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From 1 May 2004 amended regulation came into force amending the procedures which organisations have to follow in order to assure themselves that new employees are eligible to work in the UK and thus avoid prosecution under the 1996 Act if an employee is subsequently discovered to be working illegally.

The Government introduced changes to the types of documents, which an employer needs to check to avoid employing illegal workers:

Step 1:

Ask all potential employees to provide:

one of the original documents included in List 1

two of the original documents in the combinations given in List 2

Step 2:

Satisfy yourself that the potential employee is the rightful holder of any of the documents they present to you:

Check photographs
Check expiry dates
Check stamps and endorsements
Compare date of birth with appearance
Check consistency of documents

Step 3:

Make a photocopy of the following parts of all documents shown to you:

Front cover and all pages which give personal details, in particular, the page with the

photograph and the page with the person's signature

Any page containing UK Government stamp or endorsement which allows your potential employee to do the type of work you are offering.

On 1 May 2004, a number of new countries joined the European Union, allowing their citizens to work legally in the UK. The Government wishes to monitor the impact on the labour market of workers from eight of these new countries (Latvia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary and Poland but not Cyprus and Malta) and therefore requires these workers to register with the Home Office. From 1 May 2004, an employer had to check whether a potential employee is actually a national from one of these eight countries, and advice them that they are required to register immediately with the Home Office. Once registered, the employee and the employer will receive a registration certificate. It will be illegal to employ a citizen of one of these countries for longer than one month without a Certificate.

List 1

British Passport.
Passport, national identity card or a UK residence permit issued to a national of European Economic Area (EEA) country (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Itlay, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK) or Switzerland.
Passport or other document issued by the Home Office which has an endorsement stating that the holder has a current right of residence in the UK as the family member of a national from a EEA country or Switzerland.
Passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder can stay indefinitely in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay.
Passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder can stay in the UK, and that this endorsement allows the holder to do the type of work we are offering if they do not have a work permit.
Application Registration Card issued by the Home Office to an asylum seeker stating that the holder is permitted to take employment.

List 2

Combination 1:

A document giving the person's permanent NI number and name (P45, P60, NI card, letter from a Government agency)

AND

Full birth certificate issued in UK, which holds the names of the holder's parents; OR
Birth certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Island of Man or Ireland; OR
Certificate of registration or naturalisation stating that the holder is a British citizen; OR
A letter issued by the Home Office which indicates that the person named in it can stay indefinitely in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay; OR
Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it can stay indefinitely in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay; OR
A letter issued by the Home Office which indicates that the person named in it can stay in the UK; and this allows them to do the type of work we are offering; OR
Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it can stay in the UK; and this allows them to do the type of work we are offering.

Combination 2:

A work permit or other approval to take employment that has been issued by Work Permits UK

AND

Passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder is able to stay in UK and can take the work permit employment in question; OR
Letter issued by the Home Office confirming that the person named in it is able to stay in Uk and can take the work permit employment in question.

From 1 May 2004 we no longer had to check for the following documents:

A Home Office Standard Acknowledgement Letter or Immigration Service Letter (IS96W) which states that an asylum seeker can work in UK inform applicant to call 0151 237 6375 for information about how to apply for an Application Registration Card;
A letter issued by the Home Office stating the holder is a British citizen;
A passport describing the holder as a British Dependent Territories Citizen which states that the holder has a connection with Gibraltar;
A short birth certificate issued in UK which does not have details of the holder's parents;
A card or certificate issued by the Inland Revenue under the Construction Industry Scheme.

The following documents have never been accepted and should not form of our checks:

A temporary NI Number beginning with TN, or any number which ends with the letters E to Z inclusive;
A driving licence issued by the Driver and vehicle Licensing Agency;
A bill issued by a financial institution or a utility company.

Latest amendments

From 29^th February 2008, the government introduced the new statutory regime for preventing illegal working. The most publicised change is the introduction of new document checks to establish a statutory 'excuse' to avoid civil penalties.

This document should be read in conjunction with the Guidance notes for managers as it outlines which documents you should check from List A or List B.

Please note that people employed before 29^th February 2008, are still required to have their documents checked using the OLD LISTS which can be found above. The new lists are as follows:

List A

Employee must provide the following documents

British Passport including those who have right of Abode
Passport of Nationally Card showing the holder is a National of the European Economic Area country EEA or Switzerland
A resident permit, registration certificate or document certifying or indicating permanent residence issued by the Home Office or the Border and immigration Agency (BIA) to a national of EEA or Switzerland
A permanent Resident Card issued by Home Office or the BIA to a family member of a EEA Country or Switzerland
Biometric Immigration Document issued by the BIA Indicating that the person named is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK or has no time limit on their stay in the UK
A passport or other travel document endorsed to show the holder is exempt from immigration control, is allowed to stay in the UK indefinitely, has the right of abode in the UK or has no time limit on their stay in the UK.

Combinations

You can accept the following combinations of documents under List A

A official document issued by a previous employer or a government agency e.g. HM Revenue and Customs, DWP, JobCentrePlus or the employment service , which contains a permanent National Insurance number and name of the person examples include national insurance card , p60, p45

Along with checking and copying the above documents with the permanent National Insurance number you must check one of the following:

Immigration status document issued by either the Home Office or the BIA to the holder with an endorsement indicating the person named is allowed to stay in the UK indefinitely
A full birth certificate issued in the UK which includes the names of at least one of the holders parents
A full adoption certificate issued in the UK which includes the names of the adoptive parents
A birth certificate issued in the Channel Islands , the isle Man or Ireland
A adoption Certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland
A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British Citizen
A letter issued by the Home Office or BIA indicating the named individual is allowed to remain in the UK indefinitely

List B

These documents show a right to work for up to 12 Months, some of which must be shown in combination where this is required this is indicated and you MUST see both documents

A passport or travel document endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is allowed to do the work in question, provided that it does not require a work permit
A biometric immigration document issued by the BIA which indicates that the holder can stay in the UK and is allowed to do the work in question
A residence card or document issued by the Home Office or BIA to the family member of a national of the EEA or Switzerland
A combination of a work permit or other approval to take up employment issued by the Home Office or BIA with a passport that is endorsed and shows that the individual is allowed to stay in the UK and do the work in question
A combination of a certificate of Application issued by the Home Office or BIA to or for a family member of a national of a EEA country or Switzerland stating the holder is permitted to take employment which is less than 6 month old OR An application Registration Card issued by the home office stating the holder is permitted to take employment.
A combination of an official document issued by a previous employer or a government agency e.g. HM Revenue and Customs, DWP, JobCentrePlus or the employment service , which contains a permanent National Insurance number and name of the person examples include national insurance card , p60, p45 with either Immigration Document status which endorses the individual can stay in the UK and take up the employment in question or a letter from the Home Office/BIA to the employee/employer confirming that they can take up the employment in question