How long is the Sponsorship Licence valid for???

[jyjennysong]

Okay this might be a silly question but I cannot find a simple answer for this ANYWHERE.

My company had applied for the Sponsorship licence and got registered in August 2009. (paid 300quid)
Back then it was solely as a backup purpose in case my PSW application goes wrong somehow, but I did get PSW in the end. So my company never got to use the licence as I am the only foreign employee.
I can still see our company on the list of registered companies.

Now that my PSW deadline is due (Sept), I am preparing to apply for Tier 2, and I've asked my secretary to check the validity of the licence. She's very new to the whole visa system as we hardly hire any immigrants.
She said, the Sponsorship Management system indicates that the licence has already expired back in March...and she clicked on a 'renew' button.

Since I cannot log into the darn system myself, I don't know what exactly she means by this, and she's on holiday so I don't want to bug her too much...and there's only little I can know without logging into the system!

So what does this mean? Does it mean we need to get the licence again, pay 300quid?

Or is the licence still valid, then she can simply ay 170pounds and just issue the COS for me? (Which I have heard is instantly done through the management system)

Please someone help me - the guidance given by the official website is so shit, it doesn't give you clear instructions or answers...just bunch of links that doesn't even work.

[arsenal49]

A) you need to renew the sponsor's license,
B) once renewed, your sponsor will be able to issue one, provided that UKBA gives your sponsor a COS(interim limit and all that bull!)

You should have done that before 19 july really as it is a bit iffy nowadays

all the best

[jyjennysong]

Thank you arsenal49,

Could you tell me where you got those information?
I'd like to know why on some websites it says the licence is valid for 4yrs, and this is different from what you're saying.
I'd also like to kno where it says such thing, so that I can show it to my practice secretary to explain.

This is really too much for me! Might need to start looking for a job abroad!