Right to work checks: what employers need to know

British and Irish citizens have the right to work in the UK. So do people with the right of abode or indefinite leave to remain (also known as settlement).

EEA nationals and their family members who have been granted a status under the EU Settlement Scheme also have the right to work.
Almost everyone else needs a visa to be able to work. There are dozens of types of visas, all with different rules on working. For instance, a Partner/Spouse visa allows the person to work. A Skilled Worker visa allows the person to work but only for a specified employer. A Student visa restricts the person’s hours of work. A Visitor visa prohibits work except in very limited circumstances.

A right to work check is a check carried out by an employer on a prospective or existing relevant worker’s documents or digital immigration status.

The aim is to find out if the person is allowed to work in the UK and to do the job in question.

If the person can produce the right documents it’s very likely that they do have the right to work. But it’s a blunt instrument. There are many people living in the UK who have the right to work but don’t have the right documents. Some people have the right documents but don’t in fact have the right to work.

The Home Office likes to say that employers must carry out right to work checks. That’s not true, in the sense that it isn’t a legal requirement. So why bother?

For employers, the main reason to carry out a right to work check is to reduce the risk of receiving a civil penalty for engaging an illegal worker. And if the employer has a sponsor licence they have to carry out right to work checks or they risk losing their licence.

Civil penalties

Employers who are caught engaging a foreign national without the right type of visa can be given a civil penalty – a fine of up to £60,000.

Carrying out right to work checks reduces the risk of this happening. If it does happen – for instance if a person’s visa is cancelled without the employer’s knowledge and the Home Office finds out that the person is still working – the employer will have a statutory excuse (a defence) against a civil penalty if they can show that they carried out a right to work check on the worker.

Losing a sponsor licence

If the employer has a sponsor licence and the Home Office finds out that the employer isn’t carrying out right to work checks properly it will take steps to revoke the sponsor licence.

There are other reasons for carrying out right to work checks. Employers don’t want to be faced with a worker who suddenly has to leave the UK because of visa problems. In serious cases employers can be prosecuted and be given a prison sentence, although that is extremely rare.

It’s not enough to have a copy of the person’s passport and visa on file.

The check has to be done in the way specified by the Home Office and at the right time to count as a valid right to work check.

An incomplete or late check is better than nothing but it won’t protect an employer from a civil penalty so it’s important to get it right.

Employers will always be responsible for carrying out right to work checks and liable for any civil penalty. However, the Home Office employer guidance on right to work checks specifies that from 1 October 2026 the responsibility for carrying out checks may be delegated to “individuals or members of staff acting on behalf of the employer, including workers, agency workers, or others working under the employer’s control, direction and who are accountable to the employer.” If the check is not carried out properly the employer will remain liable for a civil penalty.

Before 1 October 2026 only employees needed to be checked. Since 1 October 2026, the Home Office has expanded right to work checks to non-employees and created the concept of right to work checks in both direct contractual relationships and indirect contractual relationships.

DIRECT CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS

As well as employees, employers have to check the right to work of people working under a worker’s contract, independent contractors and individuals through an online matching service. We refer throughout this guide to these people who need to be checked as “relevant workers”. We also refer to you as an “employer” for ease of reference, even though you may not be employing the relevant worker under a contract of employment.

Right to work checks should be carried out on all prospective relevant workers (and follow-up checks where required for employees recruited before 1 October 2026 and all other relevant workers first engaged after that date) regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

Agency workers (people engaged through an employment agency) do not have to be checked for the purpose of obtaining a statutory excuse.

It has always been the case that sponsored workers always have to be checked by the sponsor, even if they are not employees.

INDIRECT CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS

This guide focuses on employers carrying out right to work checks in direct contractual relationships. The information below on the types of checks and how to carry them out are for direct contractual relationships.

From 1 October 2026 you also need to be aware of the need for right to work checks in indirect contractual relationships. See the section below on “Right to work checks in indirect contractual relationships” for more information.

Pre-work checks

A right to work check has to be carried out before a relevant worker starts work.

If the person is already engaged by you (the UK employer) outside the UK the check must be carried out before the person starts work in the UK.

If possible the check should be carried out at least one day before the person starts work. If this isn’t practical it can be done first thing on the person’s first day of work.

If the check is carried out later it won’t be a valid check. This can’t be fixed retrospectively. If you want to do a right to work check on an original document on a new relevant worker’s first day and the person forgets to bring the document there is a problem. You have to decide whether to take the risk of letting the person start work on condition that they bring it for checking the next day – in which case it won’t be a valid right to work check – or to send the person home and delay their work by one day.

Follow-up checks

The pre-work check is the only check needed if the person is a British or Irish citizen or if they produce the necessary evidence of their right of abode, indefinite leave to remain or pre-settled status from the EU Settlement Scheme. This is because for these people only one check is needed to give the employer a continuous statutory excuse (a permanent defence) against a civil penalty. No follow-up check is needed.

If a relevant worker has a visa with a time limit you need to carry out a follow-up check before the visa expires if you want to continue engaging them (but see below about the 28-day grace period if you are using the Employer Checking Service).

There are four types of right to work check:

1. an online check
2. an original document check (also known as a manual check)
3. a check using a registered Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (RtW DVSP)
4. a check using the Home Office’s Employer Checking Service

The appropriate type of check depends on the situation. The most common situations are as follows:

If the person is a British or Irish citizen: original document check or RtW DVSP check

If the person is a British or Irish citizen you need to:

• carry out an original document check (usually on the person’s passport), or
• use a registered Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (RtW DVSP). The RtW DVSP must be registered for right to work checks with the Office for Digital Identities Attributes (OfDIA) register.

If the person has a digital immigration status: online check

If the person has a digital immigration status (eVisa) you need to carry out an online check.

If the person does not have an eVisa and has a pending Home Office application: Employer Checking Service

If the person does not have an eVisa and cannot show you a valid visa because they have applied in the UK to extend or change it and they are waiting for the Home Office to process the application you need to use the Employer Checking Service. The Employer Checking Service can also be used where there is a technical failure with the online right to work check system.

If the person has an eVisa and they’ve submitted an application using the ID Check app you can carry out an online right to work check instead. There is no need to use the Employer Checking Service.

1. The relevant worker (or prospective relevant worker) logs into the UK Visas and Immigration website here.
2. They use this to generate a share code which they give to you.
3. You enter the relevant worker’s share code and date of birth here.
4. You make sure that the profile page confirms that the person has the right to work.
5. You make sure that the photo on the profile page matches the person – so you must see the person, either in person or over video.
6. From 1 October 2026 you must ensure the correct employer name is recorded in full.
7. You save a pdf or HTML copy of the profile page and keep it for 2 years after the work ends. It is not sufficient to save a copy of the person’s own migrant‑facing eVisa account page.

Which document to check

See “Which type of check?” above for information about which document to check in the most common situations.

The full range of acceptable documents for a right to work check is contained in the Home Office’s An Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks, the Code of practice on preventing illegal working and the Right to Work Checklist.

Where official evidence of the person’s name and permanent National Insurance number issued by or on behalf of a government agency is presented, a digital version of this document may be accepted, provided it is used in combination with the appropriate document from the acceptable document lists.

How to carry out the check

1. The relevant worker (or prospective relevant worker) gives you the original document.
2. You check the document, making sure that it appears genuine and (if the document is a visa) indicates that the person has the right to work.
3. You make sure that the photo on the profile page matches the person – so you must see the person, either in person or over video. Alternatively a registered RtW DVSP could use digital facial recognition technology.
4. You make a copy of the document (physical or digital) together with a note stating “The date on which this right to work check was made is [insert date]”
5. You keep the copy for 2 years after the employment ends.

On 30 March 2020 the Home Office introduced temporary COVID-19 adjusted check measures. These measures allowed employers to carry out a right to work check over video when they would normally have had to carry out an original document check. The adjusted check measures ended on 30 September 2022.

Sometimes an online check or original document check cannot be carried out because the person’s current visa has expired. In some cases the person still has the right to work because they submitted an application for permission to stay to the Home Office before the expiry date, which means that their visa is automatically extended while the application is pending.

In this situation you need to use the Home Office’s Employer Checking Service.

Pre-work checks using the Employer Checking Service

If the person has not yet started work you need to fill in an online form on the Employer Checking Service website.

You need to enter details of the job and the person, including the person’s Home Office unique application number (a 16-digit number printed on the person’s Home Office application form).

Within five working days you should receive an email from the Home Office. If the email is accompanied by a document called a Positive Verification Notice you have a statutory excuse against a civil penalty for the next 6 months. The Positive Verification Notice must be received by you before the person starts work.

Before the Positive Verification Notice expires you should carry out an online check (if the person’s Home Office application has been approved) or apply for another Positive Verification Notice (if the person’s application is still pending).

Follow-up checks using the Employer Checking Service

If an existing relevant worker’s visa is about to expire and they have submitted an application for permission to stay which is unlikely to be approved before the visa expires, you will need to use the Employer Checking Service.

The process is the same as for a pre-work check using the Employer Checking Service, except that for existing relevant workers there is a 28-day grace period starting from the expiry of their visa. You must receive a Positive Verification Notice before the end of the grace period. In the meantime the relevant worker can continue to work.

For prospective relevant workers who are British or Irish citizens and have a passport (British passport, Irish passport or Irish passport card) you can, if you wish, use a registered Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (RtW DVSP) to help you with right to work checks.

The person’s passport (or Irish passport card) must be valid or have expired less than 6 months ago.

If use a RtW DVSP they must be registered for right to work checks with the Office for Digital Identities Attributes (OfDIA) register.

If you choose this option, the RtW DVSP uses Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to check the passport and verify that the prospective employee is the holder of the passport.

Using an RtW DVSP is an alternative to carrying out original document checks. It can be helpful if you have staff who work remotely.

RtW DVSPs charge for their services and their fees vary.

If from 1 October 2026 you procure a registered RtW DVSP’s services through an uncertified intermediary such as a referencing or screening agency, the intermediary must clearly identify the certified and registered RtW DVSP actually carrying out the check. The certification, registration or trust-marked status of any RtW DVSP must not be misrepresented.

If a registered RtW DVSP does not carry out the process correctly and it turns out that one of your relevant workers does not have the right to work you will not have a statutory excuse against a civil penalty.

How to carry out the check

If you use a registered RtW DVSP for a right to work check you have to take the following steps before the person’s work starts:

1. Ensure you use a RtW DVSP registered for right to work checks with the Office for Digital Identities Attributes (OfDIA) register
2. Obtain a document from the registered RtW DVSP detailing the outcome of the check.
3. Check that the photograph and biographic details (for example, date of birth) on the output from the registered RtW DVSP identity check are consistent with the prospective relevant worker – in other words that the prospective relevant worker is not an imposter. You could do this in person, on a video call or with facial recognition technology provided by the registered RtW DVSP. If the prospective relevant worker provides documents with names which do not match you must establish why this is. You must not allow the person to work unless you are satisfied that the documents relate to them. You will not have a statutory excuse against a civil penalty if it is reasonably apparent that the prospective relevant worker is not the individual linked to the identity which was verified by the registered RtW DVSP.

You need to keep this information for 2 years after the employment ends.

For detailed information about how to complete a right to work check using a registered RtW DVSP the “Conducting a right to work check using a RtW DVSP” section of the Home Office’s An employer’s guide to right to work checks.

The information above on the types of checks and how to carry them out is for direct contractual relationships.

From 1 October 2026 you also need to be aware of the need for right to work checks in indirect contractual relationships. The Home Office also refers to this as extended liability.

An entity in a supply chain could be held liable for a civil penalty even where they do not have a direct contractual relationship with the person who has been working illegally.

The Home Office employer’s guide to right to work checks specifies it is where the relevant contractual arrangement was entered into on or after 1 October 2026 that the new law will apply in relation to extended liability for a civil penalty.

The rules extend liability for a civil penalty in the following scenarios:

a) Supply chains. You have a contract to provide work/services to a third party. You contract another company to provide or arrange the work/services and that company provides an individual to carry out the work/services.

b) Online matching service. You are operating an online matching service, you match a service provider with a client/customer to provide work/services, and that service provider provides an individual to carry out the work/services.

c) Substitution. You have a contract with an individual to carry out work/services for you and the contract permits that individual to substitute a different individual to carry out the work/services in their place.

In these scenarios, you may be treated as the ‘employer’ of any individual who personally provides the work or services further down the supply chain – even though you do not have a direct contractual relationship with that individual. This means that if the individual does not have permission to do the work you could be liable for a civil penalty.

ESTABLISHING A STATUTORY EXCUSE IN INDIRECT CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS

In the above scenarios a) to c) an employer can establish a statutory excuse against a civil penalty if they comply with certain ‘prescribed requirements’. The requirements apply across an entire supply chain, not only to the first contract in a chain. The prescribed requirements relate to:

• Contractual terms and conditions (written statement). For scenarios a) and b) above (not c), to obtain a statutory excuse you must have a compliant written statement with terms of conditions in place before the work/service commences For example the company contracted with must conduct right to work checks on the individuals used to perform the contract.
• Substitution controls. For scenario c) above, an employer will only obtain a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty where they have implemented, before the work/service commences, processes ensuring that for example the employer (not the individual contractor) has carried out a right to work check on the substitute.
• Identity verification systems and processes. To establish a statutory excuse against liability for payment of a civil penalty, any entity in a chain of contracts must ensure that the individual carrying out the work/services is the same individual on whom a right to work check has been conducted.

For more detailed information on establishing a statutory excuse in indirect contractual relationships see the “Application to non-direct contractual relationships: extended liability” section of the Home Office’s An employer’s guide to right to work checks and question 10, of our FAQS on the expansion of right to work checks to non-employees.

There are special rules for right to work checks on international students who have a Student visa or a Tier 4 (General) visa.

Most students are allowed to work 20 hours a week during their university term-time, and full-time during vacations and after the end of their course.

If you want to employ a student you must carry out an online check. If you want to employ the student for more than 20 hours a week you also need to copy and keep evidence of the student’s term-times and vacations, for instance by taking a screenshot of the relevant page on the university’s website.

If the student will start a full-time permanent job while an application to switch from Student to Skilled Worker is pending, you should also keep:

• evidence of the employee’s university course end date (for instance a copy of their certificate of acceptance for studies); and
• evidence that the Skilled Worker application was submitted no more than 3 months before the course end date (for instance a copy of the submitted Skilled Worker application form).

Existing workers

EEA nationals (EU citizens and other EEA/Swiss nationals) who were living in the UK on or before 31 December 2020 had until 30 June 2021 to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

If you carried out a right to work check on an EEA national before 1 July 2021 you do not have to carry out another check. You are not required to find out whether they applied to the EU Settlement Scheme or what the outcome was.

If it comes to your attention that an EEA national who joined you before 1 July 2021 did not apply to the EU Settlement Scheme you should contact us for advice straightaway.

New recruits

If you want to recruit an EEA national you should a carry out a right to work check before they start work.

If the EEA national has a status under the EU Settlement Scheme or another eVisa (such as a Skilled Worker visa) you need to carry out an online check.

If the EEA national has a pending application under the EU Settlement Scheme (or for permission to stay under a different route) you need to carry out a check using the Home Office’s Employer Checking Service.

If you acquire staff from a relevant TUPE transfer you should undertake fresh right to work checks on them.  The Home Office recognises those checks may not be possible before the new employment commences.  There is a grace period of 60 days from the date of the transfer to carry out the checks.

The TUPE regulations do not apply to individuals engaged under a contract for services as workers. Where, on or after 1 October 2026, an employer enters into a new arrangement to engage such an individual following a change in the employer for whom they work, the new employer must conduct a right to work check before the work commences to establish a statutory excuse.

This is a complex area and so please contact us for immigration and employment advice.

Sometimes people who have the right to work can’t produce an acceptable document for a right to work check.

For instance, someone might have an indefinite leave to remain sticker in an expired passport. This is not acceptable for a right to work check because List A in An Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks says that it has to be in a current passport.

In these situations you need to decide whether to take the risk of allowing the person to start work without a valid right to work check or to delay until the person can provide an acceptable document or a share code for an online check. If in doubt seek legal advice.

Employers with a sponsor licence have to keep various documents and records on their sponsored workers to comply with their sponsor duties. These duties overlap with right to work checks but extend beyond them.

Licensed sponsors need to keep copies of the following documents for each sponsored worker:

• Evidence that the worker arrived in the UK during the validity of their current visa (only required if the sponsored worker was granted a visa outside the UK as opposed to permission to stay following an application made in the UK). If the worker’s passport was stamped on entry the employer must keep a copy of this. If the worker’s passport was not stamped (for instance because they have an eVisa or they used the e-passport gates) you need to see other evidence such as a travel ticket or boarding pass and keep a record of the date of entry.
• National insurance document. Employees who had a visa decision before 1 November 2024 may have a biometric residence permit (BRP).  There is no longer a requirement to keep a copy of the BRP for its own sake, but licensed sponsors need to keep a copy of a document showing the sponsored worker’s National Insurance number. In many cases this number was printed on the BRP, if the employee had one.  Alternatives to a BRP are a P60, P45, payslip, letter from HMRC or the National Insurance number may be shown in the result of an online right to work check.

It makes sense to ask for these documents before or at the same time as carrying out a right to work check.

As above, the right to work of sponsored workers has always needed to be checked by the sponsor, even if they are not employees.

Various other records need to be kept, such as a history of the worker’s contact details. For full details of the record-keeping duties for sponsors see Appendix D: guidance for sponsors on keeping documents.

These documents need to be kept for one year after the worker’s sponsorship has ended.