Establishing a Statutory Excuse for Right to Work Checks

The requirements for establishing a statutory excuse for Right to Work (RTW) checks have been amended with effect from 6th April 2022.

The main changes are;

• Changes in the way Biometric Residence Card, Biometric Residence Permit and Frontier Worker Permit holders have to prove their right to work;
• Changes to the lists of acceptable documents;
  • Removal of current documents issued by the Home Office to a family member of an EEA or Swiss citizen
  • Removal of Biometric Immigration Documents issued by the Home Office and Frontier Worker Permits from Lists A and B
  • Addition to List B, group 2 of Certificate of Application which confirms a valid application to the EUSS together with a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service
• Extension to the Covid-19 temporary adjusted right to work checks until 30 September 2022;
• Introduction of facility for employers to use Identity Service Providers to facilitate digital identity verification as part of the right to work check.  This enables the check to be carried out remotely without the individual needing to by physically present but applies only to British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport. 

In summary, from 6th April 2022;

• There are now 3 ways to perform a RTW check;

1. A manual RTW check
2. An online RTW check
3. A check using Identity Document Validation Technology via an Identity Service Provider.

• The RTW check on migrants who have a standard work or residence permit must now be conducted online and cannot be done manually via presentation of physical documents. 

Any individual whose immigration status is registered electronically on Home Office systems will be able to provide you with a share code to enable you to complete an online check.If an online check is not possible you will need to resort to a manual check.

• The RTW check on British and Irish passport holders can now be conducted by using the services of an Identity Service Provider which avoids the need for an individual to physically present their documents.  This is optional.

If you have any queries about RTW checks, would like to arrange training for you staff on the subject or if you are facing a Home Office penalty, don’t hesitate to call us for help on 0121 445 6178.