The short answer
- British and Irish carers need a valid passportYour British or Irish passport is checked digitally through Yoti when you register. It has to be in date. There is no birth certificate or National Insurance route on PrimeCarers, and an expired passport is not accepted.
- Everyone else uses a share codeYou get a right to work share code from gov.uk through your UKVI account. It lasts 90 days and shows the Home Office record of whether you can work, what work you can do, and until when.
- Platforms carry the check from 1 October 2026Under the Home Office guidance that comes into force on 1 October 2026, an online matching service is treated as the employer for right to work purposes. On 22 September 2026 that guidance was still published as a draft.
- No passport means applying for one firstHM Passport Office says you will usually get a passport within 3 weeks, and longer if it needs more information or an interview. You can register once it arrives.
Government rules on this page were read on gov.uk on 22 September 2026. The right to work check is one of four checks on PrimeCarers, alongside an identity check, an enhanced DBS check issued within the last 18 months and a recorded video interview.
The two routes
Which route is yours depends on your citizenship
Every carer on PrimeCarers has their right to work checked before they appear to families. The question the onboarding eligibility step asks is simple: do you hold a British or Irish passport? Your answer decides which of the two routes below you take.
British or Irish citizen
You hold British or Irish citizenship
Have your passport to hand
A British or Irish passport that is in date on the day you do the check. An expired one cannot be used, even by a few days.
Do the digital check with Yoti
Your passport is checked digitally through Yoti as part of registering, online, with nothing posted anywhere. The same passport covers your identity check and your right to work check.
No end date to track
British and Irish citizens have a continuing right to work, so there is no date on which it has to be checked again.
Where this route stops
No passport, or only an expired one
You cannot finish registering until you have a valid passport. There is no birth certificate, National Insurance or driving licence route, and no photo of a document is accepted.
Everyone else
You are not a British or Irish citizen
Get a right to work share code
From gov.uk, signing in to your UKVI account. The code is nine characters, begins with W, and lasts 90 days.
Give the code and your date of birth
The Home Office check shows whether you can work in the UK, the types of work you can do and, if there is one, the date your permission ends.
Watch the end date, if there is one
Where your permission is time-limited, the guidance expects a fresh check on or before the date it ends.
Where this route stops
Permission tied to a sponsored job
On a Health and Care Worker visa, extra work is allowed only within the gov.uk rules on additional work, and you may need to update your visa before you start. Check those rules first.
Either way, the check happens online as part of registering, from your own phone or computer. Nothing is posted to us, and nobody needs to meet you in person to do it. That is the reason for the rules on the left-hand side, which the next section explains.
A right to work check is separate from the other checks, although it sits alongside them. Registering on PrimeCarers includes four checks: your identity, checked digitally with Yoti; your right to work; an enhanced DBS check (or PVG in Scotland, Access NI in Northern Ireland) issued within the last 18 months; and a recorded video interview of 14 questions, which takes about 45 minutes in one sitting. That is the full list. If you are new to all of this, Carer resources has the other guides on setting up as a self-employed carer, and enhanced DBS and the Update Service covers the criminal record side.
The right to work check answers one narrow question: are you allowed to do this work in the UK? It says nothing about your skills or your character, and it is not a judgement on you. It is a legal requirement, and from 1 October 2026 the Home Office expects the platform to be the one that makes it.
British and Irish carers
British and Irish carers need a valid passport, checked through Yoti
If you are a British or Irish citizen, you can only complete the right to work step on PrimeCarers with a British or Irish passport that is in date. We changed to this in September 2026. If you have seen older advice about birth certificates or National Insurance letters, that route is no longer used on PrimeCarers.
Accepted on PrimeCarers
- A British passport that is in date on the day of the check
- An Irish passport that is in date on the day of the check
Not accepted on PrimeCarers
- A passport that has expired, even recently
- A birth or adoption certificate with a National Insurance letter
- A driving licence
- A photo, scan or photocopy of any document
- Original documents sent in the post
Why the passport has to be checked digitallySection titled Why%20the%20passport%20has%20to%20be%20checked%20digitally
The Home Office allows two kinds of check for a British or Irish citizen. One is a digital check of a passport, done through an approved identity service provider. We use Yoti for this. The other is a manual check of original documents, and the draft guidance is clear about what a manual check involves. The person doing the check must have the original documents physically in their hands. They can do it face to face or over a live video call, but in both cases they must physically hold the originals. The guidance also says a checker cannot rely on seeing a document over video or on a screenshot or scanned copy.
PrimeCarers works online and we do not meet carers in person, so the only check we can do remotely for a British or Irish citizen is the digital check of a passport. That is why we do not accept posted documents or photographs of them. Taking originals through the post would mean holding somebody's birth certificate, and a photograph of a document is not a legal check at all.
Why an expired passport does not workSection titled Why%20an%20expired%20passport%20does%20not%20work
The gov.uk page on proving your right to work says a British or Irish passport can be current or expired for a manual check. The Home Office's draft guidance for 1 October 2026 also allows digital checks of passports up to six months past their expiry date. We do not offer that. On PrimeCarers the passport has to be valid on the day you do the check, so if yours has run out, renew it before you register.
There is one thing worth doing before you start. Check the expiry date in your passport now, and if it runs out in the next few months, it may be simpler to renew first, so the check goes through first time.
The 1 October change
Why online platforms are responsible for the check from 1 October 2026
Until now, the Home Office's right to work rules were written for employers. From 1 October 2026 they reach further, to cover people who work as individual sub-contractors and people who find work through an online matching service. PrimeCarers is one of those services, so this change applies to us.
- 26 June 2025
The current final guidance
The most recent final version of the Home Office employer’s guide to right to work checks. It is still the final version on gov.uk while the new one is in draft.
- 16 July 2026
A draft of the new guidance
The Home Office publishes a draft employer’s guide written for the changes made by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025.
- September 2026
PrimeCarers moves to passport only
British and Irish carers now complete the right to work step with a valid passport checked through Yoti. The birth certificate and National Insurance route is no longer used.
- 11 September 2026
The draft is updated
The Home Office publishes an updated draft, still labelled as a draft, which says it will come into force on 1 October 2026.
- 1 October 2026
Online matching services become responsible
For work that starts on or after this date, an online matching service is treated as the employer of the people whose details it gives to clients, and is responsible for the right to work check.
What the draft guidance saysSection titled What%20the%20draft%20guidance%20says
The draft guidance, updated on 11 September 2026, describes an online matching service as a business that keeps a register of service providers, runs an online service where clients can ask to be matched with a suitable provider, and charges a fee or commission for doing so. For its example, the guidance uses a homeowner who finds a cleaner through an online matching service. It says the service "is the cleaner's employer for the purposes of the Right to Work Scheme" and is "responsible for the right to work check".
The word "employer" in that sentence is used for right to work purposes only, and the guidance says so. It does not make you an employee of the platform. Carers on PrimeCarers stay self-employed, set their own rates and choose their own clients, and PrimeCarers remains an introductory and payment service. What changes is who the Home Office holds responsible if somebody is found to be working without the right to do so.
The date matters too. The guidance says a civil penalty for these new kinds of arrangement "may only be imposed where the employment commenced on or after 1 October 2026". For the check to count, it has to be done before the work begins.
For you, the practical effect is small. You were already asked to prove your right to work when you registered on PrimeCarers, and you still are. The check has a clearer legal footing from 1 October, and the Home Office expects it to be done properly before your details reach any family.
If you are stuck
What to do if you have no passport, or your permission has an end date
Most carers get through the right to work step in a few minutes. For some, the first attempt stops because a passport has expired, was never applied for, or a visa is coming to an end. None of these has to end your plans, but each one needs sorting out before you can carry on.
If your right to work step does not go through
| What to do | How long it takes | |
|---|---|---|
| British citizen, never had a passport | Apply for a first adult passport on gov.uk. It costs £102 online. You send original documents such as your full birth certificate, and you may be asked to do an identity interview, which can be by video. | Usually within 3 weeks, and longer if HM Passport Office needs more information or an interview. The urgent services cannot be used for a first adult passport. |
| British citizen, passport expired or lost | Renew or replace it on gov.uk, which costs £102 online. An adult passport lasts 10 years. | Usually within 3 weeks. The 1 week Fast Track service costs £192 for an adult passport and needs an appointment at a passport office. |
| Irish citizen with no valid passport | Irish passports are issued by the Irish government, not by HM Passport Office, so apply through the Irish government’s passport service. | Set by the Irish passport service rather than gov.uk, so check its current times before you apply. |
| Permission with an end date | Apply to extend or switch your visa before it ends. Once your new permission shows on your eVisa, make a fresh right to work share code. | Set by the visa you apply for. The guidance expects a new check on or before the day your current permission ends. |
British citizen, never had a passport
- What to do
- Apply for a first adult passport on gov.uk. It costs £102 online. You send original documents such as your full birth certificate, and you may be asked to do an identity interview, which can be by video.
- How long it takes
- Usually within 3 weeks, and longer if HM Passport Office needs more information or an interview. The urgent services cannot be used for a first adult passport.
British citizen, passport expired or lost
- What to do
- Renew or replace it on gov.uk, which costs £102 online. An adult passport lasts 10 years.
- How long it takes
- Usually within 3 weeks. The 1 week Fast Track service costs £192 for an adult passport and needs an appointment at a passport office.
Irish citizen with no valid passport
- What to do
- Irish passports are issued by the Irish government, not by HM Passport Office, so apply through the Irish government’s passport service.
- How long it takes
- Set by the Irish passport service rather than gov.uk, so check its current times before you apply.
Permission with an end date
- What to do
- Apply to extend or switch your visa before it ends. Once your new permission shows on your eVisa, make a fresh right to work share code.
- How long it takes
- Set by the visa you apply for. The guidance expects a new check on or before the day your current permission ends.
Fees and timings from gov.uk (Getting your first adult passport, Renew or replace your adult passport, Get a passport urgently and HM Passport Office: about our services), read 22 September 2026.
Without a passport, you cannot finish registering yetSection titled Without%20a%20passport%2C%20you%20cannot%20finish%20registering%20yet
If you are British or Irish and have no valid passport, you cannot carry on past the right to work step on PrimeCarers until you have one. We know that can be frustrating, especially if you have worked in care for years and proved your right to work to an employer with a birth certificate before. The reason is the one set out above. A birth certificate route needs a manual check of the originals in the checker's hands, and we cannot do that for somebody we do not meet.
HM Passport Office says its processing time starts when it receives your documents. For a first adult passport, the documents you send are originals, and gov.uk says photocopies are not accepted. They come back separately from the passport. Use the time while you wait to read what carers earn on PrimeCarers and how to pay tax as a self-employed carer, so you are ready when it arrives.
If your permission is time-limitedSection titled If%20your%20permission%20is%20time-limited
A share code that shows an end date is not a problem in itself. It means your right to work has to be checked again on or before that date if you want to keep working. The draft guidance says a follow-up check "does not have to be the same type of right to work check as the initial check", and a new share code once your extension is granted is the simplest way to provide one.
Keep your UKVI account details, and the phone number or email address linked to it, up to date. If you lose access to the account, you cannot make a share code, and gov.uk has a service to help you recover the account.
When you are readySection titled When%20you%20are%20ready
When you have your passport or share code ready, you can register as a carer on PrimeCarers and start the checks. If you would rather see what is advertised first, see the carer jobs open near you. Self-employed carer documents lists the other paperwork worth having to hand, and the carer interview questions guide explains what to expect from the video interview.
Questions
Questions carers ask about right to work checks
Not on PrimeCarers. The gov.uk rules allow a manual check of a UK or Irish birth certificate alongside an official letter showing your National Insurance number, but a manual check needs the person doing it to hold your original documents. We work online and do not meet carers in person, so the only check we can do for a British or Irish citizen is a digital check of a valid passport through Yoti.
No. On PrimeCarers your passport must be in date on the day of the check. The Home Office draft guidance for 1 October 2026 allows digital checks of passports up to six months past expiry, but we do not offer that, so renew your passport before you register.
No. They are two different codes from two different services. A right to work share code comes from your UKVI account on gov.uk, begins with W, and shows your permission to work. A DBS share code comes with a basic DBS check applied for online, and lets somebody see the result of that check. PrimeCarers needs a right to work share code only if you are not a British or Irish citizen. The enhanced DBS check is arranged separately as part of registering; DBS changes for self-employed carers explains the DBS side.
90 days from when you make it, and it can be used as many times as needed in that time. If it runs out before you finish registering, make a new one on gov.uk through your UKVI account. It costs nothing.
Nothing published says so. The draft guidance applies to work that starts on or after 1 October 2026, and it does not ask for carers already checked to be checked again. If your permission to work has an end date, a new check is needed on or before that date whenever you joined.
It depends on your circumstances. On 22 September 2026, gov.uk said Health and Care Worker visa holders can work up to 20 hours a week in another job or for their own business while still doing their sponsored job, if the extra work is higher skilled, on the immigration salary list, or in the same sector and at the same level as the main job. Medium skilled work is allowed only if your first certificate of sponsorship was issued before 22 July 2025 and you have held the visa continuously since. You may need to update your visa first. Read taking on additional work on gov.uk, or ask a regulated immigration adviser, before you register.
No. The Home Office guidance calls an online matching service the employer for right to work purposes only. Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed, set their own rates and choose their own clients. The contract for each booking is between the carer and the client, and PrimeCarers is an introductory and payment service, not an agency.