Support for employers

This page tells United Kingdom employers about the support available to help them prevent illegal migrant working. We advise you to read the Preventing illegal working page before using these services.

Help with checking your migrant workers' eligibility

We have developed an interactive tool with Business Link to help you check an individual's entitlement to work in the United Kingdom. You can find the tool at:

We also offer an employer checking service to help you confirm that specific types of migrant are allowed to work, such as those who have:
. an outstanding application or appeal with us; or
. presented an application registration card (ARC) or certificate of application.

Business Helpdesk

Our business helpdesk is a dedicated email service for employers. It can provide advice and answer your general questions about preventing illegal working.

Educators Helpdesk

Our educators helpdesk is a dedicated email service for education providers. It can provide advice and answer your general questions about preventing illegal study.

Check an employee's right to work using a biometric residence permit

The online 'right to work' checking service helps employers perform fast and effective 'right to work' checks on an employee's biometric residence permit. This is a free, introductory service for employers until we launch a fully automated service, operated by our commercial partners. When you use that service, our partners will charge you a fee for each check.

Other sources of information

The HM Revenue & Customs website contains a wide range of information for employers, including guidance to help you determine whether someone is employed or self-employed.

PRADO - the Public Register of Authentic Identity and Travel Documents Online - is a database on the Council of the European Union website. It is a very useful resource for checking the authenticity of European documents, including those issued by the United Kingdom.