LICENSING LESSONS IMMIGRATION STATUS AND TAXI LICENSING
Article by Talal Malik, Solicitor Transit Legal
www.transitlegal.co.uk
The right to a licence in 2026
Immigration status now plays a direct role in determining whether a taxi or private hire driver may obtain or retain a licence. For licensing authorities, the obligation to prevent illegal working is statutory, not merely a matter of policy. Yet decisions involving expired documents, pending applications and restricted permission to work frequently require more careful analysis than an initial check suggests.
The Home Office guidance applying from 1 October 2026 reinforces the distinction between immigration eligibility, the prescribed checking process and the wider licensing assessment. That distinction matters both to licensing authorities making decisions and to practitioners challenging them.
Immigration permission and the right to a licence
The Immigration Act 2016 amended the relevant taxi and private hire legislation across the United Kingdom. An authority must not issue, renew or extend a driver or individual operator licence where the applicant is disqualified by reason of immigration status. Disquali- fication arises where required immigration permission is absent, has ceased to have effect, or contains conditions preventing the particular licensed work.
Lawful residence alone is therefore insufficient. An individual may hold valid permission to remain in the United Kingdom but lack permission to work as a taxi or private hire driver. Skilled Worker permission, for example, generally authorises sponsored employment, with supplementary work
subject to
restrictions. Taxi and private hire work will not ordinarily satisfy those supplementary employment conditions.
Equally, immigration eligibility does not establish an entitlement to licensing approval. Applicants remain subject to the applicable statutory requirements, including the fit and proper person test. An authority must keep the immigration prohibition separate from its discretionary assessment of suitability. A perceived
66
immigration irregularity does not, without more, establish dishonesty or risk to the travelling public.
Pending applications and digital verification
A recurring difficulty arises when a driver’s previous immigration permission appears to have expired while a further application remains unresolved. Section 3C Immigration Act 1971 may continue existing permission where a qualifying application was made before expiry. Subject to the statutory requirements, that continuation can extend through an outstanding application and relevant appeal or administrative review. Existing work restrictions generally continue as well.
An expired date on an earlier document is therefore not necessarily proof of disqualification. Conversely, simply having an immigration application pending does not itself create permission to work. The application history, its timing and validity, and the conditions of the previous permission are critical.
Where entitlement cannot be established through the ordinary prescribed methods, the Home Office’s Status Verification, Enquiries and Checking Service can provide confirmation in specified cases. Positive verification relating to an outstanding application, appeal or administrative review ordinarily permits a licence for no more than six months, calculated by reference to the verification response. This is not an unrestricted discretion to issue a full-term licence.
The increasing use of eVisas creates further evidential issues. Applicants ordinarily provide a share code enabling the licensing authority to carry out a Home Office online check. Physical Biometric Residence Permits are no longer acceptable for manual checks. Where online records are incorrect or inaccessible, the authority should consider the relevant verification route rather than assume that a technical failure establishes unlawful status.
specific
The October 2026 guidance also addresses prescribed document checks and registered digital verification service providers. Whatever checking method applies, authorities must conduct checks consistently, give applicants a reasonable opportunity to establish eligibility and avoid assumptions based on nationality or ethnicity. Fair procedure does not displace the statutory prohibition, but it is essential to determining whether that prohibition actually applies.
NOVEMBER 2026 PHTM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82
