UK Immigration — Complete A Right to Work Check In 5 Steps!

The UK economy is on the rise, attracting many immigrants from all over the world. However, it’s not as easy as just going to the UK, finding a job, and starting work.

According to The Immigration Act 2016, all employers are required to complete a “right to work” check before employing anyone to work for them. This is done to verify that a person is eligible to work in the UK and to prevent any illegal immigrants from working in the country.

5 Steps for A Right to Work Check

1. Acquire the Right to Work document
2. Verify the right to work document
3. Copy the document and retain it for your record
4. Update all the relevant employee information records according to the right to work document information
5. Repeat the checks at designated dates according to the expiry dates of the current right to work document

What Is the Right to Work Document?

British citizens have an automatic right to work given their nationality. But when it comes to foreign workers, they need to obtain a right to work documents that proves that they are eligible for work in the UK. It allows the employers to know their immigration status, how long they’ve been in the UK, and how long they’ve been working in the country.

Categories of Right to Work

Not all right to work documents are the same. There are certain restrictions and limitations according to each immigrant’s status and the country of origin.

No restriction on the right to work — People who hold British citizenships or are European nationals have no restriction when it comes to the right to work. All they need to do is to show their passports or birth documents and they automatically become eligible to work in the UK.

Right to work with some restrictions — As a general rule, in case any person does not have a British or European nationality, they cannot automatically work in the UK. After obtaining the right to work documents, they can still have limitations such as the number of hours they can work, the duration of their stay, and the industry they can work in. People with limited rights to work include:

• Family members of British nationals or EEA
• People in the UK with visit visas
• Persons on Student (General Tier 4) visas

No right to work — Any person who is neither a European nor a British citizen and does not possess a valid leave to remain in the UK does not have any rights to work. Hiring such people is illegal and employers can face severe consequence if they do hire them.

How can we help?

Wembley Solicitors are premier immigration solicitors in London. We have years of experience dealing with rights to work, leave to remain, and other visa issues for people who want to work in the UK.  We are also the leading legal service providers for immigration and visa application services.

Contact us today at 020 3417 3700 for assistance with your UK work visa or visa sponsorships.