Checking whether your visa allows employment or self-employment

Katerina Galkina · EN · 07/10/2026

Read the conditions of your own permission

Permission to live in the UK does not necessarily allow every type of work. Open your Home Office decision and eVisa ↗, then check the route, expiry date and restrictions on employment or self-employment. Obtain a share code specifically for a right-to-work check when an employer needs one.

Before accepting an offer, establish whether it involves employment, freelancing, running a company, a second job or unpaid activity. HMRC registration and a bank account do not themselves authorise work under immigration rules.

Skilled Worker: sponsored work and additional work

Special conditions govern additional work on a Skilled Worker visa ↗. Work of up to 20 hours a week, including a business of your own, is possible while continuing the main sponsored job and meeting the applicable occupational requirements. For some medium-skilled jobs, the date of the first Certificate of Sponsorship and continuity of status matter.

Business administration, including invoicing, counts towards the limit. Record all actual hours, rather than only client appointments. A second job exceeding 20 hours normally requires new sponsorship and an updated visa. Before starting, ask for written confirmation of the role, duties, hours and appropriate occupation code.

Students and visitors have different restrictions

Under a Student visa ↗, whether and how much you can work depends on your course and whether it is term time. Self-employment is prohibited. Do not assume every student has a 20-hour allowance, or treat any free week as a vacation. Compare your education provider's official term dates with your permission conditions.

The Visitor Rules ↗ prohibit ordinary paid or unpaid UK work and running a business except for expressly permitted activities. An offer to work unpaid for experience does not remove the restriction. Attending a business meeting and undertaking ordinary work for a UK client can fall into different categories.

Check family permissions and subsequent changes

Skilled Worker partners and children ↗ can work, subject to the stated exclusion for professional sport and coaching. However, the word dependant does not establish a universal set of conditions: check the particular route and permission granted.

Keep evidence of your status and agreed hours. Recheck the conditions when your main immigration route or employer changes, or when your studies end. If the eVisa record conflicts with the decision letter, ask UKVI to correct it and agree an acceptable official checking method with the employer. Do not begin disputed activity before your permission has been established. Paying tax afterwards does not remedy a breach of immigration conditions.