The guidance published by the Home Office in March 2020, temporarily lifting the requirements for employers to conduct right to work checks in-person and see original versions of relevant documents such as passports, birth certificates or immigration status documents has been extended until 5 April 2022 (inclusive).
The guidance allows employers to carry out checks by video call and to rely on scans or photographs of documents. For more information on this, see our previous blog on the topic or the Home Office guidance here.
It seems that this digital process has been received positively by employers and has allowed greater flexibility as COVID restrictions have been and gone.
The Home Office is also looking into using specialist technology to support digital right to work checks in the long term going forward. This will allow for checks to be carried out remotely, but will be more secure than the current measures.
If you have any queries in relation to right to work checks, please get in touch with Jamie Kerr.
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