The fear of working more than 20 hours on tier 2 visa is already imprinted on every foreigner seeking UK visa sponsorship from employment recruiters. This grip of anxiety may not encourage you to take a bold step to achieve your business immigration goal. This article should ease your worries and aid your decision. Keep reading!
The skilled worker visa holder is a document allowing immigrants to access various jobs in the UK. This UK visa is mainly given to immigrants who UK recruiters sponsor. Sponsored workers are placed on tier 2 visas with some level of restriction regarding working hours in the UK.
This means that skilled worker visa holders can stay and work in the UK with their sponsorship and are liable to find secondary or supplementary employment with the same occupation code. However, additional work placement may not affect you working more than 20 hours on tier 2 visa.
Working more than 20 hours on a Tier 2 visa may seem difficult for immigrants even with supplementary employment with the same occupation code without leaving the main sponsored job because of the UK government’s standing rule over workers working overtime here. If you are wondering why such a rule exists, the UK government does not want the immigrants on Tier 2 visas to have their purpose secondary employment defeated.
As an immigrant, you have so much responsibility to fulfill, and so many people look up to you being abroad while your visa restricts you from working more than 20 hours per week. This should get you worried, and you should look for ways to break the lacuna of working more than 20 hours, especially on a Tier 2 visa. Keep reading; this article should ease your worries and pave the way for a solution. Get your working hours covered!
Table of Contents
Working More than 20 Hours on Tier 2 Visa Reviewed in 2024
Skilled Worker Visa 20 Hours Rule
Tier 2 Visa Work Restriction/ The UK Skilled Worker Visa Restrictions and Conditions
Tier 2 Visa/Skilled Worker Visa Update Fee and Requirement
Skilled Workers Working From Home on Tier 2 Visa
Consequences for Working More than 20 Hours on a Tier 2 Visa
What Happens if I Work More than 20 Hours in the UK?
Can a Dependent Work More than 40 Hours in the UK?
What are the New Rules for UK Tier 2 Visa in 2024?
What Does Restricted Work Mean on a Tier 2 Visa?
What are the New Rules for a Skilled Worker Visa in the UK?
How Long Can You Stay on Tier 2 Visa/Skilled Worker Visa?
Skilled Worker Visa 20 Hours Rule
The sponsor license law firm’s lawyers have noticed increased requests for help from employers and those seeking sponsorship from sponsored workers. This question was raised for two reasons.
One of the recruiting companies in the UK is offering skilled worker visas to immigrants with work visa sponsorship. It is important to note that the Tier 2 visa is now the Skilled worker visa. Regardless of the changes in the skilled worker route, the rules binding it, such as working restrictions, still exist.
Ordinarily, skilled workers are allowed to work a maximum of 39 hours per week (for example, the care visa holders) depending on the contract signed by the immigrants and the recruiting company, with or without additional work placement.
However, immigrants with sponsored employment who wish to apply for another job besides their sponsored job may do so within 20 hours. This means that immigrants who migrate to the UK on a sponsored job are liable to work for a 20 hour cap on their first job with the company that sponsored their visa but can take up another job, which should be supplementary work placement of at most 20 hours.
Provided that the sponsored worker meets the UK minimum salary requirement threshold for a tier 2 visa while working with the same profession or company that sponsored the immigrant’s tier 2 visa, such as health and care worker visa holders, an individual does not need to apply for another job to avoid trampling on the UK government rules on working more than 20 hours on tier 2 visa, now known as a Skilled worker visa.
Immigrants often find it easy to partner with recruiters with a shortage occupation list ready to hire and sponsor immigrants with care worker visas with the same professional level. Other recruiting companies may also sponsor your supplementary employment.
If you hope to explore the above option, you should be extra careful because countless opportunities could be a sham; this can be employers with illegal working legislation who are ready to make you work overtime without anything to show for it.
Tier 2 Visa Work Restriction/ The UK Skilled Worker Visa Restrictions and Conditions
There are different visa conditions in the UK, one of which is that the tier 2 visa is not excluded. The skilled worker visa holder has certain restrictions. The main restriction is employment. Be clear. The first restriction that comes with your skilled worker visa holder is the need for a job sponsorship; this is why employment is the main restriction. With the UK recruiter visa sponsorship, immigrants can access the visa through the skilled worker route.
Read Also: The Best Way to Avoid D7 Visa Rejection Rate in 2024
However, as an immigrant on a tier 2 visa, you must work at least 20 hours a week with your direct UK employer ( the company that sponsored your work visa). This has caused many immigrants headaches, and they wish for advice on a way out. If you are one of those affected, keep reading as we troubleshoot your worries in this article without flaunting the immigration rules.
Regardless of the above restrictions, immigrants on a tier 2 visa can get additional work; getting additional employment with companies with a shortage occupation list does not mean you change employers and work more than 20 hours without hassling. You don’t need to do much. Also, the eligible health and care workers are exempted from the working hours restrictions, though they may not qualify for a second job.
You can update your tier 2 visa and its restrictions if you are bothered about it. However, to do that, you must have a job description from a secondary job, a second job with another employer, a different occupational code from your previous job, and not be on any graduate route visa.
Tier 2 Visa/Skilled Worker Visa Update Fee and Requirement
Before embarking on the payment to update your tier 2 visa/skilled worker visa, ensure that you have captured your biometric information, such as fingerprints and photos. This does not attract any payment. Once that is assured, proceed to the payment of the visa update.
If you are applying for a tier 2/skilled worker visa, you need the sum of £719-£1,639, depending on your situation. Also, applicants should prepare a sum of £ 1,035 annually for immigration health surcharge. If the exemption rule does not cover you, prepare proof of £ 1,270 to support your living expenses upon your arrival in the UK.
Provided your job is listed on the immigration salary list, your visa will cost £1,639, and your annual immigration health surcharge of £1,035. Your tier 2 visa fee is £2,674 for the year you are applying. In subsequent years, you will pay £1,035, an immigration health surcharge fee.
However, suppose your job is not on the professional level of the immigration salary list. In that case, your tier 2 visa will cost £719, and you will pay £ 1,035 healthcare surcharge, totaling £1,754 for the visa holder’s first year and £1,035 for subsequent years.
| 3 or Over 3 Years | Outside UK Price | Inside UK Price |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 3 Years | £719 per person | £827 per person |
| More than 3 Years | £1,420 per person | £1,636 per person |
If your job is on the immigration salary list:
| Up to 3 Years | £551 per person |
|---|---|
| more than 3 Years | £1,084 per person |
Click here to apply for a tier 2 visa update.
Skilled Workers Working From Home on Tier 2 Visa
You are probably in the UK now with a sponsored visa as a skilled worker, and the stress of creating a financial breakthrough is about to weigh you down. You don’t have to give up. You just have to look at the brighter side of life. You don’t have to be working on-site at all times. Sometimes, you should be able to work from home. Do you want to know how? Keep reading!
We all witnessed the outbreak of Covid-19 and how it has shaped the working system of many industries. Since the emergence of COVID-19, which is managed now, most companies and industries have allowed their workers to work from home. As a skilled worker in the UK, you equally stand the chance to work from home with another company besides the company that sponsored your tier 2 visa.
You may be bothered if a tier 2 visa can enable you to work from your home office. Yes, you can work from home on a tier 2 visa, but that depends on your employer. Why shouldn’t you take it if your employer’s work is flexible to shuttle between regular working hours from your home office and on-site?
Consequences for Working More than 20 Hours on a Tier 2 Visa
Every action has an equal or relative reaction. There is a penalty for immigrants working more than 20 hours on tier 2 visas. One penalty accrued to people who work more than 20 hours on tier 2 visas is revocation of visa. Suppose the UK visa and immigration agency discovered a skilled worker who worked above hours and covered a specified time. In that case, such a person’s visa will be revoked until proven otherwise and can ultimately lead to deportation.
FAQ
What Happens if I Work More than 20 Hours in the UK?
Working more than 20 hours in the UK while on a Tier 2 visa is against immigration rules, and any employment contract or additional paid work is considered a breach of visa rules. Such an act may result in the immigrant’s visa being revoked until proven otherwise.
Can a Dependent Work More than 40 Hours in the UK?
Skilled workers must have at most 20 hours of paid work time if they are not sponsored workers, and dependents working in the UK on a dependent visa have no restrictions regarding minimum or maximum working hours.
What are the New Rules for UK Tier 2 Visa in 2024?
The recent UK immigration rules introduced in 2024 include an increase in the UK skilled worker visa holders’ salary to £38,700 per year on a new certificate from 4 April 2024 and the spouse of the UK skilled worker visa holders to £29,000, restrictions on care visa and care worker visa holders as well as international student visa holders through graduate route.
What Does Restricted Work Mean on a Tier 2 Visa?
Tier 2 visa holders have access to every job in the UK, provided they meet the eligibility requirements. The job restrictions are all based on the UK employer having a sponsor license.
What are the New Rules for a Skilled Worker Visa in the UK?
From 4 April 2024, Certificates of Sponsorship issued for overseas workers requiring a general Skilled Worker Visa but sponsored by a health and care worker in an NHS organization will need to meet the new minimum salary requirement threshold of £38,700. This minimum salary requirement will not be increased in stages.
How Long Can You Stay on Tier 2 Visa/Skilled Worker Visa?
The UK skilled worker visa holders can stay up to six (6) years and extend the visa for another six years.