RTW Wizard

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.

Talk to a specialist One minute in the wizard against a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.

Question 1

What are you trying to do?

This wizard is written for employers. It follows the Home Office employer's guide, which since 1 October 2026 also covers people engaged under a worker's contract, individual sub-contractors and online matching services (see the subcontractors guide).

What changed

The UK immigration system moved to digital proof of status. People granted permission now hold an eVisa, an online Home Office record, not a physical card. The employer's guide says eVisa holders can only 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

  1. Do not check it, and do not copy it as your evidence.
  2. Ask them to sign in to or create their UKVI account and generate a right to work share code.
  3. Run the code and their date of birth through the employer service at Check a job applicant's right to work.
  4. 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 clarified that expired physical biometric residence permits are not acceptable proof of the right to work.

An expired card proves nothing, but nor does it show the person lost their permission: their status lives in the online record. Ask for the share code before drawing conclusions.

Need right to work checks handled properly?

We will pass your details to up to three immigration solicitors and advisers, who contact you directly.

Next: where to reach you.

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Questions, answered directly

Can I still use a biometric residence permit for a right to work check?

No. gov.uk tells employers they can no longer accept biometric residence cards or permits, and to ask for a share code instead. People who held a BRP now have an eVisa and evidence their right to work through the Home Office online service.

What is an eVisa?

An online record, provided by the Home Office, of a person's immigration status and the conditions of their permission to enter or stay in the UK. Individuals with an eVisa can only use the Home Office online service to evidence their right to work.

The candidate cannot generate a share code. What now?

If they have an outstanding application, appeal or administrative review, or hold a Certificate of Application or Application Registration Card, use the Home Office Employer Checking Service. A Positive Verification Notice gives you a statutory excuse for six months from the date specified in it.

Sources

This site's own datasets, every figure quoted from its source and dated:

  • The Immigration Route Work Rights carries 4 published figures read from 4 sources' own pages, from 14 to 90 day, read 7 November 2026.
  • The Right to Work Check Rules carries 4 published figures read from 4 sources' own pages, from 28 to 90 day, read 7 November 2026.
  • The median published figure in the RTW Check Provider Index is 7.96 GBP across 6 sources' own pages (range 5.40 to 10 GBP), read 12 October 2026.
  1. gov.uk, checking a job applicant's right to work
  2. gov.uk, check a job applicant's right to work: use their share code
  3. gov.uk, prove your right to work to an employer
  4. gov.uk, penalties for employing illegal workers
  5. Home Office, employer's guide to right to work checks (26 June 2025 accessible edition)
  6. Home Office, right to work checks employer guidance collection
  7. gov.uk, right to work checklist
  8. legislation.gov.uk, Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, section 48
  9. legislation.gov.uk, the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/683)
  10. Home Office, employer's guide to right to work checks, 1 October 2026

Check before the first shift, not after

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