Right to Work Documents List: Complete UK Employer Reference

The right to work documents list looks longer than it needs to. The reason: each document does not just prove right to work — it also defines what your follow-up obligation looks like for the next 12 to 18 months.

A passport is not just "passport". A British passport is List A, no follow-ups, done. A passport with a current visa is List B Group 1, follow-up before expiry. A Certificate of Application is List B Group 2, follow-up every 6 months from the verification notice. Same employee, same job, three completely different ongoing obligations depending on which document was presented at hire.

This guide is the reference: the documents you can accept, which list they fall under, and what each one means for the rest of your compliance cycle.

This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, consult a qualified immigration solicitor.

How the lists work

The official document lists come from the Home Office right to work checklist and are mirrored in the employer's guide to right to work checks. Two top-level groupings:

• List A — permanent right to work. One initial check covers the entire employment. No follow-up obligation.
• List B — time-limited right to work. Initial check now, follow-up later. Group 1 = before expiry. Group 2 = every 6 months.

A check is only compliant if you have accepted documents from one of these lists, in the prescribed combinations, and recorded them correctly. Anything else — a driving licence on its own, a P60, a bank statement — does not give you a statutory excuse, no matter how convincing it looks.

List A — permanent right to work

If an employee presents a List A document at the initial check, you have a continuous statutory excuse for the duration of their employment. No follow-up check is required.

The List A documents currently accepted (per the June 2025 employer's guide):

1. A UK passport (current or expired). Both sides of any photo page or relevant endorsement should be copied.
2. An Irish passport or passport card (current or expired).
3. A document issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the Isle of Man confirming the holder has been granted unlimited leave to enter or remain.
4. A current document issued by the Home Office to a family member of an EEA or Swiss national, indicating that the holder is permitted to stay in the UK indefinitely.
5. A current Biometric Residence Card or Permit issued by the Home Office to the holder showing indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK. (Note: physical BRPs expired 31 December 2024; current indefinite-leave holders should be on an eVisa — see our eVisa guide for the digital equivalent.)
6. A current passport endorsed to show that the holder is exempt from immigration control, has the right of abode, indefinite leave, no time limit on their stay, or has been granted settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
7. A current Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating indefinite leave, plus an official document giving the person's permanent National Insurance number and name (e.g. P60, P45, NI card from a government agency).
8. A birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK plus an official document giving the person's permanent National Insurance number and name.
9. A birth or adoption certificate issued in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Ireland plus an official document giving the person's permanent National Insurance number and name.
10. A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen plus an official document giving the person's permanent National Insurance number and name.

The key compliance point for List A: check the document's authenticity, photograph the person against the photo on the document, copy and date everything, and file it. After that, you are done — the same record covers a five-year tenure as a one-year tenure.

List B Group 1 — time-limited, expiry-driven follow-up

If an employee presents a List B Group 1 document, your statutory excuse runs until the date on the document. To extend it, you have to run a follow-up check before expiry.

List B Group 1 documents:

1. A current passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is allowed to do the work in question.
2. A current Biometric Residence Card or Permit issued by the Home Office, showing the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is allowed to do the work in question. (Again, physical BRPs expired end of 2024; expect to verify equivalent permission via eVisa share code in practice.)
3. A current document issued by the Home Office to a family member of an EEA or Swiss national, indicating the holder is permitted to stay in the UK for a time-limited period and is allowed to do the work in question.
4. A current Immigration Status Document containing a photograph issued by the Home Office to the holder with a valid endorsement indicating that the holder may stay in the UK and is allowed to do the work in question, plus an official document giving the person's permanent National Insurance number and name.

For each Group 1 document, you must record:

• The expiry date shown on the document
• The conditions on the work (any restriction on type of work, hours, or sponsor)
• The date you carried out the check
• A clear copy of all relevant pages

Your next action — visa expiry tracking — flows directly from the recorded expiry date. Our visa expiry dates guide walks through the practical tracking system. The follow-up check itself uses the same prescribed mechanics as the initial check; the difference is timing — see follow-up right to work checks.

List B Group 2 — pending application, 6-month cycle

List B Group 2 covers situations where the employee's substantive immigration position is unresolved — they have applied, appealed, or hold a recognised pending status. You can still employ them, but the follow-up cycle is different.

List B Group 2 documents:

1. A Certificate of Application issued by the Home Office under the EU Settlement Scheme, to a family member of an EEA or Swiss national, stating that the holder is permitted to take the employment in question, when produced in combination with a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service.
2. An Application Registration Card issued by the Home Office stating that the holder is permitted to take the employment in question, when produced in combination with a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service.
3. A Positive Verification Notice issued by the Employer Checking Service to the employer or prospective employer, which indicates that the named person may stay in the UK and is permitted to do the work in question.

The pattern is consistent across all three: the document on its own is not enough; it must be combined with a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service (ECS) stating that the holder is allowed to do the work.

A Positive Verification Notice issued in this context gives a statutory excuse that lasts 6 months from the date of the notice. Before the 6 months are up, you contact the ECS again. Each fresh Positive Notice resets the cycle.

This is the most under-tracked combination in small businesses, because nothing visibly "expires" — the document itself does not have an expiry date in the same way a visa does. The 6-month clock runs in the background, and missing it has the same legal effect as missing a visa expiry: no statutory excuse from the date the notice runs out.

Online checks via share code (digital equivalent of a List B document)

For most current visa holders, the practical "document" is the digital status — an eVisa, EU Settlement Scheme status, or other Home Office account record. You verify it via a share code through the view a job applicant's right to work details service.

The share-code result page tells you whether the right to work is permanent (List A equivalent) or time-limited (List B equivalent), and shows the expiry date if applicable. A successful online check produces an excuse equivalent to checking the underlying document in person — see our share-code check guide for the step-by-step process.

For the British and Irish citizens you employ, online checks via Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) through a registered Identity Service Provider (IDSP) give a similar statutory excuse — but the document still needs to be a UK or Irish passport (List A).

What is not on the lists

It is as important to know what does not give you a statutory excuse as what does. The following — though they often turn up in hire-pack collections — are not acceptable on their own:

• A driving licence (UK or otherwise)
• A National Insurance number card from HMRC (acceptable only as the second part of a List A combination — never on its own)
• A P60 or P45 (acceptable only as the second part of a List A combination)
• A bank statement
• A utility bill
• A photocopy of a passport without the original being verified in person or via the online service
• An expired visa or BRP (an expired vignette has no value in proving current right to work — verify the live status digitally instead)
• A "letter from a solicitor" or other professional confirming right to work

Accepting any of these, on their own, gives you nothing — no statutory excuse, no defence. If the employee turns out not to have the right to work, you face the full civil penalty under Section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

Quick reference table

List	Group	Examples	Follow-up obligation
List A	—	UK / Irish passport, indefinite leave, settled status	None — one check covers the employment
List B	Group 1	Visa-endorsed passport, time-limited eVisa	Before the expiry date on the document
List B	Group 2	Certificate of Application, Application Registration Card, Positive Verification Notice	Every 6 months from the latest Positive Verification Notice

For an employee-by-employee view of the documents themselves, our document checker tool lets you enter a document type and see exactly which list it falls under and what the resulting obligation is.

For the operating process around these documents — how to check, how to record, and how to keep your statutory excuse intact — see the employer's guide to ongoing right to work compliance and the right to work checklist template.

The right document at hire is the start of the compliance process, not the end of it. Get the list right at the start, and every follow-up after that becomes a 10-minute task instead of a £45,000 risk.

Sources

• Employer's guide to right to work checks (26 June 2025) — GOV.UK
• Right to work checklist — GOV.UK
• Employer Checking Service — GOV.UK
• View a job applicant's right to work details — GOV.UK
• Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, Section 15 — legislation.gov.uk