Redundancy Rights for UK Visa Holders: Employment and Immigration Guide
Being made redundant while on a UK visa raises both employment and immigration concerns. This guide explains your employment rights, what happens to your visa, and what steps to take.
- Section
- Costs, English & General
- Reading time
- 10 min
- Last checked
- 12 March 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- Employment rights do not depend on immigration status. 2 years' service brings statutory redundancy pay.
- From 6 April 2026: weekly pay capped at £751, service capped at 20 years, maximum £22,530.
- Where sponsorship ends, GOV.UK limits the visa to 60 days, or to what is left of it if that is less.
- Contribution-based benefits and statutory payments are not public funds, so the no recourse condition does not block them.
- A visa not tied to an employer — family, Graduate, settlement — is unaffected by redundancy.
Statutory redundancy rights do not depend on nationality: 2 years' service brings statutory redundancy pay, capped at £751 a week and £22,530 in total for redundancies on or after 6 April 2026. The immigration side is separate. Where sponsorship ends, permission on the Skilled Worker route is limited to 60 days, or to whatever is left on the visa if that is less.
Your Employment Rights
UK employment law protects all workers regardless of nationality or immigration status. If you are made redundant, your rights include:
- Statutory redundancy pay: GOV.UK says: “You’ll normally be entitled to statutory redundancy pay if you’re an employee and you’ve been working for your current employer for 2 years or more.” It is half a week’s pay for each full year you were under 22, one week’s pay for each full year you were 22 or older but under 41, and one and a half weeks’ pay for each full year you were 41 or older. Length of service is capped at 20 years. For a redundancy on or after 6 April 2026, weekly pay is capped at £751 and the maximum statutory redundancy pay is £22,530.
- Notice period: the statutory minimum is at least one week’s notice if you have been employed between one month and 2 years; one week’s notice for each year if employed between 2 and 12 years; and 12 weeks’ notice if employed for 12 years or more. Your contract may give you more, and never less.
- Consultation: Your employer must consult with you about the redundancy. If 20 or more employees are being made redundant, collective consultation requirements apply.
- Fair selection: Your employer must use fair criteria for selecting who is made redundant. Your nationality or visa status must not be a factor.
If you believe your redundancy was unfair or discriminatory, you can bring a claim to an employment tribunal. Your employment rights are protected by law.
Impact on Your Visa
The impact on your visa depends on your visa type:
Skilled Worker Visa
If you are on a Skilled Worker visa , your sponsor has a duty to report the end of your employment, and permission on that route may then be cancelled. The Home Office guidance lists among the grounds that the worker or the sponsor confirms the employment has ceased, or will cease before the end date recorded on the certificate of sponsorship. GOV.UK describes the length of what you are left with, in the parallel case where a sponsor loses its licence: the visa “is limited to 60 days (or however long you have left on the visa if it’s less than 60 days)”. See the 60-day rule. In that window you can:
- Find a new employer with a sponsor licence who will sponsor you
- Apply to switch to a different visa category
- Make arrangements to leave the UK
Two things worth knowing about a new sponsored job. It takes a new application, and GOV.UK says: “You should not start your new job until you’ve got confirmation of your new permission.” And the requirements changed on 22 July 2025: the general salary threshold is £41,700 or the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher, and sponsorship below degree level closed unless the code is on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. Roles on the Temporary Shortage List cannot bring dependants.
There is also an exception to the 60 days. GOV.UK says that if you were involved in causing your sponsor to lose its licence, “your visa will be withdrawn and you’ll have to leave the UK immediately”.
For more detail on the Skilled Worker route specifically, see our guide on redundancy and the Skilled Worker visa.
Other Visa Types
If you hold a visa that is not tied to a specific employer (such as a family visa, the Graduate route, or settlement), redundancy does not affect it. There is no sponsor to report anything and no 60-day window; you look for work on the same footing as anyone else.
Steps to Take After Redundancy
- Understand your notice period and redundancy package. Check your contract and calculate your entitlements.
- Start job searching immediately. If you are on a Skilled Worker visa, time is critical. Focus on employers who hold a sponsor licence.
- Check your visa conditions. Understand exactly what your visa permits you to do and any time limits.
- Two separate kinds of advice. Employment law questions go to Acas, a trade union or Citizens Advice. Immigration questions go to someone registered with the Immigration Advice Authority or a member of an approved professional body — see our guide to what immigration advice costs. They are different specialisms and the deadlines run separately.
- Other routes. The published options for switching visa categories from inside the UK depend on the permission you currently hold.
Financial Support
If your visa has a "no recourse to public funds" condition, you cannot claim:
- Universal Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Child Benefit
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
What it does not block is anything earned through National Insurance contributions. Contribution-based benefits and statutory payments are not public funds for immigration purposes, which includes New Style Jobseeker's Allowance where you have the contribution record for it, and statutory payments such as Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay. Statutory redundancy pay comes from your employer, not the state, and is not a public fund either.
You can also use the NHS — which the healthcare surcharge paid with your visa covers — and Jobcentre services for job searching.
There is a published application to remove the condition from your current permission, on grounds including destitution and imminent destitution: see our guide to lifting no recourse to public funds. Local authority support under the Children Act 1989 and the Care Act 2014 sits outside the public funds restriction.
Discrimination and Unfair Dismissal
Employers must not discriminate based on nationality or immigration status when selecting employees for redundancy. If you believe you were targeted for redundancy because of your visa status or nationality, this may constitute unlawful discrimination.
Similarly, if the redundancy process was not genuine (for example, if the employer hired someone else to do your job immediately after making you redundant), you may have a claim for unfair dismissal.
Two Clocks, Not One
The thing that makes redundancy on a sponsored visa different is that two separate deadlines start at once. The employment one is the time limit for a tribunal claim, which is stated in the tribunal guidance and is short. The immigration one is the 60 days — or whatever is left on the visa, if that is less. Neither extends the other.
Related guides:
Questions and answers
Do visa holders have the same redundancy rights as UK workers?
Yes. If you are employed in the UK on a valid visa, you have the same employment rights as any other worker, including the right to statutory redundancy pay (if you have 2+ years of service), notice periods, and protection from unfair dismissal.
What happens to my visa if I am made redundant?
A sponsor must report the end of your employment, and permission on the Skilled Worker route may then be cancelled. GOV.UK describes the equivalent position when a licence is revoked as: your visa 'is limited to 60 days (or however long you have left on the visa if it's less than 60 days)'.
Can I claim benefits if made redundant on a visa?
The no recourse to public funds condition blocks means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit and Housing Benefit. It does not block benefits earned through National Insurance contributions: contribution-based benefits and statutory payments are not public funds for immigration purposes. Settled status and settlement carry no such condition.
Am I entitled to redundancy pay on a visa?
Employment rights do not depend on nationality. GOV.UK says: 'You'll normally be entitled to statutory redundancy pay if you're an employee and you've been working for your current employer for 2 years or more.' For redundancies on or after 6 April 2026, weekly pay is capped at £751 and the maximum statutory redundancy pay is £22,530.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.