Provisions the documents cite: arts 3, 3A, 4, 4A and 4B (excuse from paying a civil penalty), 5 and 5A (checks before employment begins), 6 and 6A (how documents are checked and copied), 7 (no longer retention than necessary), 9 (objection period); Schedule lists A and B
What it requires
The statutory excuse under s.15(3) of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 is established only by a check made before the employment begins (arts 5 and 5A), by one of these routes: a document or combination from List A produced by the employee (art 3); a document from List B Part 1, which excuses for the period the document permits the work, extended by 28 days while an in-time application, appeal or administrative review is outstanding (art 4); a List B Part 2 document with a Positive Verification Notice from the Home Office Employer Checking Service, or a Positive Verification Notice alone, which excuses for six months (art 4A); a Home Office online right to work check confirming the person may do the work, with the employer satisfied the photograph is of the employee and a clear copy kept (art 4B); or an identity check by an IDVT identity service provider of a relevant IDVT document — a current British passport or an Irish passport or passport card — with a clear unalterable copy of the check received (art 3A). For documents produced (art 6): take all reasonable steps to check validity and record the date of the check; be satisfied that any photograph is of the employee, that any date of birth is consistent with their appearance and that they are the rightful owner; keep a clear copy in a format that cannot later be altered — the whole document, or for a passport the pages with personal details and nationality, photograph, signature, expiry and entitlement to work — securely for not less than two years after the employment ends; for a student with term-time limits, obtain and keep the term and vacation dates. Online check and IDVT copies are also kept for not less than two years after employment ends (arts 4B(1)(d), 6A(2)(b)). Documents are not to be kept longer than necessary for that purpose (art 7). A notice of objection to a penalty is given within 28 days (art 9). WATCH — the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment and Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/700), made 24 June 2026, come into force on 1 October 2026 and change these checks. The IDVT route becomes a DVS route: the identity check comes from a right to work digital verification service provider registered on the DVS register under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the employer obtains confirmation of that registration and that the service is provided to the right to work supplementary code, and a relevant DVS document includes a British or Irish passport expired by not more than six months (arts 2, 3A). Where a facial recognition check is used, copies of the facial images and the provider's confirmation are kept securely for two years after employment ends (arts 3A(1)(f), 4B(1)(f)), and digital facial recognition relied on to match a photograph must come from such a provider (arts 4B(1A), 6(1A)). A government-issued digital version of a National Insurance number document counts as a document (art 2). New art 5B adds requirements where a person contracted to provide work or services contracts with another who engages the individual: before the work starts, a written statement requiring the subcontract to include right to work compliance, no further subcontracting without written consent, audit rights, enforcement provisions and cooperation with investigations, and systems for the duration that ensure the individual doing the work is the one checked; and where a contract of employment allows substitution, the substitute is checked before starting. List A paragraph 1 no longer includes a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies with the right of abode. Revised codes of practice come into force the same day (arts 11, 12). Documents citing this Order must be reviewed against the amended text before 1 October 2026.
The instrument itself: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/3290. The summary above is our plain-English reading, not the text of the instrument — always work from the source.
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The 3 documents that cite it
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