The Folder That Saves the Offer: Right-to-Work Checks for UK Candidates in 2026

You've negotiated the salary, survived the final panel, and accepted the offer. Then HR emails asking for your right-to-work evidence, and the whole thing suddenly feels contingent again.

It isn't personal, and it isn't red tape for the sake of it. Every UK employer has a legal duty to check that you're allowed to work before your first day. Get ahead of it and the check takes minutes. Leave it late and you can wave goodbye to your agreed start date. The fix is boring and effective: build the folder now.

What the check actually involves

Your employer has to verify your right to work before you begin, and keep a record of what they saw. There are two routes: a manual check of original documents, or the Home Office online service, which is how most eVisa holders prove their status. Some employers use an identity service provider to run checks, which is also fine.

Either way, someone on their side needs something from you. Your job is to make that something easy to produce.

The folder, item by item

• Your current passport (or, if you don't have one, the alternative documents on the Home Office list — a full birth certificate plus an official document showing your National Insurance number, for British and Irish citizens in some circumstances).
• Your eVisa share code, if you hold digital immigration status. More on this below.
• Your National Insurance number, written down somewhere you can find it in a hurry.
• A second form of ID if your employer asks — many do for payroll and DBS purposes.
• Any legacy paperwork you still hold, such as an old vignette or a certificate of application, kept as backup rather than as your main evidence.

A note on biometric residence permits: BRPs stopped being valid as right-to-work evidence at the end of 2024, when the system moved to eVisas. If you're still carrying a card around as your primary proof, that's the single most common way offers stall in 2026. You need an online status, not a bit of plastic.

Share codes, in plain English

A share code is a short string you generate from your UK Visas and Immigration account. It lets your employer look up your status online without you handing over your login. Three things worth knowing:

1. Generate it for the right purpose. There's a version for right to work and others for renting or benefits. Send the wrong one and the check fails for a reason that has nothing to do with your status.
2. They expire. A share code is valid for 90 days from generation. Don't send one in June and expect it to work in October.
3. It's sensitive. Treat it like a password. Send it to your employer through their official channel, not to a recruiter DM, and generate a fresh one for each new employer rather than recycling.

You'll also need to make sure the name on your UKVI account matches the name on your passport. Mismatches are a quiet, boring cause of delays that nobody flags until it's a problem.

When to get it moving

Ideally, have the folder ready before you start applying. That sounds excessive until you've been the person hunting for a passport photo page at 6pm on a Friday.

In practice: mention your right-to-work position at offer stage, or even at final interview, and ask what the employer will need. Good recruiters appreciate it — it tells them you're not going to be a compliance headache. Send documents or a share code as soon as they ask, and confirm in writing that they've received and accepted them.

Mistakes that cost people a start date

• Waiting for the contract to arrive before digging out documents.
• Sending a screenshot of a share code rather than the code itself.
• Assuming a scanned visa vignette is enough for an online check.
• Different names across passport, UKVI account and payroll forms, with no explanation.
• Letting a share code lapse between accepting the offer and the check.
• Not asking whether the employer wants a manual check or the online service, then sending the wrong thing.

If your status or document is still pending

This happens more than the job ads suggest — a renewal in progress, a passport away for replacement, a dependant's application still with the Home Office. The worst move is silence. Tell the recruiter or HR as soon as you know, explain what's outstanding, and give a realistic date.

Ask directly whether the start date can move, or whether there's a temporary route they're comfortable with — some employers will hold the offer for a few weeks, others will run the check the moment your status confirms. What they can't do is let you start work without a completed check, so the conversation is worth having early rather than on the eve of day one.

Get any agreement in writing, keep a copy of everything you send, and note the expiry date on any time-limited permission — you'll need a follow-up check later, and being the person who remembers saves everyone a scramble.

None of this makes for thrilling reading. But a folder built in twenty quiet minutes is the difference between a smooth Monday morning and a very awkward phone call.