• Given a pay rise or reduction?
• Working different hours?
• Moved to another location?
• Given substantially different duties?

And what are the immigration consequences when employment ends?

This session will also examine:

Redundancies, dismissals and sponsored workers — the immigration consequences

and the practical obligations arising when a sponsored worker’s employment changes or comes to an end.

Speakers

• Raj Mann, Fragomen
• Robert Houchill, Doughty Street Chambers
• Joe Middleton KC, Doughty Street Chambers
• Shuyeb Muquit, Fragomen
• James Lamont, Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law
• James Clark, Laura Devine Immigration

Who Should Attend?

This conference will be particularly useful for:

• Business immigration solicitors and barristers
• Employment lawyers
• In-house legal teams
• HR directors and HR professionals
• Global mobility professionals
• Recruitment and workforce-planning teams
• Sponsor licence holders
• Compliance professionals
• Employers recruiting workers from overseas
• Professional advisers to businesses employing sponsored workers

Learning Outcomes

By taking part in this conference, delegates will:

• Gain an up-to-date understanding of the principal business immigration developments affecting employers in 2026.
• Consider the relationship between immigration policy, skills policy and workforce strategy.
• Understand the practical implications of expanded right to work checking requirements.
• Identify the steps employers should consider when faced with a civil penalty.
• Understand the areas currently attracting attention in UKVI sponsor licence compliance.
• Consider how future immigration policy could affect recruitment and workforce planning.
• Review the current scope of the Skilled Worker sponsorship route and the implications for employer recruitment.
• Understand the practical consequences of the October right to work changes.
• Identify when changes to a sponsored worker’s pay, hours, location, role or duties may have immigration consequences.
• Understand the issues arising when a sponsored worker is made redundant or dismissed.
• Be better able to advise employers on managing sponsorship and immigration compliance throughout the employment relationship.

Can't Attend Live?

Every booking includes access to the full conference recording and conference materials, so you and your colleagues can watch the sessions afterwards at a time that suits you.

A certificate of attendance is available on request.

If you would like several colleagues to attend but do not yet know all their names, simply book with the delegates you do know and add the others later.

Important Notes about Booking

Please ensure that colleagues' email addresses are entered correctly when booking, as an incorrect email address may mean that they do not receive joining instructions.

Payment can be made by credit or debit card, or alternatively by invoice. The option to pay by invoice appears below the card-payment option in the booking form.

If you do not yet have the complete list of delegates attending, you can book those you know now and add the others at a later date.

The Legal Training Consultancy

The Legal Training Consultancy is a full-service training consultancy with a large portfolio of conferences, courses and trainers.

Over the years, we have been responsible for putting together a vast number of law, tax and management-related conferences, webinars, seminars, videos and e-learning modules — substantially more than 2,200 in total.

Over 24% of all law firms in the UK have attended our events.