Asylum & Immigration proof - but I'm British!!!

aquarian3

Hi everyone,

I've got an unusual question....probably someone with HR knowledge might be able to help?!

I'm 38yrs old, I was born in London, I've never lived in another country and my parents are British.

5 years ago I took a job as a part time support worker; I'm CRB'd every 3 years and pass with flying colours because I've been a good girl .

Recently though I was asked to give additional proof because apparently my personnel file is incomplete. I have to give them documents 'for evidence of ID within the Asylum & immigration legislation Act' going back to 2005 when I started working for them.

All would be fine if I owned a passport, but at nearly £80 I can neither afford to own one or even want one - based on the fact we never travel abroad!

So I have to find 2 combinations of documents, the first part being something from an old employer or the Inland Revenue, DWP etc with my name, NI number etc.

I ‘have’ found some bits from my old employer but as I left there in 1997 to give birth to my son, I don’t know if these doc’s are too old? (I didn’t do any paid work until 2005 - I kept busy doing volunteering, not just sitting on my derriere!). Documents with my name and NI number on include: a P45 dated from 1997; a P60 from 1996 & 97; a PAYE year ending 1997/98 & 98/99; I’ve got Tax Credit’s letters from 1994 and an old passport from May 1995 to May 2005. (I have other Tax Cred letters but would have to hunt through my attic boxes to find the 2005 year ones).


The 2nd part of the combination requires a full birth certificate showing at least one parents name, this is where I fall down – I have only ever owned my original small birth cert’ with my name, place of birth in London and registrars name along with date.

I also have a British driving licence from 1998 and my marriage certificate from 2005 shows my change of name, but do I need to purchase a full birth certificate or will the documents I have found do?

Thanks in advance,

Lisa
=x=

SarEl

Neither a driving licence nor a marriage certificate prove that you are British or have the right to work in the UK. You can only provide the listed documents which your employer should have given you as evidence.

Hammyman

aquarian3 wrote: »

but do I need to purchase a full birth certificate or will the documents I have found do?

Purchase an original full birth certificate. They're not that expensive and you only need to buy it once.

liney

A Full Birth certificate is about £9.25 and you can order it online here: http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

The onus is on you to prove your elegibility to work in the UK. If the company only asked Non British persons to prove elegibility they would fall foul of racial discrimination laws for which the fines are uncapped.

aquarian3

Ok thanx for your advice, I'll have to bite the bullet and buy a full birth cert, it's funny in that I'm doing my family tree and can see the generations that go back to the 1700's all from England, yet I find in today's age I need to prove where I come from

Much appreciated to all who took the time to reply xxx

evei_2

It's worse if you have a european name because your granddad came here during the war and married your English grandmother.

Since all the Polish immigrants started arriving hardly anyone believes I'm English. I keep getting told oh you speak very good English and without an accent.

It got so bad that now my nametag just has my christian name on it.

I also had to show proof that I was allowed to work in this country and the person who required it was my sister as she is the personel manager where I work.

This country gets crazier by the minute.

Savvy_Sue

evei wrote: »

I also had to show proof that I was allowed to work in this country and the person who required it was my sister as she is the personel manager where I work.

Yes, but your sister presumably put a photocopy of whatever evidence she'd had from you on her staff file, because it's not enough to tick or sign to say "I checked and this person was OK": you have to be able to prove it potentially several years down the line.

paulwf

For anyone in work a passport is more or less like a complusory ID card these days. I've tried to live without ID but in the end I just had to be practical and get a passport. It's an £8 a year ID card for me.

I'm not saying it is right or fair but that's the way it is. A fair few people over the course of 10 years will change their jobs and even at interview stage now quite a few employers will want to see a passport, if you have it sorted it'll make life so much easier even if you just want a Christmas temp job.

OP I know it is a lot of money to find up front but if you can find the money it does last 10 years and it will make your life much easier. Life changes and within the next 10 years you might want to go abroad on holiday anyway

molerat

I had to provide my employer of 15 years with proof so I brought in their P60's What a crazy country. Most of the ID is easily falsified anyway, just another jobsworth scheme.

LondonDiva

molerat wrote: »

I had to provide my employer of 15 years with proof so I brought in their P60's What a crazy country. Most of the ID is easily falsified anyway, just another jobsworth scheme.

Not really

If an employer employs someone who turns out to be in the country illegally, they are liable for a fine.

Failure to keep copies of proof that someone is eligible to work in the UK is actually civil offence, attracting a maximum £10,000 fine.

We can't have it both ways if we say that only people who are legally entitled to should work in the UK, here's got to be a way of checking that's consistent and straightforward across all sectors. How do you know for sure who's 'British'? Mr Singh 4th generation v Mr Jones from Australia, who do you think's likely to be made to jump through more hoops if the process wasn't standardised?

molerat

I agree for new employees but, as in my case, for someone who has been with the same employer for many years is just a box ticking exercise and my proof had been provided by the employer themselves. I still stick by my assertation that much of the documentation is easily obtainable by fraudsters anyway.

A programme a few weeks back showed someone being removed from UK as unauthorised to work and wanting to reclaim the tax and NI he had been paying for several years and had all the relevant documents, documents issued by the UK government which would have been acceptable to an employer.