Right to Work Check UK: Manual, Share Code and IDVT Routes Explained

A candidate is due on site at a warehouse at 7am tomorrow. She has sent a photo of her passport over WhatsApp, and your consultant is about to mark her as cleared. But is a photo enough? Is she British, Irish, or does she hold an eVisa that needs an online check? And if it is an online check, has she sent a share code yet?

Every agency that employs or supplies workers in the UK has to get the Right to Work check UK process right, and has to get it right before the worker starts. A check done the wrong way does not give you a statutory excuse, which means a civil penalty is possible even if the person was entitled to work. In a busy agency, the hard part is not understanding the rules, it is applying the right route to every candidate, every time.

This is part 2 of our Right to Work Around the World series. In this guide we explain the three legal ways to carry out a check, which candidates need which route, how a share code check works, when IDVT Right to Work checks are an option, and what to keep on file. The Home Office employer Right to Work guidance on GOV.UK is the official source and is updated regularly, so always check the current version.

Why the Right to Work check matters for agencies

Employers in the UK must check that every worker has the right to work before employment starts. Done correctly, the check gives you a statutory excuse against a civil penalty if it later turns out the person was working illegally.

Who is responsible in an agency setting

The Home Office employer guide treats the employment business (the agency supplying the worker) as the employer for Right to Work purposes, so the check is your responsibility rather than the hirer's. The guide that took effect on 1 October 2026 also extends the scheme beyond traditional employees to people on worker's contracts and certain individual sub-contractors, so do not assume a temp is out of scope because of how they are engaged. Where an umbrella company or another party is involved, check your contracts and the current Home Office guidance, and expect clients to ask you for evidence either way.

What is at stake

Civil penalties for employing someone without the right to work can be significant per illegal worker, and knowingly employing an illegal worker is a criminal offence. For licensed sponsors, failures can affect the sponsor licence too. Beyond penalties, a failed check during a client audit damages trust quickly.

The three legal ways to check Right to Work in the UK

There are three routes. Which one you use depends on the candidate's nationality and immigration status.

1. Manual document check

A manual check means examining original documents from the Home Office lists, in the presence of the candidate (in person or by live video call). If you check over video, you must already have the original document physically in your possession, for example sent to you by post; a scan, screenshot or photo is not enough. You must:

• Obtain the original documents from the relevant list.
• Check they are genuine, belong to the person, and are valid. Look at photos, dates of birth, expiry dates and any restrictions.
• Copy the documents in a format that cannot be changed, and record the date of the check.

Manual checks are mainly used for British and Irish citizens who present documents such as a passport, an Irish passport card, or a birth certificate together with an official document showing their National Insurance number.

2. Online check with a share code

Most people who are not British or Irish now prove their status digitally, for example through an eVisa, EU Settlement Scheme status or other digital immigration status. For these candidates, you must use the Home Office online checking service.

A share code check works like this:

1. The candidate generates a share code through the "prove your right to work" service on GOV.UK.
2. They send you the share code and their date of birth.
3. You enter these into the "view a job applicant's right to work details" service.
4. You check the photo matches the candidate (in person or on a live video call).
5. You save the profile page as a copy and keep it securely.

Share codes expire after a period, so ask candidates to generate one close to their start date. A physical document is no longer acceptable as a substitute for an online check where the candidate's status is held digitally.

3. IDVT through a certified provider

Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) lets employers use a certified provider to check identity digitally. The current Home Office guide calls these providers Right to Work digital verification service providers (DVSPs), and they must be certified under the UK digital identity framework. The route is mainly used for British and Irish citizens with a valid passport (including an Irish passport card), with limited extra scope set out in the guidance. The provider verifies the document and the person; you remain responsible for checking the output and keeping the record.

When none of the routes work

If a candidate has an outstanding application or appeal, or cannot prove their status through the usual routes, you can request a check from the Employer Checking Service. A Positive Verification Notice gives you a time-limited statutory excuse.

Which candidates need which route

Follow-up checks

Where a worker has time-limited permission, you must carry out a follow-up check before their permission expires to keep your statutory excuse. Build those dates into your compliance calendar the moment the first check is done.

What to keep on file

The Home Office expects you to keep a clear record of every check. In general that means:

• A copy of each document, or the online check profile page, or the IDVT provider's output.
• The date the check was carried out.
• Records kept securely for the duration of employment plus 2 years, then securely destroyed.

Common mistakes in agencies

• Accepting a photo sent over chat as a completed manual check. It is a useful pre-check, but it does not replace examining the original in the candidate's presence.
• Doing a manual check for someone whose status is digital.
• Checking after the worker has already started on site.
• Losing track of follow-up check dates for time-limited permission.
• Storing copies across inboxes and drives so they cannot be found during an audit.

Making Right to Work collection faster

The check itself must be done by your team (or a certified provider for IDVT). What slows agencies down is everything around it: getting passport copies, share codes, dates of birth and the supporting onboarding paperwork from candidates who are busy and on their phones.

Amy, the GettingDocs AI assistant, handles that chase. Amy contacts candidates on WhatsApp and email sent from your agency's own domain, in your voice. Each document is checked to make sure it is readable and the right document; blurred photos, cut-off pages and wrong documents are rejected and chased again. Every file is screened for malware, and password-protected or empty files are refused. Accepted documents are filed onto the candidate's record in your ATS, with live integrations for Recruit CRM, Crelate, Zoho Recruit and JobAdder. Your compliance team then completes the check from a complete, organised file. See how this works for UK agencies on our UK staffing page and check supported systems on the ATS integrations page.

Key takeaways

• A Right to Work check in the UK must be done before employment starts, using the correct route, to give you a statutory excuse.
• Use a manual check or IDVT for British and Irish citizens, and an online share code check for anyone with digital status.
• Keep copies or profile pages with the date of check for the duration of employment plus 2 years.
• Diary follow-up checks for anyone with time-limited permission.
• Automate the document chase so your team spends its time on the check itself.

If you want Right to Work documents and share codes collected without chasing, book a call and we will show you how Amy fits into your onboarding.

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Please note: this article is general information, not legal advice, and was correct at the time of writing (October 2026). Rules and guidance change, so please check the latest guidance from GOV.UK right to work checks guidance and HMRC before relying on it.