Guidance

Digital identity certification for right to work, right to rent and criminal record checks

Updated 9 January 2024

1. Introduction

On 27 December 2021, the government announced its intention to enable employers and landlords to use certified digital identity service providers (IDSPs) to carry out identity checks on their behalf for many who are not in scope to use the Home Office online services, including British and Irish citizens. Alongside this the Disclosure and Barring Service’s (DBS) proposal will enable digital identity checking within their criminal record checking process using certified digital identity service IDSPs.

This guidance sets how IDSPs can become certified to complete digital identity checks for the Right to Work, Right to Rent, and DBS schemes respectively, in line with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (the trust framework).

The trust framework is a set of rules organisations agree to follow to conduct secure, trustworthy identity or attribute checks. The initial alpha version of the trust framework was published in February 2021, with an updated version of the trust framework published in August 2021 following feedback from the public, industry, and civil society. A consultation on underpinning the trust framework in legislation ran from July to September 2021.

The Right to Work, Right to Rent, and DBS initiatives form part of DCMS’s trust framework’s testing process, and learnings will help to further refine its development.

2. What this means for employers and landlords

Employers and landlords will be able to work with IDSPs to utilise Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to carry out digital identity checks on behalf of British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport (including Irish passport cards). The relevant changes to legislation will take effect from 6 April 2022.

Enabling the use of IDVT for Right to Work, Right to Rent and DBS checks will help to support long-term post pandemic working practices, accelerate the recruitment and onboarding process, improve employee mobility and enhance the security and integrity of the checks.

This supports the continued development of the DCMS trust framework and enables employers and landlords to make use of IDVT where they already have an established commercial relationship with an IDSP.

Whilst it will not be mandatory for employers and landlords to use a certified IDSP for the purposes of right to work and right to rent checks, the Home Office recommends employers and landlords use a certified IDSP. This will provide assurance that their chosen IDSP meets relevant scheme guidance and the standards set out in the trust framework. This means an employer or landlord can reduce risk by recruiting and renting in a safer way as they are able to assure prospective employee and tenants’ identities and eligibility using consistent and more secure methods. Employers and landlords will retain obligations that they must comply with under the Schemes, including to satisfy themselves that the IDSP has carried out an identity check on the employee/tenant, and to retain copies of the check.

For DBS checks, employers must use a certified IDSP.

3. What IDSPs become certified against

To become certified against the schemes, IDSPs must meet the criteria in the current version of the trust framework. Depending on the scheme(s) they want to join, they must also meet the requirements for the Right to Work and Right to Rent schemes and/or DBS scheme.

The beta version of the trust framework was published on 13 June 2022. New IDSPs looking to be certified will need to become certified against the beta version of the trust framework to participate in the Schemes which require certified IDSPs. IDSPs who are certified against the alpha trust framework will be expected to move to the beta version at the time of their next planned annual surveillance audit.

A consultation on proposed digital identity legislative measures ran from July to September 2021. These include a plan to legislate for formalised governance arrangements for the trust framework and under these arrangements the trust framework will move to the live phase. The process for certification may change under these arrangements, with IDSPs needing to meet any new requirements

4. How IDSPs become certified

A step-by-step process for how providers become certified against the trust framework and Right to Work, Right to Rent, and DBS Schemes is as follows:

  1. IDSPs who wish to become certified must firstly decide whether they want to be certified against a) the Right to Work and Right to Rent Schemes only, b) the DBS Scheme only, or c) both.

  2. IDSPs must engage with one of the selected certification bodies (see below) and agree a contractual relationship for completing the assessment process.

  3. IDSPs are assessed by a combination of desk reviews and on-site audits depending on the scope to be assessed. Although having taken part in the alpha testing of trust framework is not a requirement, those who did participate will be able to use their alpha self-assessments as supporting evidence as part of this process.

  4. After the audits have taken place, certification bodies will advise DCMS and the IDSP undergoing certification of their recommendation in regard to certification.

  5. DCMS will review the outcome of the assessment process and, if all requirements have been met, the name, contact details, and certification status of the IDSP will be published on this page. Employers, landlords and other relevant IDSPs interested in procuring digital identity services will be able to see which IDSPs have been approved.

  6. Certification is a time-limited process and IDSPs will need to undertake an annual surveillance audit and biennial recertification to remain on the list of certified IDSPs for these Schemes.

5. Certification bodies

A list of certification bodies can be found on the UKAS website. Organisations interested in becoming certified should engage directly with the selected certification bodies. Certification bodies listed as undergoing accreditation by UKAS are able to certify organisations for the purposes of Right to Work, Right to Rent and DBS. These certification bodies have undergone an initial assessment by UKAS and DCMS and have been selected to carry out certification of organisations whilst undergoing UKAS accreditation.

6. List of certified IDSPs

A list of certified organisations can be found in the table below. This table will continue to be updated as organisations are certified.

Name Address Email Address Telephone Number Website Schemes certified against Proof of certification
Yoti and Post Office EasyID 6th Floor
107 Leadenhall St
London
EC3A 4AF
certified@yoti.com N/A www.yoti.com Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Hooyu Limited, A MiTek Company Fora, 180 Borough High Street, London, SE1 1LB, United Kingdom info@hooyu.com N/A www.hooyu.com Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
TrustID Limited The Blade, Abbey Street, Reading, RG1 3BA enquiries@trustid.co.uk N/A www.trustid.co.uk Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
OneID Ltd 29 Wood Street
Stratford upon Avon
CV37 6JG
hello@oneid.uk +44 (0) 2045514452 www.oneid.uk Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Paycasso Verify Ltd trading as Xydus French Railway House
178-180 Piccadilly
London
W1J 9ER, United Kingdom
support@xydus.com N/A www.xydus.com Right to work Certification document
Sterling (EMEA) Limited Ground Floor, Matrix House
Swansea Enterprise Park
Swansea, Wales
SA6 8RE
infoUK@Sterlingcheck.com N/A www.sterlingcheck.co.uk Right to work
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
T4 Communications UK Ltd T/A Rightcheck The Techno Centre, Coventry University Technology Park, Coventry, CV1 2TT, United Kingdom sales@rightcheck.io 02476 158830 www.rightcheck.io Right to work
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Deloitte LLP 1 New Street Square, London EC4A 3HQ deloittegoverify@deloitte.co.uk N/A N/A Right to work Certification document
Credas Technologies Ltd The Maltings, East Tyndall Street, Cardiff Bay, United Kingdom, CF24 5EA info@credas.com N/A www.credas.com Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Amiqus Resolution Ltd 3rd Floor, City Point, Edinburgh, EH12 5HD trustframework@amiqus.co 01315139757 www.amiqus.co/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Digidentity B.V. Schenkkade 50 – 15th floor, 2595 AR Den Haag, The Netherlands sales@digidentity.com N/A www.digidentity.eu Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
CDD Services Ltd T/A Spotlite Business Services Manchester Digital Innovation and Security Hub
Heron House
1 Lincoln Square
Manchester
M2 5LN
hello@cdd.services +44 (0) 161 511 5399 www.cdd.services/ Right to work
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
IDVerse (An OCR Labs company) 1st Floor Healthaid House
Marlborough Hill, Harrow
United Kingdom, HA1 1UD
hello@ocrlabs.com N/A www.ocrlabs.com/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
uComply Limited 48 Peartree Lane
Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom
AL7 3UD
enquiries@ucomply.co.uk 01707 802899 www.ucomply.co.uk Right to work Certification document
GB Group PLC The Foundation, Herons Way
Chester Business Park, Chester
CH4 9GB
enquiries@gbgplc.com 01244 264 600 www.gbgplc.com/en/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Marston Holdings Ltd Level 2, Henshaw House
Cheapside, Oldham
OL1 1NY
checking@marstonholdings.co.uk 0330 175 5925 www.marstonholdings.co.uk/nsl/checking-services/ Right to work Certification document
Onfido Limited 18 Finsbury Square, 3rd Floor
London
EC2A 1AH
sales@onfido.com N/A www.onfido.com/ Right to work
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
ID Pal Limited 145 Pearse Street
Dublin 2, Ireland
D02 CP08
sales@id-pal.com +44 (0) 1280 825716 www.id-pal.com Right to work
Right to rent
Certification document
Northrow Limited 30 Upper High Street
Thame, Oxfordshire
OX9 3EZ
sales@northrow.com 01235 375000 www.northrow.com/ Right to work Certification document
Atlantic Data Atlantic House, 7 Davy Avenue
Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England
MK5 8HJ
info@atlanticdata.co.uk N/A www.atlanticdata.co.uk Right to work
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Checkback International Group incorporating Vetting Solutions Centre Ltd Suite E14, IMEX Building, 575-599 Maxted Road
Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom
HP2 7DX
solutions@checkback.co.uk 01442 816 333 www.checkback.co.uk/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Datachecker Limited 3rd Floor, News Building London
Bridge Street, London, United Kingdom, SE1 9SG
info@datachecker.co.uk and support@datachecker.co.uk +4420 396 69103 www.datachecker.co.uk Right to work
Right to rent
Certification document
Thirdfort Limited Belle House Platform 1, Victoria Station, London, England, SW1V 1JT contact@thirdfort.com +44 161 768 0083 www.thirdfort.com Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Experian Limited The Sir John Peace Building, Experian Way, NG2 Business Park, Nottingham, United Kingdom, NG80 1ZZ customerservices@uk.experian.com 0800 013 8888 (Monday – Friday 09:00 to 18:00) www.experian.co.uk Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Nuggets Ltd 12-18 Hoxton Street, London, England, N1 6NG Partner@nuggets.life N/A www.nuggets.life/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Konfir Labs Hawley Wharf, 1 Water Lane, London NW1 8NZ Tom@konfir.com N/A www.konfir.com/ N/A Certification document
Persona Identities Inc 201 Post St, Floors 2, 3, and 5 San Francisco, CA 9415 tim.chang@withpersona.com +1 804.625.1563 www.withpersona.com/ Right to work
Right to rent
Certification document
Virtual Signature ID Validate Ltd Level 18, 40 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London, England, E14 5NR id.enquiry@virtualsignature.com +44 (0) 333 335 5176 https://virtualsignature.com/ Right to work Certification document
Mastercard UK Management Services Limited 1 Angel Lane, London, United Kingdom, EC4R 3AB N/A N/A https://idservice.com/en/home.html Right to work
Right to rent
Certification document
Target Professional Services (UK) Limited 3 Sherrington Mews, Ellis Square, Manor Road, Selsey, Chichester, PO20 0FJ info@targetprofessional.co.uk 0800 988 1255 www.targetprofessional.co.uk/ N/A Certification document
mypensionID Limited Sherrington Chambers Unit 3, Sherrington Mews, Selsey, Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom , PO20 0FJ info@mypensionid.co.uk +44 (0)1243 608635 www.mypensionid.co.uk/ N/A Certification document
Veridas Digital Authentication Solutions, S.L. 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0AU trustframework@veridas.com N/A www.veridas.com/en/ Right to work
Right to rent
Certification document
Due Diligence Checking Limited Meltongate House, 1282a Melton Rd, Syston, Leicester, LE7 2HD, United Kingdom newenquiries@ddc.uk.net 0116 260 3055 or 0845 644 3298 www.ddc.uk.net/ Right to work
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
iPassport 38-40 High Street, Croydon, CR0 1YB, United Kingdom info@ipassport.global N/A www.ipassport.global/ N/A Certification document
PPAC Solutions LTD Highland House, The Broadway, London, England, SW19 1NE info@ppac.co.uk +44 (0)20 7971 7778 www.ppac.co.uk Right to work Certification document
Fragomen LLP t/a Workright 95 Gresham Street, 1st Floor, London, England, EC2V 7NA Workright@fragomen.com N/A www.fragomen.com Right to work Certification document
Jumio UK Limited 1st Floor, 43 Worship Street, London, England, EC2A 2DU sales@jumio.com N/A www.jumio.com Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Zinc Eastcastle House, 27-28 Eastcastle Street, London, United Kingdom, W1W 8DH hello@zincwork.com N/A www.zincwork.com/ Right to work
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Facephi Biometria SA 48, Chancery Lane, London, Greater London, WC2A 1JF Use contact form via https://en.facephi.com/contact/ N/A https://en.facephi.com/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
iProov Ltd WeWork, 10 York Road, London, SE1 7ND contact@iproov.com +44 20 7993 2379 www.iproov.com N/A Certification document
Data Zoo Pty Limited Bay 8, 1-3 Middlemiss Street, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, NSW 2060 Email via contact form on website https://www.datazoo.com/contact N/A www.datazoo.com/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
SQR Group Limited Queen Victoria House, 41-43 Victoria Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2LF info@sqr-group.com +44 (0) 1624 815005 www.sqr-group.com N/A Certification document
Veriff OÜ Niine 11, 10414 Tallinn, Estonia support@veriff.com (+372) 6075050 www.veriff.com Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Arissian Ltd Basepoint Centre, Bromsgrove Technology Park, Isidore Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B60 3ET, United Kingdom info@arissian.com +44 (0) 121 318 8878 www.luciditi.co.uk Right to work
Right to rent
Certification document
One Kosmos Inc. 1 Tower Center Boulevard, Suite 1510-17, East Brunswick, NJ. 08816 huzefa@1kosmos.com +1 (323) 202-0077 www.1kosmos.com/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
IDnow GmbH Auen Str. 100, Munich 80469, Germany Email via contact form on website www.idnow.io/contact/ N/A www.idnow.io/ Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document
Tech5 SA Rue de Neuchatel 8, 1201, Geneva, Switzerland Info@tech5-sa.com N/A www.tech5.ai N/A Certification document
DAON (UK) LTD Suite 1 7th Floor, 50 Broadway, London, United Kingdom, SW1H 0BL sales@daon.com N/A www.daon.com/ Right to work
Right to rent
Certification document
Sum and Substance Ltd 30 St. Mary Axe, London, England, EC3A 8BF hello@sumsub.com N/A www.sumsub.com Right to work
Right to rent
Disclosure and Barring Service
Certification document

7. Frequently asked questions

How long does certification take?

The length of the assessment process will be agreed between the IDSP wanting to become certified and their selected certification body. We estimate that it will take 4-8 weeks to complete this process.

How much does it cost to become certified?

The costs of the assessment are agreed between the IDSP and their selected certification body. Once certification is achieved, there is no cost to being placed on the list of the government’s certified IDSPs. (Please note this may change in the future.)

How long does certification last?

Certification lasts for up to two years, after which must become recertified against the most current version of the trust framework and relevant Scheme guidance to remain on the list of certified IDSPs. Surveillance audits must be undertaken annually, as part of maintaining certification, and will also facilitate a move to the most current version of the trust framework and scheme guidance available.

Can the identity checks be reused?

Whether and where identity checks can be reused in other contexts is dependent on the requirements of the use case and organisations involved. The reuse of checks may be possible where this is compliant with relevant legislation and rules within the trust framework.

8. Contact details

For questions from IDSPs interested in becoming certified, please contact digitalidentity@dcms.gov.uk.

For questions from employers and landlords regarding Right to Work and Right to Rent checks, please contact RighttoRentandRighttoWork@homeoffice.gov.uk.

For questions from organisations requiring DBS checks, please contact customerservices@dbs.gov.uk.