The government’s recently announced asylum system overhaul will crack down further on illegal working, specifically targeting refugees working illegally as delivery riders in the UK.
New immigration rules announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood impose tougher restrictions on asylum seekers and replace permanent refugee status with ‘core protection’, where the government’s automatic duty for support is revoked and replaced with support conditional on certain requirements.
Among the changes proposed are new measures to prevent asylum seekers from illegal working in the UK, with mandatory right-to-work checks through digital ID expected to be introduced by the end of the parliament.
The government is also planning record levels of raids and penalties for employers that hire illegal workers, and mandatory right-to-work checks will also be expanded to the gig economy.
This means that riders working for delivery companies such as Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats will be subject to right-to-work checks to prove they are not working illegally in the UK.
Cracking down on illegal delivery riders
In its policy paper on the reforms to the UK asylum system, the government said that “the ability to enter the UK as an asylum seeker, or live as a failed asylum seeker, should offer little reward”.
“Save for very few exceptions, neither is allowed to work in this country,” it added.
However, the government noted that it has become relatively easy for people without the right to work to disappear into the UK’s ‘grey’ or illegal economy, working in low-paid jobs such as delivery riders for food delivery platforms.
Mandatory right-to-work checks for those working as sub-contractors, flexibly employed, or self-employed will change this, however, making it necessary for delivery riders to prove their right to work in the UK through digital ID verification.
On 29 October 2025, the government began a six-week consultation to inform how it would implement mandatory right-to-work checks for these categories of employers.
It has also partnered more closely with online delivery companies like Just Eat, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats, which it said are now strengthening right-to-work checks and ID verification across their platforms.
The government has also signed data-sharing agreements with firms to help identify asylum seekers working illegally as delivery riders.
These measures cited in the asylum reform policy follow a recent operational partnership signed between delivery companies and the Home Office to put a stop to illegal working in the sector.
In a statement on 22 July, the Home Office said that thousands have been offboarded from the platform thanks to enhanced checks but abuse had continued and further measures were required.
Uber Eats, Just Eat, and Deliveroo each committed to implementing new security measures to prevent asylum seekers from working illegally through their platform.
With the government now confirming that a consultation is underway and new security measures are coming soon, the days of asylum seekers illegally working as delivery riders in the UK may be numbered.
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