If you are offering employment then, to ensure compliance with the Asylum & Immigration Act 1996, you are required to check one of two types of document to meet legal requirements.
To avoid claims of discrimination you should check ALL new employees on appointment. If you have not been doing so, then it would be a wise precaution to check all current employees before a Home Office visit. The Government promised “tough action” in the Queen’s speech and you could be surprised by such a visit.
You will need to see either one of the documents included in List 1 or two documents from List 2 below for checking and copying.
List 1
A UK passport
- An EEA (European Economic Area) passport or national identity card
- A UK residence permit issued by the Home Office
- An application registration card issued by the Home Office to an asylum seeker, stating that the holder is permitted to take up employment
- A Passport or other travel document endorsed to show that you are exempt from immigration control, have indefinite leave to enter, or remain in the UK and have no time limit on your stay
List 2
Either
A document issued by a previous employer, the Inland Revenue, The Department for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus, The Employment Service, The Training and Employment Agency (Northern Ireland) or the Northern Ireland Social security Agency, which contains your National Insurance number
and
a birth certificate issued in the UK, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland which specifies the names of the holder’s parents; or
- A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British Citizen; or
- A letter issued to you by the Home Office, indicating that you have been granted indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK; or
- An Immigration Status Document issued to you by the Home Office, endorse with a UK Residence Permit, indicating that you have been granted indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK
or
A work permit or other approval to take employment issued by Work Permits UK
and:
- A passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder has current leave to enter or remain in the UK and is permitted to take the work permit employment in question; or
- A letter issued to you by the Home Office confirming the same.