Right to work
These requirements apply to all Taxi Licences issued by the Council.
All applicants must provide an EEA Passport or UK birth certificate as part of the application.
Immigration Act 2016
The commencement date for the taxi trade in relation to the Immigration Act 2016 is 1st December 2016. There is a duty on the Council to ensure applicants from the taxi trade have a right to work in the UK. The Act requires the Council to carry out the following checks:
- The need to conduct face to face appointments;
- At the appointment, original documents must be inspected; and
- Colour copies of original documentation must be retained.
The duties placed on the Council are not retrospective. When the leave or right to work expires, the licence automatically lapses and the duty to surrender the licence is placed on the licensee.
Where an applicant’s right to leave or work expires and they have applied to the Home Office for an extension, they will be issued with a certificate, the following conditions will apply:
- The Council can only licence applicants with those certificates for six months starting from the date of the certificate (This is because a decision will be made within six months);
- Applicants with T1, T2 and T4 visa’s cannot be taxi drivers (This is because they are either:
a) Entrepreneurs;
b) Skilled sector such as a doctor; or
c) Students. - Visa’s held in expired passports can no longer be accepted. The applicant will now be expected to pay for the visa to be moved into a valid passport.
Where the applicant is not able to provide these or there is a query about the documentation provided the Council will contact the Home Office. The application will not be processed until this confirmation is received from the Home Office and therefore may be subject to delay in these circumstances while awaiting information from another agency.
Where the Right to Work does not extend for the length of the driver’s Private Hire or Hackney Carriage licence at the time of issue (3 years) or the Private Hire Operators Licence (5 years), then the licence will only be granted up to the date of the expiry of the visa. Once the licence holder is able to provide satisfactory evidence of a renewed Right to Work and Reside Visa, then the licence will be extended to the natural termination date, or again until the expiry of the latest visa, whichever is the shorter period.
There will be no additional fee to the licence holder for the extension to a licence initially issued for a shorter period than the usual duration of 3 or 5 years for Drivers and Operator Licences respectively. Where a visa is not extended, no refund will be made in relation to the licence, as all fees relate to the administration and issue of the original licence, not the duration for which the licence can be used.