The Immigration (Restrictions on Employment and Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

These Regulations make amendments relating to the checks of immigration status that must be undertaken by employers, in relation to the employment of employees, and by landlords or agents for residential tenancies, in relation to occupiers or prospective occupiers, for those employers, landlords or agents to be excused from liability for a civil penalty for employing or renting to individuals without valid immigration status.

Regulation 2 amends the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2007 ( S.I. 2007/3290 ) (“ the 2007 Order ”) and regulation 4 amends the Immigration (Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) Order 2014 ( S.I. 2014/2874 ) to extend the scope for the digital verification of documentation which may prove immigration status and to provide for new codes of practice on civil penalties and avoiding unlawful discrimination. Regulation 3 makes analogous amendments to the Illegal Working Compliance Orders Regulations 2016 ( S.I. 2016/1058 ) to extend the scope for the digital verification of documents relating to an individual’s right to work which a court may require a person specified in an illegal working compliance order to produce to an immigration officer.

Regulation 2 also inserts a new article 5B into the 2007 Order to set out the circumstances in which the excusal from liability to a civil penalty applies to—

a person contracted to provide, or arrange for the provision of, work or services who has entered into a contract with another person to provide or arrange for the provision of the work or services where that other person enters into a contract with an individual who is to provide the work or services;

an online matching service who provides the details of another person who is a service provider to a potential client or customer and who, as a result of being matched with that client or customer, enters into a contract with them and with an individual who is to provide the work or services; and

a person who employs an individual to provide work or services where there is a clause in the contract of employment which permits that individual to substitute another person to provide the work or services.

An impact assessment in relation to the extension of the scope of employers required to carry out right to work checks to other working arrangements when this was introduced by amendments to the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (c. 13) (by section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (c. 31) ) is published alongside this instrument and available on legislation.gov.uk . An economic note in relation to the requirements for right to work and right to rent checks to be completed through registered digital verification services is also published alongside this instrument and available on legislation.gov.uk .