How the online share-code check works — what a share code is, how a worker generates one, and how you verify it on the official GOV.UK service.
A share code is a nine-character code an individual generates from their own Home Office account to prove their right to work. It is valid for 90 days and can be reused within that window. It is the route used by most people who are not British or Irish citizens, and by anyone with an eVisa (an online immigration status rather than a physical document). Importantly, a share code for right to work is a specific type — the same account can also produce codes for right to rent or other purposes, so the worker must generate the right-to-work one.
The individual uses the GOV.UK “prove your right to work” service, signs in to their immigration status, and selects the option to share it with an employer. The service issues the nine-character code, which they pass to you along with their date of birth. You cannot generate the code for them — it comes from their own account.
On the GOV.UK employer service you enter the share code and the person’s date of birth. The service returns their right to work status and a photograph; you must check the photo matches the person (in person or over a live video call) and confirm the work they can do. You then keep a copy of the online check — the profile page it produces — with the date of the check. A share-code check done correctly gives you a statutory excuse; where the status is time-limited, note the follow-up date. See right to work checks for employers.
If someone cannot produce a valid share code — for example they have an outstanding application, appeal or administrative review, or hold a document the online service cannot confirm — you may need the Employer Checking Service instead. British and Irish citizens generally prove their status by passport (manually) or through a certified digital identity provider rather than a share code; see our digital right to work checks guide.
When you complete the check, the GOV.UK employer service returns a profile confirming the person’s name and photograph, their right to work status, whether that status is time-limited and, where relevant, what work and conditions apply. Read it properly: someone may have the right to do some work but with restrictions (for example limited hours for certain students). The excuse only covers work the status actually permits, so the conditions on the result are part of the check, not small print.
The online route is designed to work remotely. You may hold the online check open and confirm the photograph matches the individual over a live video call — the person does not have to be physically present, and you do not need to see the original physical document. This is what makes share-code checks convenient for remote and high-volume hiring, provided you still genuinely verify the person is the one in the profile.
A person’s account can generate different share codes for different purposes — notably right to work (for employers) and right to rent (for landlords). They are not interchangeable: a right to rent code will not complete an employer’s right to work check. Ask specifically for a right to workshare code, and note that right to work codes are the nine-character codes valid for 90 days.
The usual errors are: accepting an expired code (they last 90 days); entering the wrong date of birth so the check fails; not checking the photograph against the person; accepting the wrong type of share code; and not recording the date of the check or the follow-up datefor time-limited status. Each is small, and each can cost you the statutory excuse.
It helps to know what the worker does, so you can guide them. They go to the GOV.UK “prove your right to work to an employer” service and sign in to their immigration status — usually with their eVisa account details or the identity document linked to it. They choose to share their right to work details, and the service issues the nine-character code. They pass that to you along with their date of birth. If a worker is struggling, it is almost always because they have signed in to the wrong service or generated a right to rentcode by mistake — point them to the right to work option.
Some people cannot use the online service — for example someone with an outstanding application, appeal or administrative review, or holding an Application Registration Card or a non-digital Certificate of Application. In those cases you use the Employer Checking Service, and a Positive Verification Noticegives a statutory excuse for six months, after which you check again. Do not fall back to guessing from a physical document the online service cannot confirm — use the ECS route so your excuse is sound.
Some people have the right to work but with conditions — most commonly students, who may be limited to a set number of hours during term time. The online result states those conditions, and your statutory excuse only covers work within them: employing a student beyond their permitted hours is a breach even though they had some right to work. Read the conditions on the result, record them, and make sure whoever manages rotas or shifts knows the limit — the check is not just a yes/no.
If the photograph or details on the online result do not match the person, or the status has expired or shows no right to do the work in question, do not proceed on that basis. Depending on the circumstances you may need to use the Employer Checking Service, ask the person to resolve their status, or take advice — but you should not rely on a result that does not actually support the work. Recording that you checked, and what the result showed, matters just as much when the answer is “not yet” as when it is “yes.”
Share codes are not only for new hires. Where an existing employee has time-limited permission, you will need a repeat online check before it expires to keep your statutory excuse — and the worker generates a fresh share code for that follow-up, exactly as they did the first time (a code is valid for 90 days, so it is generated close to when you need it, not months ahead). It is worth telling time-limited workers early that a follow-up will be needed, so the code is ready before the deadline rather than in a last-minute rush that risks a gap in your excuse. Track the follow-up date against the worker so the reminder does the remembering — see record keeping.
Keep the online check profile securely, in a format that cannot be altered, with the date recorded, for the duration of employment plus two years. Complys stores that evidence in the worker record and reminds you before a time-limited status needs a follow-up — see record keeping. Complys does not perform or validate the check itself.
General information for UK employers, not legal advice. Use the official GOV.UK right to work service and confirm details against current Home Office guidance. Reviewed 26 September 2026.
