Right to Work in the UK

Before being able to start employment in the UK you will need to provide your employer with evidence of your right to work in the UK. This applies to everyone, regardless of whether you are a British national or in the UK with a visa.

How to prove right to work in the UK

How you prove you can work in the UK varies depending on:

• Your nationality
• What type of permission you have to work in the UK

Proving your right to work if you are a British or Irish Citizen

Irish Citizens have the same rights to work as British Citizens. You can prove this using either:

• British passport
• Irish passport
• Irish passport card

Your passport or passport card does not need to be valid, you are permitted to use an expired passport as evidence.

What if I do not have a passport?

If you are a British or Irish Citizen, then you can use the following instead of a passport:

• UK birth or adoption certificate
• Irish birth or adoption certificate
• Certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British Citizen

If you use one of these documents, you will also need to provide an official letter or document from a previous employer or government agency. The letter must show your full name and national insurance number.

How do I prove I can work in the UK if I have a visa?

If you are not a British or Irish citizen you will need to provide one of the following documents to prove your right to work:

• A right to work share code – you will need this even if your employer has sponsored you under a skilled worker visa
• A Biometric Residence Card or other Immigration document
• If you are a commonwealth citizen, you may be able to prove your right to work through the Windrush Scheme.

How does an employer do a employment check?

An employee can not start work until the employer has confirmed they are legally permitted to work in the UK. Failure to carry out the correct right to work checks could lead to a civil penalty for employing an illegal worker.

There are two ways to carry out a right to work check:

• If the employee has a share code you can check their right to work online
• If they do not have a share code, you can check their original documents

As an employer, you must accept either of the above, you can not refuse to accept an eligible immigration document instead of a share code.

What if you cannot prove your right to work?

If you are unable to prove your right to work using the above methods, your employer can use the employer checking service.