Using Civil Status Documents and National Insurance Number for Right to Work Checks in the UK

## Overview A civil status document is one such as a UK/Irish Birth Certificate, UK/Irish Adoption Certificate, or a Certificate of Registration or Naturalisation as a British citizen. A UK/Irish birth certificate or adoption certificate can be used as acceptable proof of right to work in the UK. A UK certificate of naturalisation can only be used for proof of right to work in the UK. You would have to provide a valid form of ID like a UK driving license for your identity check. When the candidate provides a UK/Irish Birth Certificate or UK/Irish Adoption Certificate and National Insurance (NI) number for your Right to Work (RTW) check, Zinc functions solely as a document collection platform. This document combination requires a manual face-to-face inspection of the original documents, which must be arranged outside of Zinc. ## What this means in practice - Zinc does not verify these documents digitally. - A physical inspection must take place between the employer and the candidate. - This could involve: - The candidate sending the documents by post - The candidate bringing them in person to the office You can find out more on this process [here](https://help.zincwork.com/hc/hm54ky7yrc/article/dd0e3f80-interpret-your-candidates-uk-right-to-work-results-on-zinc). ## What happens in Zinc Once the candidate uploads their civil status document and NI number via Zinc: - You’ll receive a notification that the RTW check has an **Action Required** status. - When viewing the RTW check in Zinc, you'll see an option to mark the face-to-face check as complete. - This option is entirely optional—you can use it to track completion for your own records. ![zincwork_hc_images/using-civil-status-documents-ni-number-proof-for-right-to-work-checks-in-the-uk-1.png](https://storage.googleapis.com/public-fini-assets/zincwork_hc_images/using-civil-status-documents-ni-number-proof-for-right-to-work-checks-in-the-uk-1.png) If you use Zinc and use the tickbox to confirm you have verify documents in person, the status will update to **All Clear** for the RTW check. ![zincwork_hc_images/using-civil-status-documents-ni-number-proof-for-right-to-work-checks-in-the-uk-2.png](https://storage.googleapis.com/public-fini-assets/zincwork_hc_images/using-civil-status-documents-ni-number-proof-for-right-to-work-checks-in-the-uk-2.png) ## Important notes - Tracking in Zinc is not mandatory for your statutory excuse (i.e. your legal protection for conducting a valid RTW check). - However, we strongly recommend using the Zinc tracking feature to help maintain clear, auditable records. - You are free to track these in any way you choose, whether that's via Zinc or your internal HR processes. ## Summary **Aspect** | **Details** ---|--- **Document type** | Birth certificate/Adoption certificate and National Insurance number **Digital verification in Zinc** | ❌ No **Physical face-to-face required** | ✅ Yes **Tracking in Zinc optional** | ✅ Yes, but strongly recommended **Needed for statutory excuse** | ❌ No