The Home Office has updated the right to work guidance regarding the checks that need to be made when individuals have an in-country extension or variation application pending.
Where an individual applies to extend or vary their leave before their current leave to remain expires, but the application is not decided before the expiry date, their existing leave will be automatically extended. Any existing rights, including the right to work, will continue until the in-time application is decided.
Up until now, in these circumstances, employers have had to contact the Employer Checking Service (ECS) to request confirmation that the individual had the right to work. It could take up to 5 working days to receive either a Positive Verification Notice, confirming the right to work, or a Negative Verification Notice, and requests could only be made 14 days or more after the application was submitted.
Now, where an individual advises an employer that they have an outstanding, in-time application, and that they are an eVisa holder, the employer must ask them for a share code and can then use the usual online checking site to carry out a right to work check. The employer should get an immediate confirmation as to whether the individual has the right to work or not.
It is important to remember that a right to work check for someone with a pending application, whether made using the Employer Checking Service or directly by carrying out an online check for an eVisa holder, will only last up to 6 months. Once the application is decided a new right to work check must be carried out, or if the application is still pending a repeat check must be undertaken every six months to extend the employer’s statutory protection against a civil penalty.