Hey international students! This is a heads-up about some upcoming changes to the rules for part-time work on a Skilled Worker visa from 4th April 2024

What’s Happening?

There are currently some job types that you can’t do for extra cash with a Skilled Worker visa, even part-time. These jobs are often seen as simple or lower-skilled, like:

  • Food delivery
  • Cleaning
  • Coffee shop work
  • Customer service
  • Retail jobs
  • Barber
  • Bar Staff
  • Waiter
  • Warehouse operator
  • Grocery Assistant
  • Security Guard
  • Street Cleaner
  • Window Cleaner
  • Leaflet Distributer
  • Agriculture Worker
  • Forklift Driver
  • Bus Driver
  • General Handyman
 

These are exactly the kind of flexible gigs that international students often look for, so this can be limiting.

But you also need to know that you won’t be able to do supplementary work in any of the codes in Table 6(Please see below) This is important because many of these roles are EXACTLY the kind of simple jobs that you could do in your spare time without taking too much mental energy. They are also the most common roles when it comes to part time work.

Table 6

Table 6: SOC 2020 occupation codes which are not eligible for the Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility or Scale-up routes
These occupations are ineligible for the Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility or
Scale-up routes because:
• they do not meet the required skill level; or
• applicants must be sponsored in another route for jobs in these occupations; or
• those subject to immigration control cannot apply for jobs in these occupations.
Where indicated, some SOC 2020 occupation codes in Tables 1, 2 and 3 are also not eligible for the Global Business Mobility or Scale-up routes.

UK Government Source : https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f18e2bff11701fff6159ba/E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Print_Ready_.pdf

Thanks to for the helpful information.