Guide
Right to work check with a BRP: why it no longer counts
Updated
If your onboarding pack still says photocopy the BRP, it is telling your managers to build a file with no statutory excuse in it.
What changed
The UK immigration system moved to digital proof of status. People granted permission now hold an eVisa, an online Home Office record, rather than a physical card, and the employer's guide states that individuals with an eVisa are only able to use the Home Office online service to evidence their right to work. gov.uk's employer page puts it in one line: "You can no longer accept biometric residence cards or permits. Ask the applicant for a share code instead" (gov.uk).
What to do when a candidate produces a BRP
- Do not check it, and do not copy it as your evidence.
- Ask them to sign in to or create their UKVI account and generate a right to work share code.
- Run the code and their date of birth through the employer service at Check a job applicant's right to work.
- Save the Home Office result page and record the date of the check.
Fix the process, not just the one hire
- Strip BRP and BRC from every onboarding checklist, offer letter and ATS field you own.
- Replace "bring your documents on day one" with "send us a right to work share code before your start date", because the check must be complete before employment starts.
- Train whoever actually does the checks. The employer, not the manager and not the agency, carries the civil penalty.
- Keep the same question for every candidate. Screening only some people for immigration status is the discrimination risk the Home Office code of practice exists to prevent.
Candidates issued a short-validity vignette to travel to the UK should create a UKVI account and get access to their eVisa as soon as possible, even before travelling. If a new arrival cannot generate a code yet, do not improvise: use the Employer Checking Service.
What an expired card means
The 26 June 2025 edition of the guide added further clarification that expired physical biometric residence permits are not acceptable proof of the right to work. An expired card is not evidence of anything, but it is also not evidence that the person has lost their permission: their status lives in the online record. Ask for the share code before drawing conclusions.