Right-to-work and work-eligibility checks in India
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Employers in India are legally required to verify that every person they hire is eligible to work before employment begins. There is no single "right-to-work" document as in some other countries, but a combination of identity, age, and immigration checks achieves the same purpose.
What work-eligibility verification actually means in India
India does not have one centralised statutory checklist labelled "right-to-work." Instead, the obligation is spread across several laws: the Foreigners Act 1946, the Passports (Entry into India) Act 1920, the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986, and — from 2025 — the four consolidated Labour Codes. Together these require employers to confirm identity, age, and, for foreign nationals, valid immigration status before a person starts work.
Failing to do this correctly exposes the company to criminal liability, not just regulatory fines.
Checking Indian nationals
For Indian citizens, the verification process focuses on identity and age. At a minimum, collect one government-issued photo identity document. Accepted documents include:
- Aadhaar card
- Passport
- Voter ID (EPIC card)
- Driving licence
- PAN card (acceptable for identity, though primarily a tax document)
Cross-check the name, date of birth, and address across documents where more than one is collected. The date of birth is particularly important: employing anyone below the minimum working age in a hazardous occupation is a criminal offence. For non-hazardous work the minimum age is 14; for hazardous processes it is higher. Retain a self-attested copy of the documents on the employee's file.
For PAN specifically, you need it anyway to run payroll correctly — TDS is deducted at source and deposited with the government, Form 16 is issued at year-end, and Form 24Q is filed quarterly. A missing or incorrect PAN triggers higher TDS deduction, so collecting it at onboarding protects both parties.
Checking foreign nationals
This is where the legal exposure is sharpest. A foreign national may only work in India if they hold a visa that permits employment — typically a Business Visa with work authorisation, an Employment Visa, or a Project Visa. A Tourist Visa, Student Visa, or Entry Visa does not confer the right to work.
Before a foreign hire's first day, verify:
1. Passport validity — check expiry date and confirm it covers the intended employment period with margin to spare.
2. Visa category and conditions — the visa sticker or e-visa document specifies the permitted activity. Read it, do not just assume.
3. Employer-specific restrictions — Employment Visas in India are typically employer-specific. If the person previously worked for another Indian entity, confirm their old visa has been cancelled or their new visa is correctly issued in your name.
4. Registration with FRRO/FRO — foreign nationals staying beyond 180 days (in most cases) must register with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office or Foreigners Registration Office. The employer cannot do this on the employee's behalf, but should confirm it has been done.
5. Occupational Completion Permit (OCP) or any sector-specific approval — some industries require additional clearances from sectoral ministries.
Keep copies of all pages of the passport, the visa, and any FRRO registration certificate on file. Revisit these before they expire and start renewal processes early.
If you are engaging foreign nationals through a secondment or an inter-company transfer arrangement, take specific legal advice. The compliance picture becomes more complex, particularly around tax residency and whether EPF and ESI obligations arise.
Ongoing obligations, not a one-time check
Work-eligibility verification is not a box ticked at onboarding and then forgotten. Practical steps to build into your process:
- Calendar visa and permit expiry dates at the time of hiring and set reminders at least 90 days before expiry.
- Re-verify on contract renewal or role change — a foreign national on a Project Visa who moves to a permanent role needs a fresh Employment Visa.
- Update records when an employee's status changes — marriage, naturalisation, or a change in visa category all affect the record you hold.
- Apply the same standard to all hires — inconsistent checks create discrimination risk. Verify everyone, not just people who appear foreign.
Record-keeping and the Labour Codes
Under the consolidated Labour Codes that took effect in 2025, employers must maintain registers of employees in prescribed formats. These registers typically capture name, date of joining, designation, and identification details. Good work-eligibility records feed directly into these registers and simplify any inspection or audit.
Practically, store documents in a secure, access-controlled system — physical or digital. Restrict access to HR personnel who genuinely need it, given that Aadhaar and passport data carry significant privacy obligations under Indian law.
If you use a payroll or employer-of-record platform, confirm that it has a document-collection workflow built in. How Mellow runs payroll across six countries gives one example of how a structured onboarding process can capture these documents as part of a broader compliance flow rather than as a separate manual step.
The core discipline is simple: verify before the person starts work, keep the evidence, and review it before it expires.
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