ICC Note: International Christian Concern has just learned that YWAM missionaries in England and Wales have confirmed the restoration of their visa sponsorship license. After an inspection by UKV&I in September 2014 that brought about many issues, the missionaries and their families faced the threat of deportation. YWAM hopes to meet with other Christian organizations and possibly government ministers to explain their difficulties and help avoid similar struggles in the future.

01/27/2015 United Kingdom (YWAM Harpenden) – Today, 27 January 2015, we learned that UKV&I has decided to formally reinstate Youth With A Mission’s Visa Sponsor Licence to that of a Grade A Sponsor. YWAM England & Wales has held a Grade A Visa Sponsor Licence for Tier 2 and Tier 5 visas since 2009 and has been regularly audited by the government’s Sponsor Management Unit (SMU) during the period since with no major issues ever being recorded.

We are extremely grateful for this positive outcome, but admit that we have had to learn several hard lessons about our internal processes and our approach to record keeping. We are already implementing important changes to these areas and will work with diligence to live up to the high expectation of the UKV&I.

During our last inspection, in September 2014, several issues were discovered during what turned out to be a tough audit. An action plan was immediately submitted and we believed that all of the issues raised had been successfully remedied.

Despite these best efforts, on 23rd December 2014 another government department, the Sponsor Compliance Unit (SCU) suspended our licence citing further additional breaches, some of which had not been previously communicated to YWAM via the SMU. After another round of extensive effort to address and allay these concerns, YWAM is delighted that the SCU have concurred and seen fit to reinstate our Grade A licence.

In addition, an opportunity may arise in the near future where we would be able to discuss our experiences directly with representatives of the UKV&I. We are delighted to receive this offer and welcome this opportunity, as we did in 2008, when YWAM acted as a Christian consultant to the government with regard to the then new and upcoming Points Based System. We felt heard and understood during that process, and believed that we had genuinely contributed to the largest redraft of visa law ever undertaken in the UK. We hope to once again contribute to a better understanding between the UKV&I and Christian organisations that hold a Visa Sponsor License.

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