Right to Work | Guidance & Licensing Forms Updated | 1st July 2021

Following the UK’s formal departure from the European Union on 31 December 2020 and a grace period of six-months (until 30 June 2021) during which relevant aspects of free movement law were saved,  EEA citizens and their family members require immigration status in the UK in the same way as other foreign nationals. Accordingly, they can no longer rely on an EEA passport or national identity card to prove their right to work.

The Home Office has now published updated guidance for employers to reflect the new position. The draft guidance updates the previous version from 2019.

In addition, The Immigration (Restrictions on Employment and Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) and Licensing Act 2003 (Personal and Premises Licences) (Forms) Order 2021 will also come into force from 1 July 2021. 

We are already familiar with the requirements to prove a right to work when making applications for personal licences, premises licences, licence transfers or interim authorities.

The changes to these forms, which will come into effect on 1 July 2021, simply reflect the new reality and direct applicants to the .GOV website and s.182 guidance (Annex A) for information regarding which documents can be used to evidence the right of work. This in addition to the Home Office’s ‘share code’ service with which employers are already familiar.