Personal Licence guidance notes

Information on the Licensing Act 2003 is available on legislation.gov.uk or from your local licensing authority.

1. Licensing qualifications

Licensing qualifications are dealt with in section 120(8) and (9) of the Licensing Act 2003.

2. Right to work/immigration status:

A personal licence may not be issued to an individual or an individual in a partnership which is not a limited liability partnership who is resident in the UK who:

• does not have the right to live and work in the UK; or
• is subject to a condition preventing him or her from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensable activity

Any personal licence issued in respect of an application made on or after 6 April 2017 will become invalid if the holder ceases to be entitled to work in the UK.

Applicants must demonstrate that they have the right to work in the UK and are not subject to a condition preventing them from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensing activity. They do this in one of two ways:

1. by providing with this application copies or scanned copies of the documents which an applicant may provide to demonstrate their entitlement to work in the UK (which do not need to be certified) that are published on GOV.UK and in guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003
2. by providing their 'share code' to enable the licensing authority to carry out a check using the Home Officer online right to work checking service (see below)

Home Office online right to work checking service

As an alternative to providing a copy of original documents, applicants may demonstrate their right to work by allowing the licensing authority to carry out a check with the Home Office online right to work checking service.

To demonstrate their right to work via the Home Office online right to work checking service, applicants should include in this application their 9-digit share code (provided to them upon accessing the serviceon the GOV.UK website (opens new window) which, along with the applicant's date of birth (provided within this application), will allow the licensing authority to carry out the check.

In order to establish the applicant's right to work, the check will need to indicate that the applicant is allowed to work in the United Kingdom and is not subject to a condition preventing them from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensable activity.

An online check will not be possible in all circumstances because not all applicants will have an immigration status that can be shared digitally. The Home Office online right to work checking service sets out what information and/or documentation applicants will need in order to access the service. Applicants who are unable to obtain a share code from the service should submit copies of documents as set out above.

Your right to work will be checked as part of your licensing application and this could involve us checking your immigration status with the Home Office. We may otherwise share information with the Home Office. Your licence application will not be determined until you have complied with this guidance.