Taxis and private hire Face to face immigration checks

We cannot legally issue a hackney carriage or private hire driver's licence unless you have the correct 'right to work' documentation this applies to all drivers including British citizens. To check this we must see you (including renewal drivers) face to face to check your documentation.

This applies to:

  • private hire drivers;
  • hackney carriage drivers; and 
  • private hire operators.

We will review all applications for hackney carriage and vehicle proprietors to make sure that they have the right to work (be self employed) within the industry.

Your right to work in the UK will be checked as part of your licence application.  This could include checking your immigration status / sharing information with the Home Office. You must either share your immigration status using the Home Office online checking service to ‘Prove your right to work to an employer’, or provide a document / combination of documents that is stipulated as being suitable for this check.

  • Where an online check has been carried out, the ‘profile’ page confirming your right to work will be copied and saved by the licensing authority.
  • Where a manual check is carried out, the document(s) will be copied, and the copy retained by the licensing authority. The original document will be returned to you. Your application will not be considered valid until all the necessary information and any original document(s) have been produced and the relevant fee has been paid.

You will be invited to bring your original documents (as required by the Home Office) to a face to face document verification appointment. We will check:

  • photographs and dates of birth are the same across documents and your appearance;
  • expiry dates for permission to be in the UK have not passed;
  • any work restrictions that would stop you from holding a licence;
  • documents are genuine, have not been tampered with and belong to you; and
  • reasons for any difference in names across documents (e.g. original marriage certificate, divorce decree absolute, deed poll).

We will take a copy of the documents and keep them if you are granted a licence.

Once we have seen you face to face we will not need to see you again unless you have a visa with restrictions. 

Where there are restrictions on your right to work in the UK, a licence will only be issued (subject to statutory limitations) up to the expiry date of the permission to work. We will then check the immigration status each time an application is made. A check will be repeated each time you apply to renew or extend your licence.  If, during this period, you are disqualified from holding a licence because you have not complied with the UK’s immigration laws, your licence will lapse and you must return it to the licensing authority. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.’

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