What is permission to work Expand The Home Office may grant you permission to work if your asylum claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of your own. This may be 12 months after initially claiming asylum, or 12 months after submitting further submissions on protection grounds to be considered as a fresh claim. Under this policy, those who are granted permission to work and have submitted an application on or before 26 March 2026 are restricted to jobs on the Immigration Salary List published by the Home Office. Any applications submitted on or after 26 March 2026, who are granted, are restricted to jobs on the Appendix Skilled Occupations at RQF level 6 or above. If you had been given permission to work as part of another UK visa, then as long as your application for asylum was made in time (while the original visa was still valid) you will usually be allowed to continue to work. Further information and help regarding your visa rights, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk Some asylum seekers may receive explicit permission to work from the Home Office. Individuals with that permission must: Declare any change to their employment status to Asylum Support as a change of circumstances. Failure to do so is a breach of support conditions. For assistance reporting a change in circumstances, please contact Migrant Help on 0808 8010 503. comply strictly with the work conditions attached to their permission. only work in occupations permitted by your work conditions. be able to show your permission to work if requested by the Home Office or your accommodation provider. Failure to follow the conditions of your permission to work may result in the withdrawal of that permission and a review of your entitlement to support.
Eligibility criteria Expand To be eligible to apply for permission to work, you must have an outstanding asylum claim (or further submission on protection grounds) and been waiting at least 12 months for a decision where the delay in receiving the decision is not your fault. However, even if you are eligible, permission is not automatic. Permission to work must still be applied for and granted by the Home Office.
How to make an application Expand If you are unsure whether you are allowed to work, or you believe there is an error relating to your permission to work, you should visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-whilst-an-asylum-claim-is-considered. Permission to work is not issued automatically: you still have to apply for it. To make an application you must complete the Permission to Work form: PTW1 and send it to the following team: Asylum Casework TeamsPermission to Work Team Level 0 Capital Building Old Hall Street Liverpool L3 9PP Alternatively, you can email the application to [email protected] for asylum claims or [email protected] for further submissions or [email protected] for foreign national offender (FNO) cases.
How will Asylum Seekers know they have PTW Expand If permission to work has been granted you will receive an official permission to work Decision Notice (ASL 4264) letter from the Home Office. The letter will confirm that permission to work has been granted and confirms any conditions or restrictions on the work. Your Application Registration Card (ARC) is also updated to reflect your permission status. If you have any issues with your ARC including errors on work remarks, please use the online ARC enquiry form to contact the Home Office. Should you find successful employment, the employer is responsible for checking the Employer Checking Service to establish if you have been granted permission to work and will need to do their own checks as to whether the applicant has the skills, qualifications and experience to work. Further information on proving your right to work can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work
National Insurance Number Expand When you have received your updated ARC card, you will need to apply for a National Insurance Number (often shortened to ‘NI’). If you are in Northern Ireland, you can apply for a national insurance number on the NIDIRECT WEBSITE. If you are in the rest of the UK, you can apply on the GOV.UK WEBSITE. Your new employer may also ask you to complete an Access NI check. This is a criminal history record check which lets your employer know if you have been convicted of a criminal offence or are barred from working with children or vulnerable adults. This is the standard procedure for anyone who works with vulnerable persons.
Working Hours Expand If you are on a student visa and have permission to work, working hours in term time must not exceed the limit stated on your digital status during term-time, and you can work full time outside term time. Term and vacation dates are set by the course provider and it is important that you check these to ensure you can comply with any limits on work. Your university, college or school may impose or recommend further limits which you should not exceed. Further information about working as an international student can be found here Working as an international student If you are on a work visa, your permission to work will depend on the type of work visa. Some routes allow you to work anywhere. Other routes restrict you to working in a particular job for a particular sponsor. If you have a sponsored visa which allows you to do supplementary work, this must not be for more than 20 hours a week, and you must still be doing the job you’re being sponsored for. Check your visa decision or the guidance for your route for more details. You can find out more information on the guidance on maximum working hours at Maximum weekly working hours: Overview - GOV.UK and on student visas at Student visa : Overview - GOV.UK
How permission to work impacts asylum support Expand Should you gain successful employment, you must notify the Home Office of your income. You can do so by contacting Migrant Help UK on 0808 801 0503, at https://www.migranthelpuk.org/ or via webchat with Subject Change of Circumstances. Migrant Help can complete the Form with the relevant supporting documents. The Home Office will then review your situation to see whether or not you are still considered ‘destitute’. The Home Office will answer any questions or concerns you have on your work situations and how your income impacts on your support entitlements. The outcome of this will depend on your specific situation.
Reasons for refusing permission to work Expand Reasons for refusing permission to work might include the following: your asylum claim (or further submission on protection grounds) has not been outstanding for 12 months the delay is entirely the result of your actions or inaction the delay is partly due to your actions or inaction, and it is not appropriate to exercise discretion in your favour there is evidence of criminality either in the UK or abroad which causes a delay in determining the asylum application - the reasons for delay could be due to Article 1(F) exclusion considerations or because the outcome of any prosecution is awaited further submissions are not protection based and are instead based on Article 3 medical grounds or Article 8 family grounds where a valid charged application should have been made There is no right of appeal against a decision to refuse permission to work.
Working illegally Expand It is a criminal offence for migrants to work illegally in the UK (for example, where they are breaching their conditions such as those on a visa or they have not been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK), including through self-employment activity. The offence of working illegally carries a maximum penalty of 51 weeks (England and Wales), or six months’ (Scotland and Northern Ireland) imprisonment and/or fine. If you have permission to work as an asylum seeker, you must only work in a job that is allowed under your PTW conditions. If you have permission to work as part of a UK visa, you must only work as per those conditions. It is up to you as the visa holder to ensure you are compliant with your conditions of leave. If you work in a job that is not allowed, the Home Office may treat this as illegal working. From 27 March 2026, illegal working is listed in the support rules as a reason the Home Office may suspend or stop asylum support. If you have not been given permission to work, you must not: engage in any form of employment, paid or unpaid, as this is a breach of your support conditions; undertake work for cash-in-hand, informal work, or work arranged privately without permission as this is strictly prohibited; provide false information to an employer, falsely present yourself as having permission to work, or use another person’s documents
Criminality Expand Asylum seekers or failed asylum seekers who have been convicted of criminal offences must not be granted permission to work if the decision on their asylum claim has been delayed to await the outcome of any prosecution. Any delay on this basis is, at least in part, attributable to the applicant.
What is volunteering Expand Volunteers are those who give their time for free to charitable or public sector organisations without any contractual obligation or entitlement. They are not employees or workers as defined by various statutory provisions.