Your right to work check, explained

What changed on 1 October 2026

From 1 October 2026, the Home Office's right to work rules cover online matching services, not just employers. Movesmith matches movers with customers, so the rules apply to us.

That means we are responsible for checking the right to work of each self-employed mover we match with customers, and of the director of a one-person limited company who does the moves themselves. Removal companies that employ their own crew already have to check their staff, and they still do.

This page explains how our process works. It is not legal advice. For the law itself, read the Home Office guidance on GOV.UK.

• Employer's guide to right to work checks (GOV.UK)

If you work for yourself: how the check works

If you are a sole trader, or a limited company whose director is the only person who does the work, we check your right to work once, before your first job. It takes about 3 minutes on your phone.

1. 1

   Open the check in your Supplier Portal

   Sign in on your phone and start your right to work check.

2. 2

   Choose how to prove it

   Use a Home Office share code, or a digital ID check through a certified ID app where we offer it. If neither suits you, ask for a document check and a member of our team will check your original documents with you.

3. 3

   We check it and email you

   We'll email you as soon as it's checked. You don't need to chase us.

A share code comes from the Home Office. You can get one on GOV.UK if you have an eVisa, including settled or pre-settled status. British and Irish citizens don't have a share code: use the digital ID option or a document check instead.

• Prove your right to work to an employer (GOV.UK)
• View and prove your immigration status: get a share code (GOV.UK)

If you run a removal company: your crew

If you employ staff or bring in helpers, you check their right to work yourself, as an employer always has. We don't check your staff for you. Here is what we ask:

• Check the right to work of everyone who works on a Movesmith job, before they start. That includes drivers, porters and anyone helping out.
• Use a check the Home Office accepts, as set out in its employer guidance.
• If someone's permission to work runs out on a date, check them again before that date.
• Keep a record of each check.
• Don't send anyone in someone else's place without telling us first.
• When you accept a job, tick to confirm that everyone working on it has had a right to work check by you.

We audit a sample of jobs. If yours is picked, we'll ask you to show us the records of your checks.

• Check a job applicant's right to work (GOV.UK)
• Employer's guide to right to work checks (GOV.UK)
• Right to work checklist (GOV.UK)
• Employer Checking Service (GOV.UK)

What we keep, and for how long

We keep a record of your check: the result, the date we checked it, the way you proved it and, if your permission to work ends on a date, that date.

We also keep a copy of what the check showed us, such as the Home Office result page, the digital ID result, or a copy of the document you showed us. The law asks us to keep this.

We delete your share code and date of birth once the result is recorded.

We keep the record for as long as you work with us, and for 2 years after you stop. It is stored securely and only our compliance team can see it. Customers never see it.