Most UK employers know they have to check right to work at hire. Far fewer realise that, for any employee with time-limited permission, the obligation continues — and the moment that obligation lapses, so does their statutory excuse. Here is what the follow-up check actually is, when it applies, and the small number of practical steps that keep your defence intact.

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

What the statutory excuse is — and how follow-ups protect it

The "statutory excuse" is the defence that protects an employer from a civil penalty under Section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. If you carried out the prescribed right to work checks at the right times and kept the right records, you have an excuse — and you cannot be fined, even if it later turns out the employee did not have the right to work.

For an employee whose documents prove permanent right to work (a UK or Irish passport, indefinite leave to remain), one check at hire is the entire process. The excuse runs continuously.

For an employee with time-limited permission — a visa, an eVisa, a Certificate of Application, a Positive Verification Notice — the excuse has an end date. To keep it, you have to run a follow-up check before that date. Miss it, and the excuse is gone. From that point on, every day you continue employing them is a day without a defence.

The Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working sets out the rules in detail. The maximum civil penalty under the current rates is £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and £60,000 per worker for a repeat breach within three years (rates effective from 13 February 2024 — see the Home Office penalties page). For a small business with three visa-holding staff, a missed follow-up cycle is an existential financial risk.

When a follow-up check is due

The follow-up rules depend on what document the employee originally presented. Two main groups apply:

List B Group 1 — time-limited document with an expiry date

Examples: a passport with a current visa endorsement, a status letter, an eVisa with a stated expiry date.

Follow-up due: before the expiry date on the document or eVisa.

If the employee provides a fresh document showing later permission (a renewed visa, an extended eVisa), your statutory excuse continues from the new check date. If they cannot provide evidence of ongoing right to work, you must act through the 28-day grace period process or end the employment.

List B Group 2 — pending application or appeal

Examples: a Certificate of Application from the EU Settlement Scheme, an Application Registration Card, a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service.

Follow-up due: every 6 months from the date of the Positive Verification Notice (or from the certificate date for EUSS Certificates of Application where applicable).

To run the follow-up, you contact the Employer Checking Service (ECS) with the employee's details. The Home Office will respond with either a Positive or a Negative Verification Notice. Each Positive Notice resets the 6-month clock.

The List A exception

Employees who present a List A document — a UK or Irish passport, a permanent residence document, indefinite leave to remain — have permanent right to work. No follow-up check is required. One initial check covers you for the duration of employment, including for British citizens (whom you must still check at hire).

Confusingly, this is also where many employers go wrong in the other direction: they assume "no follow-up needed" applies to anyone with a valid-looking document, missing that List B documents always carry a follow-up obligation.

What "compliant follow-up" actually looks like

A follow-up check follows the same prescribed mechanics as the initial check:

1. Obtain the evidence. Either the original physical document or — far more common since the BRP transition — a share code generated by the employee from their Home Office online account.
2. Verify it. For physical documents, you check the document is genuine, unchanged, and belongs to the person in front of you (in person or via live video link with the original held). For share codes, you use the online right to work checking service and view the result with the employee present.
3. Record it. Save a clear copy (or the online service confirmation), the date you carried out the check, and — for List B — the new expiry or next-follow-up date that the result generates.
4. Schedule the next one. Especially for Group 2 (6-month cycle) employees, set the next reminder before you close the file.

The mechanics are not new. The discipline of doing them on time, every time, for every relevant employee — that is the part where employers most often fail.

Why follow-ups are the most common failure point

In a small business, the initial check is concrete: there is a person in front of you on day one and a hire-pack to fill in. The follow-up is abstract — a date six or twelve months in the future, often during a busy period that has nothing to do with HR.

The most common failure modes we see in published Home Office enforcement summaries and immigration-law commentary:

• Visa expiry not recorded. Employer ran a compliant initial check but never wrote the expiry date anywhere actionable.
• Reminder set in the wrong calendar. A note on a personal phone calendar that gets lost when the device is replaced; a sticky note that was always going to fail.
• No clarity on who owns it. In an owner-managed business with 5–15 staff, RTW often has no named owner. Everybody assumed somebody else.
• Group 2 employees treated as Group 1. Six-monthly Positive Verification Notice cycles get forgotten because they don't feel like an "expiry" — there's no document expiring.
• Grace period misunderstood. The 28-day window is treated as a dismissal deadline rather than the period in which to verify status through the ECS — see our 28-day grace period guide for the actual procedure.

None of these is an exotic edge case. They are routine outcomes when a small employer runs RTW compliance on willpower instead of process.

How to keep your statutory excuse intact — a practical checklist

1. Maintain a register. For every employee, record the document type and list (A, B Group 1, B Group 2), the initial check date, and — for List B — the next follow-up due date. Our right to work checklist template gives you a starting structure.
2. Set the reminder when you do the initial check, not later. "I'll add it tomorrow" is the most common reason follow-ups get missed.
3. Use multiple reminders, not one. A 90-day, 30-day, and 7-day reminder is harder to ignore than a single notification on the day.
4. Review the register monthly. Ten minutes once a month — block the time, make it recurring. This is the single most-impactful step a micro-employer can take.
5. Do the check before the expiry, not after. A follow-up done the day after expiry has already broken your excuse. The 28-day grace period is for cases where an in-time application is pending, not a routine extension you forgot.
6. For Group 2 employees, calendar the 6-month cycle immediately. Each Positive Verification Notice you receive should generate the next follow-up reminder before you file it.
7. Document everything. Date, document type, check method, outcome. Keep records for the duration of employment plus 2 years after the employee leaves.

You can plan a full follow-up schedule for any employee using our follow-up check timeline calculator, and estimate your specific exposure if a check is missed using the penalty risk calculator.

What to do if you've already missed one

If you realise a follow-up is overdue:

1. Do the check now — same prescribed mechanics, same documentation. A current compliant check restores your excuse going forward, even though it does not retroactively cover the gap.
2. Document the gap honestly. Note when the original permission expired, when you carried out the late check, and the result. If the Home Office investigates, an honest record of a single late check is far better than a missing one.
3. If you cannot verify ongoing right to work, contact the ECS to request a verification notice. If that fails, take advice on the 28-day grace period and on next steps with the employee.
4. Review every other employee with time-limited permission today. A missed follow-up rarely sits alone in a system without process.

The risk you carry in the gap period is real. The risk of doing nothing once you have noticed is worse.

Where follow-up checks fit in the bigger compliance picture

Follow-up checks are one part of an ongoing compliance lifecycle that also covers initial checks, record-keeping, the 28-day grace period, and discrimination-safe processes. For the full picture, see our employer's guide to ongoing right to work compliance. For a sense of what gets enforced and how much it costs, our illegal worker fines guide walks through current penalty rates and recent enforcement patterns.

The follow-up check, on its own, is administratively trivial. The follow-up check programme — running every relevant follow-up on time, every time, with documentation — is what separates compliant employers from the ones who end up in the enforcement statistics.

Sources

• Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working (13 February 2024) — GOV.UK
• Employer's guide to right to work checks (26 June 2025) — GOV.UK
• Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, Section 15 — legislation.gov.uk
• Employer Checking Service — GOV.UK
• Penalties for employing illegal workers — GOV.UK

In practice, share codes expire, employees generate the wrong type of code, the system goes down at 5pm on a Friday, or the employee has never heard of their Home Office online account. Here's how the process works when it goes right — and what to do when it doesn't.

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

What a share code is

A share code is a 9-character alphanumeric code that an employee generates through their Home Office online account. It gives you, the employer, temporary access to view their immigration status.

Key facts:

• Codes starting with W are for right-to-work checks (what you need)
• Codes starting with S are for right-to-rent checks (not what you need — the employee must generate a new one)
• Each code is valid for 90 calendar days from generation
• A code can be used multiple times within its validity period
• The service is free — for both the employee and the employer

Who needs a share code check

Share code checks are required for anyone whose immigration status is held digitally. Since BRPs expired on 31 December 2024, this now includes most non-British, non-Irish workers:

• eVisa holders (work visas, family visas, student visas)
• EU Settlement Scheme status holders (settled and pre-settled status)
• Anyone granted immigration permission since late 2024

British and Irish citizens don't use share codes — they provide physical documents (passport, birth certificate + NI proof). See our guide to checking British citizens for details.

For a full overview of the eVisa transition and its impact on your checking process, see our eVisa guide.

Step-by-step: the employer's process

Step 1: Receive the share code and date of birth

Ask the employee to generate a share code and send it to you along with their date of birth. Do this before their start date — not on their first morning.

Communicate clearly: "Please go to gov.uk/prove-right-to-work, sign in or create an account, and select 'Prove your right to work to an employer.' Send me the 9-character code and your date of birth."

Step 2: Enter the details

Go to the online right to work checking service and enter:

• The 9-character share code (case sensitive)
• The employee's date of birth

Step 3: Review the result

The system displays:

• The employee's photo — check it matches the person
• Their name — check it matches the name they're using for employment
• Their immigration status — what type of permission they have
• Any work restrictions — some visas limit the type or hours of work
• The expiry date — when their current permission ends (if time-limited)

Read the work restrictions carefully. Some visas restrict the employee to specific types of work, limit hours (common for student visas — typically 20 hours/week during term time), or prohibit certain occupations. If you employ someone outside their restrictions, you don't have a statutory excuse.

Step 4: Save the result

Download or screenshot the full profile page showing the photo, immigration status, and date of check. This is your evidence of a compliant check.

What to save:

• The profile page with photo, name, immigration status, and restrictions
• The date you conducted the check
• Any reference numbers shown

Store this securely — digital storage is fine — for the duration of employment plus 2 years after the employee leaves.

Step 5: Record the follow-up date

If the check shows time-limited permission (most eVisa checks will), your statutory excuse has an expiry date. It's either:

• The permission expiry date shown in the check result, or
• 6 months from the date of the check (for Positive Verification Notices)

Whichever comes first. Record this date and set reminders at 90, 30, and 14 days before expiry. Use our follow-up check timeline calculator to generate the full reminder schedule.

When things go wrong

"The share code isn't working"

Check the basics first:

• Is the code exactly 9 characters? No spaces, no dashes.
• Does it start with W? If it starts with S, it's a right-to-rent code — the employee needs to generate a new one for right-to-work purposes.
• Has it expired? Codes are valid for 90 days. If it's older than that, the employee generates a new one.
• Is the date of birth correct? The date must match what the Home Office has on file, which may differ from what the employee told you if there was an error in their original application.

"The employee can't generate a share code"

This happens when:

• They haven't set up their Home Office online account. Direct them to get access to their eVisa to create or link their account. This can take a few days.
• They're locked out of their account. They'll need to contact the UK Visas and Immigration helpline to regain access.
• Their immigration status hasn't been linked to their account. Common for people who held BRPs and haven't transitioned. They need to link their status to their account.

Your fallback: Use the Employer Checking Service. Submit the employee's name, date of birth, nationality, and any Home Office reference number. The Home Office will respond with a Positive or Negative Verification Notice, typically within 5 working days.

Important: You cannot let the employee start work while waiting for the ECS response. No completed check = no statutory excuse = full penalty exposure.

"The system is down"

The Home Office online service has occasional downtime. If you can't access the checking service:

• Wait and try again later — outages are usually resolved within hours
• Do not accept a screenshot from the employee's own account as a substitute
• Do not let the employee start work until you've completed the check yourself

"The check shows work restrictions I don't understand"

Some common restrictions:

If you're unsure about a restriction, do not employ the person until you've confirmed their permitted work with an immigration solicitor or the Home Office.

After the check: ongoing obligations

A successful share code check isn't the end of the process — it's the beginning of a tracking obligation.

For employees with time-limited permission, you'll need to run follow-up checks before their permission expires. Miss the follow-up, and your statutory excuse lapses — leaving you exposed to penalties of up to £45,000 per worker for a first offence.

If their permission expires while they have a pending application, you have a 28-day window to verify their status through the Employer Checking Service. After that, your statutory excuse is gone.

For the complete lifecycle — from initial check through follow-up scheduling and grace period management — see our employer's guide to ongoing RTW compliance. For an interactive step-by-step version of this process — including what to do when codes start with the wrong letter, expire, or the system is down — try our share code walkthrough tool.

Sources

• View a job applicant's right to work details — GOV.UK
• Prove your right to work to an employer — GOV.UK
• Employer's guide to right to work checks (26 June 2025) — GOV.UK
• Employer Checking Service — GOV.UK
• Get access to your eVisa — GOV.UK

The short answer: a straightforward check takes minutes. But certain situations — eVisa issues, missing documents, pending applications — can stretch the process to days or weeks. Here's exactly what to expect for each scenario.

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

The three types of check and how long each takes

These timings cover the check itself — not the time it takes to gather documents or arrange for the employee to be present. That's where delays happen.

Manual document check: 5-10 minutes

This is the fastest option. The employee brings their original document (passport, birth certificate + NI proof, etc.), you verify it in their presence, make a dated copy, and file it.

What the 5-10 minutes includes:

1. Examining the document for signs of tampering (~1 minute)
2. Confirming the photo matches the person (~30 seconds)
3. Checking names, dates, and expiry match (~1 minute)
4. Making a copy — scan or clear photograph (~2 minutes)
5. Recording the date and filing (~1 minute)

Common delay: The employee doesn't bring the original document. A photo on their phone, a photocopy, or a scan sent by email are not acceptable. If this happens, the check can't proceed until the original is produced. Build document requirements into your offer letter or onboarding email to avoid this.

Online share code check: 2-3 minutes

For employees with eVisas or digital immigration status, you'll use the online right to work checking service. The employee provides a share code and their date of birth. You enter these, and the system returns their immigration status with a photo.

What the 2-3 minutes includes:

1. Enter the share code and date of birth (~30 seconds)
2. Review the result — check the photo and name match (~30 seconds)
3. Save or screenshot the result page (~1 minute)
4. File the saved result (~30 seconds)

Common delays:

• Employee hasn't generated the share code yet. They need to create it through their Home Office online account, selecting "prove your right to work." The code starts with "W" and is valid for 90 days. Ask employees to generate this before their start date.
• Employee can't access their Home Office account. Technical issues, forgotten credentials, or an eVisa that hasn't been linked to their account. This pushes you to the Employer Checking Service (see below). See our eVisa guide for what to do when share codes aren't available.
• Home Office system downtime. The online service is occasionally unavailable. If it's down when you need to run a check, wait and try again — but don't let the employee start work until the check is complete.

Employer Checking Service: up to 5 working days

The Employer Checking Service is the fallback when neither a manual check nor a share code check is possible. You submit the employee's details to the Home Office and wait for a Positive or Negative Verification Notice.

Typical timeline:

When you need the ECS:

• An employee's visa has expired and they have a pending in-time application (this triggers the 28-day grace period)
• An eVisa holder can't generate a share code
• You need to verify someone's immigration status through official channels

Important: You cannot start the employee's employment until you receive a Positive Verification Notice. The 5-day wait can feel frustrating when you need someone to start immediately, but employing someone without a completed check means no statutory excuse — and penalties of up to £45,000 if things go wrong.

What adds time to the process

The check itself is fast. These are the things that slow it down:

Missing or wrong documents. If an employee turns up with a driving licence (doesn't prove right to work), a bank statement (doesn't prove right to work), or an expired BRP (no longer valid since December 2024), the check can't proceed until they provide an acceptable document.

Late document requests. If you only ask for documents on the employee's first day, you lose time waiting for them to go home and fetch a passport. Ask when you make the offer — include a clear list of acceptable documents in your offer letter.

First-time eVisa users. Employees who've never used their Home Office online account may need time to set it up. Some have never heard of a share code. Factor in a few days for this if you know the employee has an eVisa.

Pending applications. If the employee has applied to extend their visa but the decision hasn't come through, you'll need the ECS — and you may be dealing with the 28-day grace period, which adds its own timeline. Use our follow-up check timeline calculator to map out the exact dates, and see follow-up right to work checks for the wider follow-up cycle.

How to avoid delays: a practical timeline

For a smooth onboarding, build the right to work check into your hiring timeline:

The non-negotiable rule: No one starts work until the check is done. This applies regardless of how urgently you need the role filled. A gap in your rota is inconvenient. A £45,000 penalty is existential.

For the complete compliance process — including what happens after the initial check — see our employer's guide to ongoing RTW compliance.

Sources

• Employer's guide to right to work checks (26 June 2025) — GOV.UK
• View a job applicant's right to work details — GOV.UK
• Employer Checking Service — GOV.UK
• Prove your right to work to an employer — GOV.UK

This checklist covers the full cycle: from first check through ongoing tracking to what happens when a visa expires. Print it, bookmark it, or use it as the basis for your own compliance process.

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

Part 1: Before the employee starts

Every right to work check must happen before the person's first day of paid work. Not during their first week. Not "when HR gets round to it." Before day one.

Initial check steps:

1. Ask the employee to provide an original document from List A or List B (see document table below)
2. Check the document in the employee's presence — verify the photo matches, the name matches, the document hasn't been tampered with, and the dates are valid
3. If using the online checking service (required for eVisa holders): enter the share code and date of birth, verify the result matches the person
4. Make a clear copy — scan or photograph every page of the document (or save the online check result page)
5. Record the date you made the copy on the copy itself or in your filing system
6. File securely — store for the duration of employment plus 2 years after they leave

Do this for every hire. British citizens, Irish citizens, visa holders, settled status holders — everyone. Selective checking based on appearance or nationality is discrimination. See our guide to checking British citizens for what documents they can use.

Part 2: Classify the document type

This step determines your ongoing obligations. Get it wrong, and you'll miss follow-up checks.

The critical action: If the document is List B, immediately record the expiry date and set a reminder. This is the step most micro-employers skip — and the reason most miss follow-up checks entirely.

Use our document checker tool to confirm whether a specific document falls under List A or List B.

Part 3: Record keeping

Your records are your proof. Without them, you have no statutory excuse — even if you did the check.

For each employee, keep:

• A dated copy of the document (or screenshot of the online check result)
• The date you conducted the check
• For List B documents: the permission expiry date and your scheduled follow-up date
• For Employer Checking Service requests: the date you contacted ECS and the Verification Notice received

Storage rules:

• Keep records for the duration of employment plus 2 years after the employee leaves
• After the 2-year post-employment period, securely destroy the records
• Digital storage is acceptable — scans, photographs, or saved online check results
• Physical storage must be secure (locked cabinet, restricted access)

Part 4: Follow-up checks (List B employees only)

This is where compliance breaks down for most small employers. The initial check is a one-time event. Follow-up tracking is an ongoing obligation.

When a follow-up check is due:

• List B Group 1: Before the visa or permission expiry date printed on the document
• List B Group 2: Before the 6-month anniversary of the Positive Verification Notice

How to run the follow-up:

1. Contact the employee before the expiry date — have they renewed their visa or received a new permission?
2. If they have new documents: run a fresh right to work check (back to Part 1)
3. If they have a pending application: contact the Employer Checking Service — see Part 5 below
4. If they have no pending application and permission has expired: you cannot continue to employ them

Reminder schedule (set these when you classify the document in Part 2):

Use our follow-up check timeline calculator to generate these dates automatically from any visa expiry date.

Part 5: The 28-day grace period

When an employee's permission expires and they have a pending application, you have 28 calendar days to verify their status through the Employer Checking Service before your statutory excuse lapses.

Grace period checklist:

1. Confirm the employee has a pending in-time application (applied before their permission expired)
2. Contact the Employer Checking Service immediately — don't wait
3. Provide: employee's full name, date of birth, nationality, Home Office reference number
4. Chase after 7 days if no response
5. If you receive a Positive Verification Notice: statutory excuse renews for 6 months — schedule your next follow-up
6. If you receive a Negative Verification Notice: the employee does not have the right to work — you must act on this immediately

The deadline is absolute. If day 28 passes without a Positive Verification Notice, your statutory excuse is gone. You're exposed to the full penalty — up to £45,000 per worker for a first offence.

For a detailed walkthrough of the grace period mechanics, see our 28-day grace period guide.

Part 6: Monthly compliance review

Spend 10 minutes each month on this review. It's the cheapest insurance against a five-figure penalty.

1. Check your employee register — are all visa expiry dates current?
2. Review upcoming expiries — any permissions expiring in the next 90 days?
3. Check pending follow-ups — any ECS requests outstanding?
4. Verify records are complete — any missing copies or dates?
5. Confirm leavers' records — anyone who left in the past month? Start the 2-year retention clock.

Acceptable documents: quick reference

List A — permanent right to work

• UK passport (current or expired)
• Irish passport or passport card (current)
• UK birth/adoption certificate + NI number proof
• Certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen + NI number proof
• Document showing indefinite leave to remain/enter (where issued)

List B Group 1 — time-limited right to work

• Passport or travel document showing limited leave to remain with permission to work
• Biometric immigration document showing limited leave (note: BRPs expired 31 December 2024 — use the online checking service for eVisa holders)

List B Group 2 — pending applications

• Certificate of Application under the EU Settlement Scheme
• Application Registration Card with permission to work
• Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service

For the full official document lists, see the gov.uk right to work checklist.

Sources

• Employers' right to work checklist (accessible version) — GOV.UK
• Employer's guide to right to work checks (26 June 2025) — GOV.UK
• Employer Checking Service — GOV.UK
• View a job applicant's right to work details — GOV.UK

Since the Home Office completed the switch to eVisas, the process for checking many employees' right to work has fundamentally changed. If you're still accepting physical immigration documents from non-British workers, you're running checks that don't count.

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

What changed and when

The Home Office moved the UK immigration system from physical documents to digital records (eVisas) in stages:

An eVisa is an online record of a person's immigration status held in the Home Office system. It replaces the physical card entirely. The employer's guide to right to work checks (June 2025) is clear: a manual check of an expired BRP is not acceptable proof of right to work.

Who this affects

eVisa checks apply to anyone whose immigration status is held digitally. This includes:

• Visa holders (work visas, family visas, student visas with work permission)
• EU Settlement Scheme status holders (settled and pre-settled status)
• Former BRP holders who now have eVisas
• Anyone granted immigration permission since late 2024

It does not affect:

• British citizens — check with a passport or birth certificate (see our guide)
• Irish citizens — can use a passport or passport card (manual check)

How the share code system works

Employees with eVisas prove their right to work using a share code — a 9-character alphanumeric code they generate through their Home Office online account. Here's the process from both sides:

What the employee does

1. Signs in to their Home Office online account
2. Selects "Prove your right to work to an employer"
3. Generates a share code (starts with the letter W for right-to-work purposes)
4. Gives you the share code and their date of birth

What you do as the employer

1. Go to the online right to work checking service
2. Enter the employee's share code and date of birth
3. The service displays their immigration status, any work restrictions, and the expiry date of their permission
4. Check the details match — the photo should match the person in front of you, and the name should match the name they're using for employment
5. Save the result — download or screenshot the profile page showing immigration status, photo, and the date you made the check. Store securely.

The share code is valid for 90 calendar days from when the employee generates it. If it expires before you use it, the employee simply generates a new one.

Critical mistakes to avoid

Accepting an expired BRP as proof. Even if the card looks valid and the permission date on it hasn't passed, it's not acceptable. The card itself expired on 31 December 2024. You must use the online service.

Just viewing the employee's screen. The guidance is specific: it is not sufficient to simply view the details on the employee's own account. You must run the check yourself through the online right to work checking service using the share code. This creates an independent verification record.

Not saving the result. You need to keep a copy of the online check result (the profile page showing status and photo) for the duration of employment plus two years. This is your evidence of a compliant check.

Forgetting the follow-up. If the check shows time-limited permission — and most eVisa checks will — your statutory excuse lasts until the permission expiry date shown in the result. You need to schedule a follow-up check before that date. (Note: a different rule applies if you use the Employer Checking Service — a Positive Verification Notice gives a statutory excuse for 6 months from its date.) Use our follow-up check timeline calculator to set the right dates.

When the employee can't generate a share code

Sometimes an employee can't access their Home Office online account or can't generate a share code. This might happen because:

• They haven't set up their online account yet
• They're locked out or having technical issues
• Their eVisa status hasn't been linked to their account

In these cases, you can use the Employer Checking Service to request verification directly from the Home Office. You'll need the employee's name, date of birth, nationality, and any Home Office reference number. The service will respond with a Positive or Negative Verification Notice.

This is a backup route — it takes longer than the share code method, so encourage employees to set up their online accounts early.

What this means for your compliance process

The shift to eVisas simplifies some things and complicates others:

Simpler: No more assessing whether physical documents are genuine. The online service handles verification. You either get a valid result or you don't.

More complex: You're now dependent on a digital system. If the Home Office service is down, you can't run the check. If an employee can't generate a share code, you need the backup route. And every check with time-limited permission creates a follow-up obligation you need to track.

For most micro-employers, the biggest risk isn't running the initial check wrong — it's losing track of when follow-up checks are due. Six months goes fast when you're running a business. See our guide to ongoing RTW compliance for how to build a tracking process that doesn't rely on memory.

Sources

• Employer's guide to right to work checks (26 June 2025) — GOV.UK
• View a job applicant's right to work details — GOV.UK
• Prove your right to work to an employer — GOV.UK
• Employer Checking Service — GOV.UK

She's just committed two mistakes: one legal, one practical. Selectively checking only foreign nationals is race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. And skipping the check means she has no statutory excuse if anything goes wrong.

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

The short answer: yes, always

UK employers must conduct a right to work check on every person they hire, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or how "obviously British" they appear. The GOV.UK employer guidance is clear: you must check that a job applicant is allowed to work for you before you employ them.

This applies equally to:

• British citizens born in the UK
• Irish citizens (who have automatic right to work under the Common Travel Area)
• Commonwealth citizens with right of abode
• Settled status holders
• Visa holders with time-limited permission

No exceptions. No shortcuts. Every single hire.

Why employers skip the check (and why it backfires)

The most common reason employers skip checks on British citizens is an assumption: "I can tell who has the right to work." This assumption is both wrong and dangerous.

It's discriminatory. The Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working explicitly requires employers to apply checks to all employees, not selectively based on perceived immigration status. Checking only people who "look foreign" or have non-British names is direct race discrimination.

It destroys your statutory excuse. The statutory excuse is your defence against civil penalties. It only exists if you conducted the prescribed checks. Skip the check on any employee — British or not — and you have no defence if the Home Office investigates.

It's more common than you'd think. Many micro-employers incorrectly believe a driving licence proves right to work. If that basic fact is widely misunderstood, the "do I check British citizens?" question is almost certainly getting the wrong answer in thousands of small businesses.

What documents British citizens can use

British citizens provide List A documents, which establish a permanent right to work. Unlike visa holders (List B), there's no expiry date and no follow-up check required.

A driving licence does not prove right to work. Neither does a bank statement, utility bill, or council tax letter. These documents prove identity or address — not immigration status. Use our document checker tool to confirm whether a specific document proves right to work.

How to run the check

The process for British citizens is the same three-step check as for any other employee:

1. Obtain the original document. The employee must present the original — not a photocopy, not a photo on their phone.
2. Check it in the person's presence. Verify the document is genuine, the photo matches, the dates are valid, and the name matches (or the employee can explain any difference).
3. Copy and date it. Make a clear copy (scan or photograph), record the date you made the copy, and store it securely. Keep this for the duration of employment and for two years after the person leaves.

For British and Irish passport holders, you can also use an Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) provider to run a digital check. This is optional — the manual check is equally valid.

The discrimination trap: how to check everyone fairly

The easiest way to stay compliant is to make right to work checks a non-negotiable part of your hiring process for every single person. No judgement calls, no exceptions.

Build it into your onboarding process:

1. Include a right to work check in your standard offer letter or onboarding email — "Please bring one of the following documents to your first day..."
2. Check everyone at the same stage (before their start date)
3. Use the same process every time
4. Never ask different questions based on someone's appearance, accent, or name

This protects you twice: you maintain your statutory excuse for every employee, and you can demonstrate a consistent, non-discriminatory process if challenged.

What you don't need to do

British citizens need a one-time check only. Unlike employees with time-limited visas, there's no follow-up check and no expiry date to track. Once you've verified a British citizen's right to work at the start of their employment, that check is valid for as long as they work for you.

This is one of the key differences between List A (permanent right to work) and List B (time-limited right to work). For employees on List B, you'll need to track expiry dates and schedule follow-up checks — see our guide to ongoing RTW compliance for how that works.

Common questions

Can I accept an expired British passport? Yes. An expired UK passport still proves British citizenship. It remains a valid List A document for right to work purposes.

What if the employee doesn't have a passport? They can use a UK birth or adoption certificate combined with proof of their National Insurance number (P45, P60, or a letter from HMRC). This combination is a valid List A document.

What if someone says "I'm British" but can't produce documents? You cannot employ them until they produce an acceptable document. "I'm British" is not a document. This applies equally regardless of nationality — no one starts work until the check is complete.

Is it discriminatory to ask a British citizen for their passport? No — as long as you ask everyone. Discrimination occurs when you check selectively, not when you check universally.

The bottom line

Check everyone. Every hire. Same process. Same stage. No exceptions.

It takes five minutes per employee. It protects you from penalties of up to £45,000 per illegal worker. And it ensures you're treating every applicant fairly.

For a complete walkthrough of the right to work process — including what happens after the initial check — see our employer's guide to ongoing RTW compliance.

Sources

• Checking a job applicant's right to work — GOV.UK
• Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working (13 February 2024) — GOV.UK
• Right to work checks: an employer's guide — GOV.UK
• Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) — GOV.UK

This is where most small employers make a mistake — either panicking and terminating employment unnecessarily, or doing nothing and hoping it works out. Neither is right. The correct answer involves a specific 28-day window defined in the Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working, and getting it wrong can cost you up to £45,000 per worker.

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

What the 28-day grace period is

When a follow-up right to work check is due because an employee's time-limited permission has expired, your statutory excuse — the defence that protects you from civil penalties — continues for up to 28 calendar days from the expiry date. But only if specific conditions are met.

During these 28 days, you are not liable for a civil penalty even though the employee's current right to work documentation has expired. This gives you time to verify whether the employee has an outstanding immigration application or appeal through official channels.

After 28 days, if you haven't obtained a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service, your statutory excuse lapses. From day 29 onward, you're employing someone without a defence — and if they turn out not to have the right to work, you face the full penalty.

When the grace period applies

The 28-day grace period only applies if all of these conditions are true:

1. You conducted a compliant initial right to work check before the employee started working for you
2. The employee had time-limited permission (List B documents — a visa with an expiry date, or a verification notice)
3. You are reasonably satisfied the employee has submitted an in-time immigration application or appeal before their permission expired
4. The permission has now expired and the follow-up check is due

It does not apply to:

• New hires. You cannot start someone's employment during a grace period — the check must be complete before their first day
• Employees whose initial check was non-compliant. If you didn't do the initial check correctly, you have no statutory excuse to extend
• Employees who haven't applied to extend. If the visa simply expired with no pending application, there is no grace period — the employee has no right to work

What you must do during the 28 days

The grace period isn't passive. You must take action:

Step 1: Contact the Employer Checking Service

Use the Employer Checking Service to request verification of the employee's immigration status. You'll need:

• The employee's full name
• Date of birth
• Nationality
• Home Office reference number (if known)

Step 2: Wait for the response

The Home Office will respond with one of two outcomes:

• Positive Verification Notice (PVN): The employee has an outstanding application and has the right to continue working. Your statutory excuse renews for 6 months from the date of the notice. Schedule your next follow-up check accordingly.
• Negative Verification Notice: The employee does not have the right to work. You must act on this — continuing to employ them after receiving a negative notice exposes you to civil penalties and potentially criminal prosecution.

Step 3: Record everything

Document the date you contacted the Employer Checking Service, the response received, and the date of the response. This is part of your audit trail — the evidence you'll need if the Home Office visits.

The countdown that catches employers out

Here's why the 28-day period is dangerous: it starts automatically on the expiry date, whether or not you know about it.

If you don't have a system tracking visa expiry dates, you might not even realise the grace period has started — let alone that it's ending. By the time you notice, you could already be past day 28.

The window is 28 calendar days — not business days. Bank holidays and weekends count. If the visa expires on a Friday, day 28 falls on a Saturday four weeks later.

Use our follow-up check timeline calculator to generate a full countdown from any visa expiry date, including reminder milestones at 90, 60, 30, 14, and 7 days before expiry — so you're prepared before the grace period even starts.

What happens when your statutory excuse expires

If day 28 passes without a Positive Verification Notice:

• Your statutory excuse is gone. You no longer have a defence against a civil penalty.
• You may be employing an illegal worker. If the employee's application is refused, they've been working without the right to do so — and you have no protection.
• Penalties apply per worker. Up to £45,000 for a first offence, £60,000 for a repeat offence within 3 years. See our guide to illegal worker fines for the full breakdown.

If a Positive Verification Notice arrives after day 28, the gap between day 28 and the notice date is a period where you had no statutory excuse. Whether the Home Office penalises you for that gap depends on the circumstances, but it's a risk you don't want to take.

Practical steps to avoid missing the deadline

1. Track every visa expiry date. Maintain a register of all employees with time-limited right to work, including their permission expiry dates. Review it monthly.
2. Set reminders before expiry — not after. The grace period starts on expiry day. If you're only reacting at expiry, you've already lost time. Set reminders at 90, 30, and 7 days before expiry.
3. Have the employee's details ready. When you contact the ECS, you'll need their full name, date of birth, nationality, and any Home Office reference numbers. Collect this during the initial check and keep it on file.
4. Follow up if the ECS doesn't respond quickly. Chase after 7 days if you haven't received a response.
5. Document every step. Record when you contacted the ECS, when you received the response, and what it said. This is your audit trail — our right to work checklist template gives you a starting framework.

For the full compliance lifecycle — from initial check through follow-up scheduling — see our employer's guide to ongoing RTW compliance and the dedicated guide to follow-up right to work checks.

Sources

• Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working (13 February 2024) — GOV.UK
• Employer Checking Service — GOV.UK
• Penalties for employing illegal workers — GOV.UK

That scenario plays out across the UK every week. Since penalty rates increased in February 2024, the financial risk for small employers has tripled. Here's exactly what the penalties are, what triggers them, and how to avoid them.

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

Current penalty rates

The civil penalty scheme under Section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 sets the following maximum fines:

These rates took effect on 13 February 2024, tripling the previous maximums of £15,000 (first) and £20,000 (repeat). The Home Office penalties page confirms the current figures.

The penalties apply per illegal worker, not per business. Each non-compliant employee is a separate penalty. For a micro-employer with thin margins, even one penalty can be existential.

What triggers a civil penalty

You can be fined if you employ someone who does not have the right to work in the UK and you cannot demonstrate that you conducted the prescribed right to work checks correctly. The most common triggers for small employers:

Missed follow-up checks. You checked documents at hire, but the employee's visa expired and you didn't re-check. Your statutory excuse expired with the visa. This is one of the most common triggers for small employers — see our guide to ongoing compliance for how follow-up checks work.

Incomplete initial checks. You checked a document but didn't keep a dated copy, or you checked the wrong document (a driving licence doesn't prove right to work, for example).

No check at all. You hired someone without conducting any right to work check. This eliminates any possible statutory excuse.

Expired 28-day grace period. An employee's permission expired, you knew they had a pending application, but you didn't contact the Employer Checking Service within 28 days.

The statutory excuse: your only defence

The statutory excuse is the mechanism that protects employers from civil penalties. It works simply: if you conducted the prescribed checks at the right times and kept proper records, you have a statutory excuse — and you won't be fined, even if it turns out the employee didn't actually have the right to work.

The Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working sets out exactly what checks maintain your excuse. The critical point: for employees with time-limited permission (List B documents), your statutory excuse has an expiry date. Miss the follow-up check, and the excuse disappears.

Penalty reductions

The full penalty is a maximum. The Home Office can reduce the amount based on mitigating factors:

• £5,000 reduction for reporting your suspicion to the Home Office before the check
• £5,000 reduction for cooperating with the investigation within 10 days
• £5,000 reduction for demonstrating that some (but insufficient) compliance measures were in place
• 30% fast-payment discount if the full (potentially reduced) penalty is paid within 21 days

Even with all reductions, a first-offence penalty for one worker starts at a substantial figure. And reductions require active cooperation — they're not automatic.

Criminal penalties

Civil penalties are the financial risk. Criminal prosecution is the more serious risk. If the Home Office believes you knowingly employed someone without the right to work, the consequences escalate:

• Up to 5 years' imprisonment
• Unlimited fine
• Both can apply simultaneously

The "knowingly" threshold is important. If you had reason to believe a document was false, or you were aware a visa had expired but continued employing the person, you may face criminal charges rather than just a civil penalty.

Additional consequences

Beyond the financial penalty itself, additional consequences can include:

• Naming and shaming. The Home Office can publicly identify businesses that employ illegal workers as a deterrent.
• Sponsor licence revocation. If you hold a sponsor licence, a penalty can lead to revocation — meaning you can no longer employ sponsored workers at all.
• Insurance and lending impact. A published penalty may affect business insurance premiums and lending decisions.
• Closure orders. In severe cases, the Home Office can apply for premises closure orders under the Code of Practice.

What this means for micro-employers

For a business with 5-15 employees, the maths is straightforward:

These figures represent the maximum. Actual penalties depend on mitigating and aggravating factors. But even a significantly reduced penalty — say, £20,000 — can be enough to close a small business.

The sectors most at risk are those with the highest proportion of visa-holding workers: hospitality, social care, cleaning, agriculture, and construction. These are also the sectors with the smallest compliance budgets and the lowest awareness of follow-up obligations.

Try our penalty risk calculator to estimate the specific financial exposure for your business based on your team composition.

How to protect your business

For a step-by-step process, use our right to work checklist template.

1. Conduct right to work checks on every hire — including British citizens. Checking only foreign nationals is discriminatory.
2. Keep dated copies of every document you check. Digital copies are acceptable.
3. Track visa expiry dates and set reminders well before they expire.
4. Run follow-up checks before permissions expire — not after.
5. Act within 28 days if an employee's right to work expires and they have a pending application.
6. Review your employee register monthly — 10 minutes a month prevents a five-figure fine.

For the full compliance process, see our guide to ongoing RTW compliance.

Sources

• Penalties for employing illegal workers — GOV.UK
• Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working (13 February 2024) — GOV.UK
• Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, Section 15 — legislation.gov.uk
• Illegal working civil penalties: an employer's guide — GOV.UK

For a micro-employer with 5-15 staff, the hire-moment check isn't the hard part. The hard part is tracking visa expiry dates 12 months later, running follow-up checks on time, and proving to the Home Office that your process was consistent. That's where most software falls short.

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

The two types of RTW compliance software

The market splits into two categories, and understanding the difference saves you from buying the wrong thing.

Identity verification tools (per-check services) verify that a document is genuine at the point of hire. They connect to government databases, run biometric checks, and confirm the person is who they say they are. You pay per check — often £5–15 each. They solve one problem: "Is this document real?"

Compliance tracking tools monitor the ongoing obligations after the initial check. They record expiry dates, send follow-up reminders, maintain an audit trail, and help you manage the follow-up check requirements in the Code of Practice. They solve a different problem: "Am I still compliant 18 months after hiring?"

Most small employers need the second category more than the first. A manual document check at hire takes 10 minutes. Remembering to re-check a visa-holding employee's status before their permission expires in 14 months — while running the rest of your business — is where things go wrong.

Features that matter for ongoing compliance

When evaluating RTW compliance software, here's what to prioritise if your goal is ongoing compliance (not just hire-moment verification):

1. Expiry date tracking and automated reminders

The non-negotiable feature. The software should store visa and permission expiry dates and alert you well before they expire — at 90, 60, 30, 14, and 7 days. A single missed expiry can cost you your statutory excuse and expose you to fines of up to £45,000 per worker.

2. Follow-up check scheduling

Different document types have different follow-up schedules. List B Group 1 requires a check before the permission expiry date. List B Group 2 requires checks every 6 months. The software should know the difference and schedule accordingly — see our guide to ongoing compliance for how these schedules work.

3. Audit trail

If the Home Office visits, you need timestamped proof that every check was done on time. Good software generates this automatically: who was checked, when, what documents were verified, and the outcome. A well-organised audit trail is your strongest evidence.

4. 28-day grace period management

When a visa expires and the employee has a pending application, you have exactly 28 days to verify their status through the Employer Checking Service. Missing day 28 means losing your statutory excuse. The software should track this countdown for you.

5. Employee register

A central view of every employee's RTW status: who has permanent right to work (List A), who has time-limited permission (List B), and who needs a follow-up check next. This is what you review monthly to stay ahead of expiry dates. For a starting register, see our right to work checklist template.

Features that matter less than you think

Biometric verification. Unless you're a large employer processing hundreds of hires a month, manual document checks are perfectly adequate. The Home Office doesn't require biometric verification — a human check of original documents is sufficient.

Digital Right to Work checks via IDSP. Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) through registered Identity Service Providers is a convenient option for British and Irish passport holders. But it only covers the initial check — it doesn't help with ongoing compliance for visa-holding employees who need follow-ups.

Per-check pricing. Per-check models make sense for large employers with high hire volumes. For a micro-employer who hires 5-10 people a year, per-check pricing is expensive relative to the value. A flat monthly rate for ongoing tracking is more cost-effective.

What to avoid

Tools that only handle the hire-moment check. If the software doesn't track what happens after day one, it solves the easy problem and ignores the dangerous one. Follow-up checks are where small employers get caught.

Full HR platforms that bundle RTW as a minor feature. General HR software that includes RTW checks alongside holiday management, payroll, and performance reviews is overkill for a micro-employer. You'll pay for features you don't need, and the RTW functionality is usually basic — set-and-forget, with no real follow-up tracking.

Tools with no audit trail. If the software doesn't automatically record when checks were done, you'll need to maintain your own records anyway. That defeats the purpose.

The compliance gap for small employers

Here's the reality of the current market: most RTW software is built for medium-to-large employers with HR departments. Identity verification services price per check and target high-volume recruiters. HR platforms target companies with 20+ employees.

If you're a restaurant owner, care home manager, or cleaning company director with 5-15 staff and no HR department, the affordable option has been spreadsheets and calendar reminders. That works until you forget — and forgetting costs up to £45,000 per worker.

Use our penalty risk calculator to see the actual financial exposure for your business based on your team size.

Sources

• Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working (13 February 2024) — GOV.UK
• Penalties for employing illegal workers — GOV.UK

This guide covers exactly what to include, how to format it, and the mistakes that cause problems.

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

When your employee needs an employer letter

An employer letter — sometimes called a visa support letter or employer reference letter — is a supporting document for UK visa applications. Your employee may need one for:

• Skilled Worker visa applications or extensions — confirming employment details and the sponsored role
• Visitor visa applications — confirming employment status, salary, and that leave has been approved
• Family visa financial evidence — confirming income to meet the minimum income requirement
• ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) applications — confirming continuous employment history

The gov.uk guide to supporting documents specifies that employment evidence should be "a letter from your employer on company headed paper, detailing your role, salary and length of employment."

What to include: section-by-section

Every visa employer letter should cover these elements. Missing any of them gives the caseworker a reason to request additional evidence — or refuse.

1. Company letterhead

Print on official headed paper showing your company name, registered address, phone number, and email. If you don't have formal letterhead, create a header with these details. The caseworker needs to be able to contact you to verify the letter.

2. Date and recipient

Date the letter and address it to "UK Visas and Immigration" or "The Entry Clearance Officer" (for applications made outside the UK). Do not leave the recipient blank.

3. Employee details

• Full name (matching their passport exactly)
• Job title and department
• Date employment started
• Whether the role is permanent, fixed-term, or part-time

4. Salary and compensation

• Gross annual salary (before tax)
• Payment frequency (monthly, weekly)
• Any additional regular compensation (overtime, bonuses) if relevant to meeting an income threshold

Be precise. "Approximately £30,000" is weaker than "£30,000 gross per annum, paid monthly." The caseworker will cross-reference this against payslips and bank statements your employee submits.

5. Leave approval (for visitor visas)

If the letter supports a visitor visa for travel, confirm:

• The dates of approved leave
• That the employee is expected to return to their role
• That their position will be held during their absence

6. Your details and signature

• Your full name and job title
• A handwritten signature (or electronic signature if submitting digitally)
• Direct contact details (phone and email) so the Home Office can verify

Common mistakes that weaken employer letters

Vague salary information. "Good salary" or "competitive pay" tells the caseworker nothing. State the exact figure.

Missing contact details. If the Home Office can't verify the letter, they may treat it as unreliable. Include a direct phone number, not just a general reception line.

Inconsistent details. The name, job title, salary, and start date must match what appears on payslips, P60s, and the employee's visa application form. Any mismatch raises a red flag.

Undated letters. A letter without a date could be months old. Always date it close to the application submission date.

Generic templates without personalisation. The letter should be specific to this employee and this visa application. A clearly recycled template with blanks filled in looks careless.

Sample structure

Use this framework — adapt the specifics to your employee's situation and the visa type they're applying for:

[Company letterhead]

[Date]

To: UK Visas and Immigration

Re: Visa support letter for [Employee full name]

I am writing to confirm that [Employee full name] has been employed by [Company name] since [start date] as a [job title] on a [permanent/fixed-term] basis.

[Employee first name]'s gross annual salary is £[amount], paid [monthly/weekly] by bank transfer.

[If visitor visa: [Employee first name] has been granted [X days] of annual leave from [start date] to [end date]. Their position will be held and they are expected to return to work on [return date].]

[If Skilled Worker: This role is sponsored under Certificate of Sponsorship reference [CoS number]. The role falls under SOC code [code] and meets the required salary threshold.]

Should you require any further information, please contact me directly at [phone] or [email].

Yours faithfully,

[Handwritten signature]

[Your full name]

[Your job title]

After the letter: your ongoing obligations

Writing a visa support letter is one step in a larger compliance picture. Once your employee's visa is granted, you have ongoing right to work obligations — including follow-up checks before their permission expires. See our complete guide to ongoing RTW compliance for the full lifecycle.

Not sure whether a document proves right to work? Use the RTW document checker to check instantly.

Sources

• Guide to supporting documents: visiting the UK — GOV.UK
• Right to work checklist — GOV.UK

Most employer guides on right to work checks in the UK cover the same ground: verify documents before someone starts, keep copies, done. That advice isn't wrong, but it stops at the easy part. The hard part — and the part where employers actually face penalties — is ongoing compliance: tracking visa expiry dates, running follow-up checks on time, and maintaining records that hold up when the Home Office visits.

This guide covers the full right to work check lifecycle, from the initial check through follow-up obligations, the 28-day grace period, and the record-keeping standards the Home Office enforces.

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

Right to work checks are an ongoing legal obligation

Under Section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, employers face civil penalties for employing someone without the right to work in the UK. Your defence — the "statutory excuse" — requires conducting prescribed checks both before employment begins and, for employees with time-limited permission, at specific intervals throughout employment.

The Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working (updated 13 February 2024) sets out exactly what checks you need to do and when. Getting the initial check right is the baseline. Maintaining your statutory excuse through follow-up checks is where most small employers fail.

List A vs List B: why it determines your follow-up schedule

The documents your employee presents fall into two lists, and the list determines your entire ongoing obligation.

List A documents prove permanent right to work. These include:

• A UK or Irish passport (or Irish passport card)
• A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen
• A permanent residence card or document confirming indefinite leave to remain

If your employee shows a List A document, your statutory excuse is continuous. One check at hire covers you indefinitely — no follow-ups required.

List B documents prove time-limited right to work. These split into two groups:

Group 1: A passport or travel document with a current visa or endorsement showing a right to work with an expiry date. This also includes Biometric Residence Permits — though BRPs expired on 31 December 2024. If an employee still presents one, direct them to set up their eVisa.

Group 2: A Certificate of Application from the EU Settlement Scheme, an Application Registration Card, or a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service.

Group 1 triggers a follow-up check before the permission expiry date. Group 2 triggers a follow-up every 6 months from the Positive Verification Notice date.

If even one employee presented a List B document, you have a follow-up obligation. Miss it and your statutory excuse disappears.

When follow-up checks are due

List B Group 1 (time-limited visa or endorsement):

1. Run a follow-up check before the expiry date on the document
2. If the employee provides a new document with a later expiry, the cycle resets
3. If they cannot provide evidence of ongoing right to work, you must act — either through the 28-day grace period process or by ending employment

List B Group 2 (pending application or EUSS certificate):

1. Run a follow-up check 6 months from the date of the Positive Verification Notice
2. Contact the Employer Checking Service to verify their status
3. If the Home Office confirms ongoing right to work, your statutory excuse renews for another 6 months
4. Repeat until the employee receives a final status decision

Running the check itself: The process mirrors an initial check — obtain the original document or use the online right to work service with a share code, verify it in the employee's presence, and keep a dated copy. For employees on the new digital status, see our eVisa checking guide. The critical difference is timing: the check must happen before the existing permission expires, not after — and turnaround can vary, so plan ahead using our guide on how long checks take.

Our follow-up check timeline calculator can generate a full check schedule from a visa expiry date.

The 28-day statutory excuse window

When an employee's right to work expires, you don't have to dismiss them the next morning. The Code of Practice provides a 28-day grace period — but only if you are reasonably satisfied the employee has a pending immigration application or appeal.

During those 28 days:

1. Contact the Employer Checking Service to verify the employee's status
2. The Home Office responds with either a Positive Verification Notice (confirming ongoing right to work) or a Negative Verification Notice
3. Positive notice: your statutory excuse continues — schedule the next follow-up in 6 months
4. Negative notice: the employee has no right to work — continuing to employ them after receiving the notice exposes you to civil penalties

If you don't act within the 28-day window, your statutory excuse is gone. No extension, no second chance. Every day past day 28 is a day you're employing someone without a defence.

For a micro-employer with 3 visa-holding staff, one missed 28-day deadline could mean the difference between a £0 penalty (statutory excuse intact) and up to £135,000 in fines.

Record-keeping: what the Home Office expects on inspection

When the Home Office visits — and enforcement activity increased significantly in 2024, with penalty rates tripling in February and enforcement visits rising after the July election — they will ask to see your records. The right to work checklist sets out the documentary requirements.

For each employee, keep:

• A copy of the document(s) you checked — both sides of any ID card, the photo page and any relevant endorsement pages of a passport
• The date you made the check
• For online checks via share code: a saved copy or printout of the online confirmation

For follow-up checks, additionally record:

• The date of each follow-up check
• The documents verified at each follow-up
• Any Positive Verification Notices from the Employer Checking Service
• The expiry date triggering the next follow-up

Retention period: Keep all records for the duration of employment plus 2 years after the employee leaves. Digital copies are acceptable — you don't need paper files, but you do need to retrieve them quickly when asked.

Home Office caseworkers assess whether your process is consistent and retrievable. A well-organised digital register with dates and document types is stronger evidence than a box of undated photocopies.

What a missed follow-up actually costs

The civil penalty regime under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 sets these maximum penalties per illegal worker:

These apply per worker, not per business. A care home with 4 employees who all need follow-up checks faces up to £180,000 in first-offence exposure. Penalties can be reduced by up to £5,000 each for reporting suspicions to the Home Office before a check, cooperating with the investigation within 10 days, and demonstrating that partial compliance measures were in place (per the Code of Practice, paragraphs 3.1–3.2).

Criminal prosecution is also possible if the Home Office believes you knowingly employed someone without the right to work — carrying up to 5 years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine under Section 21 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

The statutory excuse is your only defence against civil penalties. If you conducted the prescribed checks at the right times and kept proper records, you won't be fined — even if the employee didn't actually have the right to work. But miss a follow-up, and the defence disappears.

Use our penalty risk calculator to see what a missed check could cost your specific business.

Building a practical follow-up process

If you don't have an HR department — and most micro-employers don't — the follow-up process needs to be simple enough to maintain alongside everything else.

1. Create an employee register

For every employee, record:

• Name and start date
• Document type presented (List A, or List B Group 1/Group 2)
• Date of initial right to work check
• Visa or permission expiry date (List B only)
• Next follow-up check due date

2. Set reminders ahead of expiry dates

Don't rely on memory. Set reminders at:

• 90 days before expiry — start planning
• 30 days — contact the employee about documentation
• 14 days — escalate if documentation hasn't arrived
• 7 days — final warning; prepare to contact the Employer Checking Service

3. Run the check before expiry, not after

A check done the day after expiry is too late to maintain a continuous statutory excuse. Build in buffer time.

4. Document everything with dates

Record the check date, what you verified, and the outcome. If you contacted the Employer Checking Service, save the response.

5. Review your register monthly

Ten minutes a month reviewing upcoming expiry dates is the single step that separates compliant employers from those who get fined. If you're evaluating tooling to do this, see our guide to right to work check software. And if an employee asks you to support a visa application or extension, our visa employer letter guide covers what to include.

Quick compliance checklist

For a printable version, see our right to work checklist template.

1. Every new hire gets a right to work check before their start date — no exceptions, including British citizens
2. Record which list (A or B) and group (1 or 2) each employee's documents fall under
3. For List B Group 1: set a follow-up reminder before the visa expiry date
4. For List B Group 2: set a follow-up reminder 6 months from the Positive Verification Notice date
5. Keep dated copies of all documents — digital is fine
6. Retain records for the duration of employment plus 2 years after the employee leaves
7. Apply the same process to every employee — checking only foreign nationals is discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010
8. Review your register monthly for upcoming expiry dates

Not sure which documents are valid? Try the RTW document checker to confirm whether a document falls under List A or List B.

For more detail on what penalties look like in practice, see our guide to illegal worker fines in the UK. If you employ British citizens, our guide to checking British citizens explains why the check still applies and what documents they can use.

Sources

• Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working (13 February 2024) — GOV.UK
• Right to work checklist — GOV.UK
• Penalties for employing illegal workers — GOV.UK
• Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, Section 15 — legislation.gov.uk