How to prove you have the right to work in the UK
Settled workers
Settled workers are those who have Indefinite Leave to Remain (a visa with no end date) or for other reasons do not have restrictions on their stay in the UK.
If you are not subject to immigration control, or have no restrictions on your stay in the UK, you should be able to produce a document, or a specified combination of documents, from List A (List of acceptable documents). This will ensure that the requirements of the Act are met for the duration of your employment. The most convenient way of satisfying the requirements of the Act is to bring a valid passport.
Please note that if you have an endorsement to show that you are exempt from immigration control, this must be in a current passport. We are unable to accept endorsements in expired passports (See list A). For details of how to transfer your endorsement to a new passport, click here: https://www.gov.uk/transfer-visa.
If you have a time-limited visa
If your leave to enter or remain in the UK is time-limited, you must provide the document or documents specified in List B (List of acceptable documents). This will normally be a sharecode which can be obtained here. It will be necessary for the University to conduct follow up checks before your permission to work in the UK expires.
In the event that you are unable to produce document(s) which satisfy the requirements by your first day of employment, then it will be necessary to ask you to leave work and/or to delay your start date. If you continue to fail to meet the requirements, the University must withdraw the offer of employment.
What the University will check for
The Act requires the University to check the validity of the document(s) and satisfy itself that the employee is the person named in the documents they present and that the document(s) allow them to do the work in question.
This includes checking:
- any photographs contained in the documentation are consistent with the appearance of the employee;
- the consistency of dates of birth across documents and;
- expiry dates of any limited leave to enter or remain in the UK have not passed
If you present documents which have different names, you will be asked for a further document (eg marriage certificate, divorce decree, deed poll document or statutory declaration) to explain the reason for this.
The Act also requires the University to make a copy of the relevant page(s) of the document(s) and to retain a copy for the duration of your employment and for a further two years after your employment has ceased.
When to provide your documents
You should provide a copy of your original right to work documents, plus photocopies, if you are attending an interview in person.
If you are not attending an interview in person, you will be required to provide a scanned copy of your documents and/or sharecode. Depending on the document provided, your right to work check will either be completed online or in person.
You must provide evidence of your right to work in the UK before your start date
The offer of employment is subject to the University receiving evidence of your right to work in the UK before you start work. If you have not presented your documents by your first day, you will be asked to leave work until you can present the necessary documents.