Usually, yes. If you made a valid ILR application from inside the UK before your existing permission expired, and that permission allowed you to work, you can normally keep working on the same conditions while the application is undecided. Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 extends the existing permission once it expires; it does not give you the unrestricted work rights of a person who already holds ILR.
Your employer still needs a prescribed right-to-work check. A share code may produce the necessary online result. If it does not, the employer—not the applicant—can ask the Home Office Employer Checking Service to verify the outstanding application. A late, invalid or withdrawn application may not provide the same protection, so start with the dates and the conditions on your previous permission.
ILR Calculator UK provides independent general information, not immigration or employment advice. Section 3C, application validity and work restrictions depend on the facts and the permission held before the ILR application.
Check four facts before telling HR that you can keep working
The label “ILR application pending” is not enough. Build a short timeline and answer these questions from your records:
| Question | Record to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| When did your existing permission expire? | Previous decision notice and current eVisa | Section 3C matters only after that permission would otherwise end. |
| When was the in-country application made? | Submitted form, payment receipt and application confirmation | It must have been made while you still had permission to be in the UK. |
| Is the application valid and still undecided? | UKVI acknowledgement, requests and decision messages | An invalid or withdrawn application does not provide the same section 3C protection. |
| What work did the old permission allow? | Previous eVisa and decision conditions | Those conditions continue; the pending ILR application does not replace them with settlement rights. |
The Home Office section 3C guidance defines an in-time application as one made in the UK while the applicant still has leave. If that application remains undecided when the leave expires, section 3C extends the leave until a decision or withdrawal, subject to any eligible appeal or administrative-review period. The same guidance is explicit that an invalid application does not extend leave.
Do not rely on the planned biometric appointment alone. Keep the online submission confirmation, payment record and any message showing that UKVI accepted or queried the application. If UKVI says the application is invalid, or you are unsure whether it was made in time, the work position needs case-specific checking rather than an assumption based on a pending appointment.
Section 3C preserves the old work conditions
Section 3C carries forward the conditions attached to your existing permission. If it allowed your current employment, that permission can continue on the same terms while section 3C applies. If it limited your occupation, sponsor, hours or type of work, those limits continue too. If it did not permit work, submitting an ILR application does not create a right to work.
This distinction is especially important for a job change. A person whose previous permission allowed employment without a sponsor may have a different range of permitted work from a Skilled Worker whose permission was tied to sponsored employment. A pending settlement application does not place both people in the same position. Before accepting changed duties, extra work or a new employer, check the conditions that are actually being extended and make sure the employer's result confirms the proposed work.
The ILR application also does not replace the employer's compliance process. Your application confirmation can help explain why an old expiry date appears, but it is not automatically the prescribed evidence that gives an employer a statutory excuse against an illegal-working penalty.
Give HR a verification route, not just a screenshot
Start by telling HR the application date, the expiry date of your previous permission and that the application is still outstanding. Keep the application reference available, but do not circulate the full form or unrelated personal evidence.
If you hold an eVisa and can generate a right-to-work share code, give the code and your date of birth to the employer. The current Home Office employer guide says its online service supports a range of people with outstanding in-time applications. A share code is valid for 90 days, while a successful online check for a pending in-time application gives the employer a six-month statutory excuse. The employer must save the result and check that it permits the actual work offered.
If the online service cannot confirm the position, HR should use the Employer Checking Service. This route is designed for cases including an outstanding application, appeal or administrative review, or a technical problem that prevents an online status check. It asks the employer for your identifying and job details as well as its own business information. A Positive Verification Notice confirms the permitted work and normally gives the employer a six-month statutory excuse.
The employer guide says an ECS request based on an outstanding application or challenge should normally be made at least 14 calendar days after it was delivered, allowing time for registration. That is a system-registration interval, not a promise about when the ILR decision will arrive. If work is at immediate risk, HR should follow the current guidance and document each check rather than treating the portal's first response as a final immigration decision.
Existing employees and new starters face different timing
For an existing employee, the employer may already have completed a compliant right-to-work check before the previous permission expired. If it is reasonably satisfied that an in-time application or qualifying challenge is outstanding, its statutory excuse can continue for up to 28 calendar days from the old expiry date while it obtains a new online result or Positive Verification Notice.
That 28-day grace does not apply to a check before employment begins. A prospective employer should not use it to start someone whose right to work has not been established. The employer guide says the employer should complete the prescribed online check or receive a six-month Positive Verification Notice before the new employment starts.
These are employer-compliance rules, not a separate grant of immigration permission. An existing worker should still help HR obtain the fresh result promptly, and a new starter should allow enough time for the check before agreeing a start date. Neither person should assume that an application receipt authorises work outside the conditions carried forward by section 3C.
Prepare a compact right-to-work pack
Give HR the facts it needs to choose the correct check without handing over an unfocused immigration archive. A useful pack contains:
- the previous permission type, expiry date and work conditions;
- the ILR application submission date and reference;
- the UKVI acknowledgement or latest message showing the application remains outstanding;
- a fresh right-to-work share code, if the online service can generate one;
- a note that HR may need ECS if the online result is unavailable or still shows only the old expiry date.
Keep your own copy of the share-code result, any ECS reference, the Positive Verification Notice and the date of the employer's check. These records help separate an immigration-permission question from a portal or HR-record problem. They also tell you when a six-month follow-up check may be due if the application is still unresolved.
Do not send passwords, a complete UKVI account screenshot or documents that HR has not requested through a secure channel. A share code is purpose-specific evidence; an application reference helps ECS locate the case. Neither requires publishing your personal immigration record in email chains wider than the people responsible for the check.
An old eVisa expiry date is a prompt to verify, not a decision
Your eVisa may continue to show the end date of the permission that existed when you applied. That display does not by itself decide whether section 3C applies, and a screenshot of the old date does not prove that it does not. The legal question still turns on a valid, in-time and outstanding application and the previous conditions.
Try the prescribed right-to-work share-code route first. If it produces a result for the pending application, HR should retain that result. If you cannot generate the code or the online check does not confirm the position, ask HR to use ECS. The Home Office, rather than the applicant or employer, then confirms whether the person may do the work in question.
If UKVI has told you the ILR application is invalid, withdrawn or decided, do not describe the portal as merely delayed without checking the consequence. Preserve the message and get advice promptly where the end of permission, a refusal or a disputed application date could affect work.
Know what can end the pending-application protection
Approval changes the basis of the check. Once ILR is granted and correctly recorded, the employer can complete a fresh check showing settlement and the unrestricted right to work that goes with it. Until then, the old conditions remain the relevant limit.
A refusal does not always end section 3C at the instant the decision is sent. Where there is an eligible in-country appeal or administrative review, Home Office guidance says section 3C can continue during the period when that challenge may be brought and while it is pending. The available challenge and its deadline depend on the decision, so read the notice rather than assuming every refusal has the same effect.
Withdrawal is different: section 3C ends when the underlying application is withdrawn. Travel can trigger that result too. Before booking a trip, use our guide to travel while an ILR application is pending to check whether the itinerary leaves the Common Travel Area and how paragraph 34K can treat the application as withdrawn. This link is a practical next step for anyone whose continuing work depends on the same pending application.
Digital checks may improve, but the underlying question stays conditional
The Home Office now allows more people with outstanding in-time applications to obtain an online right-to-work result, yet ECS remains necessary when the digital route cannot confirm the case. That balance may change as the eVisa system develops. Employers and applicants should therefore use the current version of the official guide each time a follow-up check is due rather than copying a process from an older case.
The harder question will remain: what permission and conditions are actually being extended? A faster portal can show an answer sooner, but it cannot turn a late or invalid application into an in-time one, remove a sponsored-work restriction, or keep section 3C alive after withdrawal. When the underlying facts are disputed, preserve the application and employment record and obtain regulated advice before changing jobs or continuing after a negative decision.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep working after my visa expires while my ILR application is pending?
Usually, yes, if you made a valid application from inside the UK before that permission expired and the old permission allowed the work. Section 3C can extend the permission on the same conditions while the ILR application remains undecided. It does not erase restrictions on sponsor, role, hours or work type. Ask your employer to complete the prescribed online check or use ECS rather than relying only on the application receipt.
Does submitting an ILR application give me unrestricted work rights?
No. Unrestricted work rights follow a grant of ILR, not the act of submitting the application. While section 3C applies, it extends the conditions attached to your previous permission. Broad work permission remains broad; sponsored or hours-limited permission remains restricted. Check the previous decision and eVisa before accepting a new role, changed duties or extra work, and make sure the employer's right-to-work result covers the job you will actually do.
What if my eVisa still shows the old expiry date?
An old date on the eVisa does not by itself decide whether section 3C applies. Try to generate a right-to-work share code and let the employer carry out the online check. If the service cannot confirm the outstanding application, HR can use the Employer Checking Service with your application and job details. Keep the UKVI acknowledgement and the check result; do not ask the employer to rely only on your own screenshot or explanation.
Can I start a new job while my ILR application is pending?
Possibly, but two tests must be satisfied. The conditions extended from your previous permission must allow the proposed job, and the new employer must complete a prescribed right-to-work check before you start. The 28-day employer grace described for some existing employees does not apply to pre-employment checks. A Skilled Worker should not assume that a pending ILR application removes sponsor or role restrictions; confirm the actual conditions and check result before changing employment.
Does a later biometric appointment stop section 3C from applying?
The decisive question is whether a valid, in-time application was made before the existing permission expired, not simply whether the biometric appointment occurs later. Keep the online submission, payment and UKVI confirmation records, and comply with every identity or evidence deadline. If UKVI treats the application as invalid, section 3C does not arise. Do not use an appointment booking alone as proof of continuing permission when HR or UKVI has raised a validity issue.
What happens to my right to work if the ILR application is refused or withdrawn?
Withdrawal ends section 3C leave. After a refusal, section 3C may continue only where an eligible in-country appeal or administrative review can be brought in time and while it remains pending. The refusal notice should identify any challenge route and deadline. Give the decision to a regulated adviser and alert HR promptly; do not assume work automatically stops immediately or automatically continues through every challenge. A fresh employer check may be needed.
