Eligibility to Work in the UK
Introduction
Every employer has an obligation under the Immigration Act to ensure that checks are implemented to ascertain an individual's right to work in the United Kingdom prior to commencement of employment. From 1st October 2026, the Right to Work Scheme applies to a wider range of working arrangements, including individuals engaged under contracts of employment, certain worker contracts, individual subcontractors and certain individuals providing services through online matching services.
The Company must ensure that the appropriate right to work check is completed before an individual commences work or provides services where the arrangement falls within the Right to Work Scheme.
Checks must be carried out consistently and fairly. The Company must not make assumptions about an individual's right to work based on their race, nationality, ethnic or national origins, accent, surname or perceived immigration status.
Useful links: these links will provide further information and guidance.
employers’ ‘Right to Work Checklist’ to ensure you have correctly carried out all the steps you need to; or
online interactive tool ‘Check if someone can work in the UK’, which will take employers through the process by asking a series of questions.
latest government guidance.
The latest Home Office guidance should always be consulted when carrying out a check, as requirements and acceptable evidence may change.
These documents will help to confirm that the employer has undertaken each step correctly to establish your statutory excuse.
The Law
The Right to Work Scheme is principally governed by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, as amended, together with the Immigration Act 1971 and Immigration Act 2016.
It is a criminal offence for an employer to employ an individual aged 16 or over where the employer knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, that the individual does not have permission to undertake the work in question.
Where illegal working occurs and the prescribed checks have not been correctly completed, the Company may face a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker. In serious cases, knowingly employing an illegal worker can result in up to five years' imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine, together with other sanctions including loss of a sponsor licence, director disqualification or business closure.
The Company must also comply with the Equality Act 2010 and must not discriminate unlawfully when carrying out right to work checks.
Procedure
The Company must conduct a right to work check before employing a person to ensure they are legally allowed to do the work in question. If an individual’s right to work is time limited, you must conduct a follow-up check shortly before it is due to come to an end.
There are 3 ways to check eligibility:
1. Home Office Online Right to Work Check
Best for: individuals who hold an eVisa or other digital immigration status and can provide a Home Office share code.The Steps:
The individual obtains a right to work share code (a 9-digit code) online and provides this, together with their date of birth, to the Company.
The Company enters the information into the official GOV.UK employer view right to work service.
The Company checks that the service confirms the individual has the right to work and is permitted to undertake the work being offered.
The Company must satisfy itself that the photograph displayed by the service is of the individual presenting themselves for work.
The Company retains evidence of the Home Office check securely.
Can you use video? Yes. The individual's identity can be verified against the photograph during a live video call where appropriate however the online check cannot be viewed via a video call.
The Company must retain a PDF or HTML copy of the Home Office profile page showing the individual's right to work and the date the check was undertaken to obtain their statutory excuse against illegal working.
2. Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (RtW DVSP)
Best for: eligible individuals and documents that can be checked using a registered digital verification service.
The Steps:
The Company selects a RtW DVSP registered on the appropriate government register and authorised to provide right to work checks.
The individual provides the required identity/document information to the RtW DVSP.
3The RtW DVSP conducts the prescribed digital verification and provides the Company with the result of the check.
The Company reviews the result and satisfies itself that the person presenting for work is the person to whom the check relates.
The Company retains the required evidence of the check securely.
A RtW DVSP may, depending upon the service it provides and the documents available digitally, carry out checks including eligible British and Irish passports/passport cards and other permitted digital documents.
The Company remains responsible for ensuring that the prescribed right to work requirements have been met. Using a RtW DVSP does not automatically transfer responsibility to the provider.
An individual must not be treated less favourably because they cannot, or do not wish to, use a digital verification service where another prescribed method is available.
Can you use video? Yes. You can verify their face matches the RtW DVSP report via a live video call.
3. Manual Document Check
Best for: individuals who hold acceptable original documents contained within the current Home Office List A or List B and where a manual check is permitted.
The Steps:
Obtain the individual's original acceptable documents.
Have physical possession of the original documents and check them for validity and authenticity.
Check that the documents belong to the person presenting themselves for work.
Make and retain clear copies in the prescribed format and record the date on which the check was undertaken.
Can you use video? No, not for inspection of the original physical documents. The Company must have physical possession of the original documents when completing the prescribed manual document check. Scanned or emailed copies do not replace the original documents, except where current Home Office guidance expressly permits particular evidence to be provided digitally.
Conducting a Manual Document-Based Right to Work Check
There are three steps to conducting a manual document-based right to work check. You need to complete all three steps before employment commences to ensure you have conducted a check in the prescribed manner, in order to establish a statutory excuse.
Step 1 – Obtain.
You must obtain original documents from either List A or List B of acceptable documents (for a list of current documents - as these can change - visit the government guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checklist/employers-right-to-work-checklist-accessible-version).
Step 2 - Check
You are required to satisfy yourself that the prospective employee is the rightful holder of the documents presented and must check that:
photographs and dates of birth are consistent across documents and with the person’s appearance in order to detect impersonation;
expiry dates for permission to be in the UK have not passed;
any work restrictions to determine if they are allowed to do the type of work on offer (for students who have limited permission to work during term-times, you must also obtain, copy and retain details of their academic term and vacation times covering the duration of their period of study in the UK for which they will be employed);
the documents are genuine, have not been tampered with and belong to the holder; and
the reasons for any difference in names across documents can be explained by providing evidence (e.g. original marriage certificate, divorce decree absolute, deed poll). These supporting documents must also be photocopied and a copy retained.
Step 3 – Copy
Finally, you must make a clear photocopy of each document in a format which cannot manually be altered and retain the copy securely either electronically or in hardcopy.
You must also retain a secure record of the date on which you made the check. Simply writing a date on the copy document does not, in itself, confirm that this is the actual date when the check was undertaken. If you write a date on the copy document, you must also record that this is the date on which you conducted the check. The date may be written on the document copy as follows: ‘the date on which this right to work check was made;[Insert date]’.
You must copy and retain copies of:-
Passports: any page with the document expiry date, the holder’s nationality, date of birth, signature, immigration permission, expiry date, biometric details, photograph and any page containing information indicating the holder has an entitlement to enter or remain in the UK (visa or entry stamp) and undertake the work in question (the front cover no longer has to be copied).
All other documents: the document in full, including both sides of an Immigration Status Document and an Application Registration Card.
All copies of documents taken should be kept securely for the duration of the employees’ employment and for two years afterwards. The copy must then be securely destroyed.
The Home Office recommend using their:-
employers’ ‘Right to Work Checklist’ to ensure you have correctly carried out all the steps you need to; or
online interactive tool ‘Check if someone can work in the UK’, which will take employers through the process by asking a series of questions. Both will help to confirm that the employer has undertaken each step correctly to establish your statutory excuse.
Both will help you to confirm that you have undertaken each step correctly to establish your statutory excuse.
Workers, Subcontractors and Other Working Arrangements from 1 October 2026
From 1 October 2026, the Right to Work Scheme has a wider scope. The Company must therefore consider the nature of the working arrangement rather than assuming that right to work checks are required only for conventional employees.
Further information on this can be found here.
When to conduct follow up checks?
You need to recheck the right to work of those individuals who have time-limited permission to work in the UK if they are going to continue working for you after their current permission expires.
Where your employee has time-limited permission to work in the UK, a follow-up check should take place on, or before, the date their permission comes to an end. The follow-up check is designed to prevent people from overstaying their immigration leave where this is time limited.
If an employee is unable to provide you will a share code to evidence that they have continuing permission to work, you should contact the Employers Checking Service, who can confirm the right to work of an individual who has an outstanding application.
A person’s application for further immigration permission to stay in the UK must be made before their existing permission expires for it to be deemed ‘in-time’. If they do this, any existing right to work will continue until that in-time application has been determined. In such circumstances, a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service would demonstrate your statutory excuse for six months from the date of the Notice. If you receive a Negative Verification Notice in response to your verification request, you will no longer have a statutory excuse and you will be liable for a civil penalty if the person is not permitted to work in the UK. You may also be convicted of the offence of employing an illegal worker.