Can my employer keep my passport or visa documents?

Your passport is in the manager’s safe. You need permission to collect it, or you are told it stays there until you repay a fee. That is control, not a right to work check. You do not have to prove modern slavery before asking for help.

What to do if your employer will not return your passport

You do not need your manager’s permission to seek advice. If asking for the passport could put you at risk, skip the request and contact help from somewhere safe.

1. Ask for the originals back, if safe. Send a text or email saying, “Please return my passport and all other original identity documents today. The right to work check is complete. Please confirm when and where they can be collected.” You do not need to justify a holiday or a bank appointment. Save the request and reply somewhere your employer cannot access.
2. Tell someone outside work. Contact a trusted person or union rep. Record who holds the documents, where they are kept, when you handed them over and what happens when you ask for them. Save any demand for money or threat about your visa, shifts or housing.
3. Get help with a refusal. Call police on 101 if there is no immediate emergency, or 999 if you are in immediate danger. The Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline is 08000 121 700. You can ask for advice even if you are unsure whether what is happening counts as forced labour. Do not wait for a written refusal if you are unsafe.
4. Name every business involved. Give the agency’s name, the workplace address and the name of whoever holds the passport. For a licensed farm or food labour provider, report the document retention to the Fair Work Agency licensing team on 0345 161 6000. You should not have to untangle the contracts before getting help.
5. Do not pay or resign just to recover the document. A demand for a storage fee, repayment or a resignation letter is something to record and report. If you are sponsored, seek immigration advice about leaving the job. If you live in employer-provided housing, tell the adviser so they can help you plan for that risk too.

What a right to work check actually allows

The employer must check that you can lawfully do the job. They do not always need your physical passport. The method depends on your documents and immigration status.

For a manual document check, the employer examines the original, checks that it belongs to you and records the evidence. If the identity check happens over a live video link, the employer must physically hold the original documents. Showing your passport to a webcam while you hold it is not enough for that manual route. The original should come back when the check is complete.

The employer keeps a secure copy and the date of the check for your employment plus two years, then securely destroys the record. That record-keeping requirement does not authorise keeping the original. For the different checking routes, see right to work checks.

If you have an eVisa, the employer uses the Home Office online right to work service with your share code. They retain the check result, not your passport as a substitute for the online check. An expired biometric residence permit, or BRP, is not acceptable proof of your current right to work. The expiry of a card does not itself mean your immigration permission has expired.

Does sponsorship change this?

No. Appendix D of the sponsor guidance allows paper or electronic copies. It does not require a sponsor to hold your original passport throughout the job.

Do not confuse the retention periods. The general sponsor rule is to keep records throughout sponsorship and until the earlier of one year after it ends or a compliance officer examining and approving them. Appendix D expressly says other requirements can mean keeping records longer. Right to work records have their own employment-plus-two-years rule. Neither period is a reason to lock away your passport.

Is keeping your passport illegal?

Withholding a passport can be part of an offence, and in licensed labour provision there is an express rule against it. But there is no single rule making every instance of an employer holding a passport the same criminal offence. A delayed return, voluntary storage and using documents to prevent someone leaving need different legal analysis.

Licensed farm, food and shellfish labour providers

Fair Work Agency licensing standard 3.2 says a licence holder must not retain identity papers except where necessary to check entitlement to work, “and then only until the check is complete”. It is a critical standard, worth 30 points. That score usually leads to refusal or revocation of a licence, although the regulator can consider conditions instead. A breach may lead to revocation with immediate effect. It is not an automatic outcome in every case.

The rule concerns businesses carrying out licensable activities, not every farm merely because it employs people. If a labour provider took the crew’s passports, report it. You do not have to prove a slavery offence for the licensing rule to matter.

Forced labour and threats

The International Labour Organization lists retention of identity documents as an indicator of forced labour. Refusing to return them becomes especially concerning alongside unpaid wages, recruitment debt, restrictions on leaving or threats of deportation. An indicator is a reason to investigate, not a verdict that an offence has been proved.

In England and Wales, section 1 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 covers slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour. Section 2 covers arranging or facilitating travel with a view to exploitation; section 3 defines exploitation for that offence.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate human trafficking and exploitation legislation. The Modern Slavery Act’s core offences do not simply apply UK-wide. Police and the helpline remain routes to help wherever you work in the UK, whether your contract calls you an employee, agency worker or self-employed.

Our view is simple. An employer should not make access to your own identity documents depend on obedience at work. The right to work scheme gives them a compliance task, not control over your movements.

What document control looks like in care and seasonal work

Who can help you get your documents back?

The government’s guidance for overseas health and care workers treats an employer withholding identity documents as a reason to contact the labour exploitation regulator and local police. It is not something you have to settle through HR first.

The Fair Work Agency was established on 7 April 2026 and took over the GLAA’s functions. Older guidance may still use the GLAA name. For reporting routes and the agency’s remit, see how to report an employer to the Fair Work Agency. A report is not a guarantee that an officer will recover the passport immediately.

If you work through an agency, do not assume the workplace or the agency alone is responsible for every check. From 1 October 2026, government guidance extends the right to work scheme beyond traditional employment relationships. Responsibility depends on the arrangement. None of that gives an agency, umbrella or intermediary permission to use your passport to make you stay.

For employment advice in England, Scotland and Wales, contact Acas on 0300 123 1100. In Northern Ireland, use the Labour Relations Agency; agency regulation there is also separate. See employment rights in Northern Ireland.

Ask your union to help

A union rep can help you keep records, raise the issue with the employer and find advice. UNISON organises care workers; GMB and Unite cover food, logistics and other essential jobs. United Voices of the World and the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain organise migrant and outsourced workers. Check which union fits your job, and ask what support is available for an existing dispute before paying to join.

If you are sponsored and scared about your visa

“Complain and we will cancel your visa” is a threat worth saving. Your boss does not personally cancel immigration permission. They can end sponsorship or report that employment has ended, and the Home Office can then shorten or cancel permission. Reporting exploitation does not itself cancel your visa, but we cannot promise there will be no immigration consequences.

If a sponsor loses its licence, GOV.UK says permission is normally limited to 60 days, or the remaining visa period if shorter. This is not a fresh 60 days from whenever you hear the news, and finding a job alone is not enough. You need advice about making a valid application before your permission ends. Different treatment can apply if the Home Office considers you involved in the reasons for revocation. Read any Home Office notice immediately with an adviser.

Our sponsor licence revocation guide covers that separate problem. For now, keep your contract, payslips, sponsorship details, immigration correspondence and messages about the documents somewhere outside your employer’s control. Do not resign on the assumption that a new sponsor or new permission will follow.

What about the National Referral Mechanism?

If the passport is part of threats, debt, withheld wages or restrictions on leaving, ask the helpline or police whether a National Referral Mechanism referral is appropriate. A designated first responder makes the referral for a potential victim. Describe the facts; you do not have to diagnose “trafficking” yourself.

Ask what support is available and what information will be shared before agreeing to a referral. Do not assume a referral automatically gives you immigration permission, permission to work or a permanent right to stay. Get immigration advice alongside exploitation support.

Can you be protected if you report it?

A report may qualify for whistleblowing protection if the legal tests are met, including a reasonable belief that the disclosure is in the public interest. A personal complaint is not automatically protected. Ask a union or employment adviser about the facts you should record, especially if other workers’ documents are being held too.

For Great Britain, the government’s commencement timetable records the general employment tribunal time-limit extension from three to six months as taking effect on 1 October 2026. That is not a safe deadline for every claim or every earlier event. Scottish employment-contract claims are scheduled to change on 9 November 2026. Ask an adviser which limit and early conciliation rules apply to you; do not wait for a grievance or police report to finish. See tribunal time limits. A tribunal claim is separate from getting the physical document back.

Copies, missing documents and travel

You can make a subject access request for your personal data, including copies of identity documents and right to work records. A response is normally free and due within one month, subject to exceptions. This is a route to information, not a demand that makes an employer hand over a physical passport. You do not have to wait for that response before seeking help with withheld originals.

If the employer has lost the passport, or will not release it and you need to travel, tell police what happened and contact the issuing country’s embassy or consulate for advice. For a British passport, contact HM Passport Office. Replacement and emergency travel document requirements depend on the issuing authority. Do not report a document as lost if you know who is withholding it; explain the situation accurately.

If an old BRP is being held, do not treat the card as current proof of permission. Check your eVisa and UKVI account. Ask for advice on recovering the document and protecting access to your account. Do not give your employer your UKVI password.

If money has been taken for storing or replacing documents, save the payslip and any agreement. Whether a deduction is lawful depends on its basis and the minimum wage rules; written agreement alone does not settle everything. See deductions from wages. A disputed fee does not justify withholding a passport.

Questions people ask

Can your employer keep your passport for safekeeping if you agree?

Genuinely voluntary storage is different from confiscation. You must be able to get it back, without a fee or permission tied to your behaviour at work. Licensed gangmaster rules are stricter: they only permit retention needed for the right to work check, until it is complete. Keep your own originals where you can.

My sponsor says UKVI requires them to hold originals. Is that true?

No. Sponsor guidance requires records and allows paper or electronic copies. It does not require your passport to stay in the office for the length of your sponsorship. If safe, ask the manager to put that claim in writing and save the reply.

Is keeping my passport modern slavery?

Retention is a forced-labour indicator, not proof on its own. Threats, recruitment debt, unpaid wages or restrictions on leaving make the situation more concerning. Tell police or the helpline what is happening rather than waiting until you can prove an offence.

Will you lose your visa if you report the employer?

Reporting does not itself cancel your visa. But an employer may end sponsorship, and the Home Office can change your permission. Seek regulated immigration advice promptly. Do not rely on a promise that reporting will protect your visa, or stay in immediate danger to preserve the job.

What if an agency holds my passport rather than the workplace?

Name the agency and the workplace when seeking help. Record who took the passport and who now refuses to return it. In licensed farm, food and shellfish labour provision, retention after a check can breach licensing standard 3.2. Elsewhere, tell police about any coercion and ask an adviser about the relevant agency regulator.

Must you raise a grievance before contacting police?

No. You do not need to finish an internal grievance before seeking help with withheld documents, threats or exploitation. If you also have an employment claim, a grievance does not stop its legal deadline. Get advice about that separately.

Sources

1. Employers’ right to work checklist, Home Office. Manual checks, online checks and retention of check records.
2. Right to work checks: an employer’s guide, Home Office.
3. Sponsor guidance, Appendix D: record-keeping duties, Home Office. Copies, retention periods and separate legal requirements.
4. Licensing standards for gangmasters, Fair Work Agency. Standard 3.2, critical scores and licensing decisions.
5. Modern Slavery Act 2015, section 1; section 2; section 3; and section 60, legislation.gov.uk. Core offences, exploitation and territorial extent.
6. Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 and Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, legislation.gov.uk.
7. Indicators of forced labour, International Labour Organization.
8. Living and working in the UK as a health and care worker, GOV.UK. Withheld documents and routes to help.
9. Fair Work Agency enforcement statement, GOV.UK.
10. Modern slavery National Referral Mechanism statistics, end-of-year summary 2025, Home Office. Source of the 23,411 potential-victim referrals in the first reality check.
11. How work visa design is driving exploitation, Citizens Advice. Source for the care-worker evidence in the second reality check.
12. Employees: if your visa sponsor loses their licence, GOV.UK. Cancellation, the 60-day period and exceptions.
13. Employment Rights Act implementation timetable, GOV.UK. Establishment of the Fair Work Agency and the 1 October 2026 tribunal change; Scottish contract-claim change scheduled for 9 November.
14. Getting copies of your information, Information Commissioner’s Office. Subject access requests.