Does my immigration permission allow me to work?

If you are studying a full-time degree-level course with a sponsor that has a track record of compliance (such as Queen Mary), you can usually work up to 20 hours a week during term time. If your course is below degree level, the limit is usually 10 hours a week during term time.

A week for immigration purposes means any 7-day period starting on a Monday. You must stay within your weekly limit every week. You cannot average your hours over two or more weeks. If you work for more than one employer, or your hours vary, keep your own detailed record so that you do not go over the limit.

If an employer asks you to work more than your permitted weekly hours during term time, you must say no. It is not legal to work “a few extra hours”, to count only some of the hours, or to “average it out later”.

If your visa allows you to work, you can usually work full-time outside term time, including during official vacation periods and after your course has ended. The key point is that the vacation must be an official vacation period for your programme, not just a time when you personally have no classes.

For Queen Mary students, official semester and vacation dates are published in the Queen Mary Calendar. If your programme has non-standard dates, you should check with your School or Institute before starting full-time work.

Undergraduate students

If you are an undergraduate student, your vacation periods are normally the official Christmas, Easter and summer vacations for your programme.

Taught postgraduate students

If you are on a one-year taught postgraduate programme, the summer is usually not a vacation. Queen Mary states that master’s students are expected to work on their dissertation or project during the summer, so only the Christmas and Easter break usually count as official vacations. Until the official end date of your programme, you would normally still be limited to your term-time work hours.

Postgraduate research students

If you are a postgraduate research student, you do not normally follow the standard undergraduate vacation pattern. Any holiday or vacation period should usually be agreed with your supervisor. Do not assume that the summer counts as vacation time for you automatically.

If you are required to take re-sits, reassessments, or re-submissions, this can affect when you are allowed to work full-time. In general, you must follow your normal term-time work limit for the whole re-sit period. Before the re-sit period starts and after it ends, you may be able to work full-time if this falls within an official vacation period or after the official end date of your course. Always check the official dates for your programme before increasing your hours.

If you have Student permission for a part-time course, you are not allowed to work in the UK. This applies in both term time and vacation periods.

If your visa allows work, you can usually work full-time after the official end date of your course and before your Student permission expires. The official end date is normally the course end date on your CAS. Finishing your exams early, handing in coursework early, or submitting your dissertation early does not normally mean that you can start working full-time earlier.

If you complete your course earlier than expected, this can affect your visa. Early completion may be reported to UKVI and could lead to sponsorship withdrawal and visa cancellation.  You can work full-time after the new course end date is reported to UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) by the Immigration Compliance Team. 

If you are a postgraduate research student, when you can start working full-time is dependent on when you hand in your final thesis to the library:

• More than 1-month before course end date on CAS - You will only be able to start working full-time once you have been awarded and your early course completion has been reported to UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI).
• Less that 1-month before course end date on CAS, or after end date on CAS - You will be able to start full-time work as soon as you are past the course end date on your CAS. You do not need to wait to be awarded. 

Please see the UK Council of International Student Affairs UKCISA website for more information.

Before you start a job, your employer must check that you are allowed to work in the UK. If you have a UKVI account / eVisa, you can usually prove your right to work by generating a share code online. Your employer can then use that code to check what work you are allowed to do and how long you can work for.

If you need to prove that you are a Queen Mary student, you can use your Student Status Letter from Gradintelligence. Queen Mary issues this to fully enrolled students, and it is the university’s official proof of student status.

Your employer may also ask to see the official term dates for your course so they know when your work hours are limited and when you can work full-time. You can use the Queen Mary Calendar for this.

Queen Mary cannot confirm to your employer that you are able to work, it is your employer’s responsibility to check and retain a copy of the documents which prove your right to work. The Student Status letter is sufficient proof of your student status and your course end date. If an employer is unable to confirm your right to work, they can ask the Home Office to check using the Employer Checking Service.

Even if your visa allows you to work, there are still some types of work you cannot do. You must not:

• be self-employed or work on a freelance basis
• work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach
• work as an entertainer
• fill a permanent full-time vacancy, unless a specific exception applies, If you’re switching to the Skilled Worker route, you can begin up to three months before your official course end date. If you’re applying for the Graduate route, you can start once you have successfully completed your course.
• engage in business activity. A Student will be considered to be engaging in business activity if they are working for a business in which they have a financial or other significant beneficial interest in a capacity other than as an employee. There is more information about the meaning of business activity in The Student and Child Student Home Office guidance.

If you are planning to sell goods online, work as a freelancer, or run any kind of business, get advice first. Activities that seem informal can still count as self-employment or business activity under immigration rules.

the UK Council of International Student Affairs (UKCISA) have a useful blog-post which explores niche examples of what work a Student visa holder cannot do in the UK and what could be classed as self-employment or business activity. 

If you are changing to a new education provider, check your new visa carefully to see if you can work and how many hours you can work. You may be able to keep working under your current visa while you change provider, but only if you have a CAS for your new course, your new provider is a licensed Student sponsor, and you made your new visa application before your new course started. If you are unsure, speak to a Welfare Adviser before you continue working

If you withdraw, interrupt, or re-sit out of attendance, this may affect your Student visa and your right to work. If Queen Mary withdraws sponsorship of your visa, UKVI may cancel it. You can normally work until your new visa end date, as long as you still follow your visa conditions. Please check the information on the UKCISA webpages to confirm your right to work where you are leaving your course before completion or taking a break.

If you have a reassessment after your CAS end date and your current visa is still valid, you may still be able to work full-time until your visa expires. If you are given a new CAS or new Student visa for the reassessment period, you must follow the work conditions on that new permission.

If you are unsure, contact the Advice and Counselling Service before continuing to work.

Refer to “work after your course ends” for guidance.

If you are doing a work placement that is an assessed and integral part of your course, you can usually do that placement full-time, even during term time. If your placement meets these rules, you can usually do your official placement and still work up to your normal 10-hour or 20-hour weekly limit in addition, if your visa allows it.

If you finish your work placement early, you should not assume that you can start full-time work straight away. You are normally still treated as being in term time until the official course or term dates allow otherwise.

If you want to gain work experience with a company and it is not an assessed and integral part of your course, it must fit within your normal visa work conditions.

For example, if you have Student permission, you can usually work:

• up to 20 hours a week during term time if you are on a degree-level course
• up to 10 hours a week during term time if your course is below degree level
• full-time during official vacation periods, if your course and visa conditions allow this

This means that internships, unpaid roles and other work experience outside your course are still subject to your immigration conditions.

A role is more likely to be voluntary work or unpaid work if:

• you are expected to work at specific times or on specific days
• you have duties that you are expected to carry out
• the organisation is expected to provide the work, and you are expected to do it, even if nothing is written down
• you receive something in return, such as accommodation, meals, training, products or other benefits in kind
• If the arrangement feels like a job, even without wages, it may still count as work for immigration purposes.

A role is more likely to be volunteering if:

• you do not have a contract, whether written or verbal
• you are not taking the place of a paid employee
• you are not doing unpaid work that should really be a job
• you do not receive wages or benefits in kind
• you may only be paid back for reasonable expenses, such as travel or food
• you are free to stop or change your hours because you are not under a contractual obligation to attend

Volunteers usually support a charity, voluntary organisation or public sector organisation.

Check the role carefully before you start

If you want to volunteer, ask the organisation to explain:

• whether you will have set hours
• whether you are expected to attend regularly
• whether you will receive anything other than reasonable expenses
• whether the role is replacing work that would normally be done by an employee

If any of these apply, the role may be voluntary work rather than volunteering, and it could count as work under your immigration conditions.

If your immigration permission is not as a Student or Visitor, you should check your own visa conditions carefully before starting work. Different visa categories have different rules.

• Your right to work is usually shown in your:
• UKVI account / eVisa record
• visa decision email/letter
• passport sticker or stamp, if you have one

If you are unsure, check your immigration conditions before you start working. It is always safer to confirm first than risk breaching your permission.