Any one of the documents, or combination of documents described in 'List A' or 'List B' below will provide you with a statutory excuse if you take reasonable steps to check the validity of the original document and ensure that the person presenting the document is the rightful holder. Following this you must make a copy of the relevant page, or pages prior to employing an individual.
The applicable documents are divided into two groups - 'List A' and 'List B'. If reasonable steps are taken to check the validity of a document or documents from 'List A', then a statutory excuse will have been established for the duration of the employment and no further checks will be required.
Alternatively, each time that a document or combination of documents from 'List B' is provided, you must note the date on which you carried out the original document check and carry out a follow-up check at least once every 12 months after the initial check.
'List A' documents
The following list contains the more common forms of 'List A' documents.
- Passport showing that the holder is a British Citizen; or
- Passport or national identity card showing that the holder is a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland; or
- Residence permit indicating permanent residence to a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland; or
- Permanent residence card issued to the family member of a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland; or
- A Biometric Immigration Document which indicates that the person named in it is allowed to stay indefinitely in the United Kingdom, or has no time limit on their stay in the United Kingdom; or
- A full birth certificate issued in the United Kingdom which includes the name(s) of at least one of the holder's parents, when produced in combination with an official document giving the person's permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer (e.g. P45, P60, National Insurance Card).
Please contact us for full details of all applicable 'List A' documents.
'List B' documents
The following list contains some of the more common forms of 'List B' documents.
- Passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the work in question, provided that it does not require the issue of a work permit; or;
- A Biometric Immigration Document indicating that the person named in it can stay in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the work in question; or
- A work permit or other approval to take employment, when produced in combination with a passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the work in question; or
- A certificate of application issued to or for a family member of a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland, stating that the holder is permitted to take employment, which is less than 6 months old, when produced in combination with evidence of verification by the Border and Immigration Agency Employer Checking Service; or
- A residence card or document issued to a family member of a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland.
Please contact us for full details of all applicable 'List B' documents.
What to look for when checking documents
Provided below are some useful tips for ensuring that immigration documents are genuine:
- Photographs - does the person look like the photographs on their documents?
- Dates of birth - are the dates consistent with the appearance of the candidate?
- Expiry dates - if the documents have an expiry date, are they still valid?
- Stamps and endorsements - do the passport stamps allow your job applicant to do the type of work you are offering?
- Names - is the same name used on all the documents and is the spelling exactly the same?
- General - do any of the documents appear to have been tampered with?
Copying, saving & storing candidate documents
Once you have checked the candidate's documents and you are satisfied that they are genuine, you are required to save copies for your records. The following pages of passports or travel documents should be photocopied or scanned into your computer using secure software:
- Front cover
- Pages with personal details, including name, date of birth, nationality and document number
- Page with photograph and signature
- Page containing the valid, relevant UK Government stamp or endorsement.
You must ensure that all copies are stored securely. Photocopies of documents should be securely stored with your personnel records, while scanned documents should be stored on secure media, such as a CD-R. When using storage media make sure that the information cannot be altered, deleted or overwritten once you have saved it.