to think that it is ludicrous that you can not work here (Irish citizen) without a passport?

[WildeWoman]

FFS.
I'm Irish.
Eligible to work here.
Want to work.
Went to agency meeting today ahead of job interview.
Apparently, you can't work here without a passport unless you are British.

Am I the last to know?

Oh - and before you ask, passport was stolen. It will take 6 weeks for new one to issue.

Such bollox.

Have not rtft, but if they've said it's because you're Irish I would have thought it's discriminatory (legally speaking).

BillSykesDog and Balletmum - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

Agency accepting birth cert and payslip. CV sent through to company now. Fingers crossed for an interview today. And then fingers crossed that it would go well if I get the interview!

theycallmemellojello - no they never said anything like that - I was just joking when I said 'Is it cos I is Irish'. :)

.

Good luck!

interview at 12 - nerves kicking in now

Good luck!

I was born in England and had to show my passport, birth certificate and 2 proofs of address when I started my last 2 jobs. As a pp said, employers can get huge fines if they can't prove they did all they could to ensure an employer's right to work in this country.

I haven't had a passport for over ten years and have never been asked to provide one. As if I'd pay for one anyway when I have a driving licence.

No idea about your situation OP I'm just a bit about all these people whose jobs told them to produce a passport after having already worked for them for years.

Agree with you. We dont have passports as we cant afford to fork out a hundred quid for something we wouldnt use for travel.
We have our NI numbers and birth certificate plus can supply other ID, we havent reported them stolen so they should be enough.

Good luck!

It's nothing to do with you being Irish. I've also had to produce my passport to employers when commencing employment (UK citizen). I've been treated exactly the same as my Irish husband.

Yay happy ending. Good luck in the interview.

I'm a british citizen and I still need to give my passport to show I can work here. Having a birth certificate is not enough because you can be born in the UK without a right to live here. (If both parents are foreign).

YABU.

Just get your new passport sorted out today. You can get the forms on the Irish Embassy in London website, they'll be with you by Monday.

Email [email protected] to see how they can speed things up, given that your old one has been stolen and you need your new one asap to get a job. I talked to a lady called Assumpta when I had problems and she was fantastic. They're also lovely on the phone.

That is faster than complaining about how annoying it all is.

My work also asked for the passports again this year. Apparently, they didn't follow the procedures correctly when checking passports before. So they need to photocopy our passports again.

And as for all those who claimed having the birth certificate is enough. I believe it's changed for those born after 1983. It used to be that if you are born in the UK you are automatically a citizen. This is no longer the case. And hence why a lot of employers are now asking for passports instead. Strictly speaking they only need to ask for passport for those born after 1983, and birth certificate for those before.

See this and play with it and see what I mean by the 1983 change.
www.gov.uk/check-british-citizen

I'm surprised a birth certificate is ok given I could get hold of a birth certificate for just about anyone just by asking (and paying).

lol yes. You don't even have to show your face. DH got birth certificates for his parents by just applying online!

That is incorrect HeadDreamer

A UK or Irish birth certificate is sufficient if it is a full one showing the name of at least one parent.

The link you posted does not relate to home office right to work checks.

^I'm surprised a birth certificate is ok given I could get hold of a birth certificate for just about anyone just by asking (and paying).^

That's why the employer has to sign to say that they have checked any discrepancies so for example the name on the birth certificate correlates to the nsme the employee is known by or is explained by say a marriage certificate & that the age of the person seems consistent with the DOB on the certificate.

Apologies I haven't read the full thread. I'm a contractor and move companies at least annually.

I have to show my (British) passport every time. It's a standard pre-employment screening check.

Nothing to get in a twist over.

Oh god, I need to know what happened with the stolen passport.

Nothing to get in a twist over.

No, don't ever ask any questions about what people in authority are asking - that'd never do.

OP YANBU - hope you got the gig.

As ever I am stunned by the number of people prepared to meekly go along with whatever daft "rules" are dreamt up for no good reason by "compliance". Employers ought to be telling the government to get to flip and do their own enforcement. If anyone bothered to properly check who was coming and going, they wouldn't need to make employers demand and photocopy easily forged docs to pretend they are doing something.

It is all a farcical waste of time - as usual, the innocent are inconvenienced and the baddies carry on as normal.

wason

It's very rare that a post makes me lol but you managed it.

we have just had an email from HR that all staff need to bring in on Monday their passport or birth certificate and NI card as they don't have on record that we are eligible to work in the UK; this is at a secondary school when every single member of staff has to have a DBS, they have our NI numbers etc.

The trouble I have is that I don't have a valid passport (ran out), and whilst I have my birth certificate I haven't seen my NI card, which they no longer issue just a letter, for years!

If anyone bothered to properly check who was coming and going, they wouldn't need to make employers demand and photocopy easily forged docs to pretend they are doing something.

Yes, all those poor innocent employers using illegal immigrants as cheap labour! Why should they take any responsibility? Blame the government!!!

cricket, just take your expired passport and the ni letter.