An employee's work visa expired and HR didn't know. Now what?
First, find out today whether the person still has the right to work: an extension may already be pending, or they may need to stop working until it is resolved, depending on local law. Then fix the system that missed it - every visa, permit and right-to-work document needs its own expiry date, an owner, and reminders that start months ahead, not a note in a personnel file.
Last updated · ExpiryEdge editorial team
Quick answer
If an employee's visa or work permit has expired, confirm their current immigration status immediately, because a renewal filed before the expiry date can sometimes keep the right to work in place. If it cannot be confirmed, follow local law, which may require them to stop working, and take advice from an immigration lawyer. To prevent a repeat, track each document's expiry with an owner and reminders starting 6 months out.
What to do in the next 48 hours
1. Confirm the facts, not the assumption
Pull the document on file and check the exact expiry date. Then ask the employee directly whether they applied to extend or switch status before that date, and for proof of the application. Sometimes the employee renewed on time and never told HR. Write down what you checked, when and who did it.
2. Check status through the official route for your country
In the UK, a person who applied before their permission expired may still have the right to work while the application is pending, and the Home Office Employer Checking Service can confirm it. In the US, expiring employment authorization triggers Form I-9 reverification, and whether a pending renewal keeps work authorization in place depends on the EAD category, so check current USCIS rules rather than older guidance. In the EU, rules differ by member state.
3. Stop or adjust work if the law requires it
If you cannot confirm a current right to work, the usual step is to take the person off work until it is resolved - but how you do that (paid or unpaid leave, suspension, termination) has employment-law consequences of its own. Do not decide this on HR instinct. Get an immigration lawyer and, where relevant, an employment lawyer involved the same day.
4. Treat the employee fairly while it is resolved
The person is usually as worried as you are. Explain what you need from them and why, agree a date for an update, and keep the conversation private. Avoid singling out employees by nationality when you re-check documents - check everyone in the same category the same way.
5. Audit everyone else with a time-limited right to work
One missed date usually means others are close. List every employee whose permission to work has an end date, sort by expiry, and check anything expiring in the next 6 months this week. Record the date each check was done and keep copies of the evidence.
Visa dates get missed for the same few reasons
The date lived in a file, not a schedule
The visa was checked at hiring, scanned into the personnel file, and nobody set a follow-up. A document checked once is not a document tracked.
One person owned it, then changed jobs
The recruiter or HR administrator who onboarded the employee knew the date. When they left or moved team, the knowledge left with them.
The reminder came too late to act on
A calendar alert a week before expiry is no use when a visa extension needs documents, fees, a sponsor action and processing time measured in weeks or months.
HR and the employee each assumed the other was handling it
Sponsored visas need the employer to act; personal permits rely on the employee. Without a named owner and a shared record, both sides wait.
Give every right-to-work document a date, an owner and a cadence
Every visa, permit and right-to-work check on the employee record
In ExpiryEdge each document is its own record: type, number, expiry date, the employee, the HR owner, and the scanned copy attached. Follow-up check dates can be tracked as separate records, so the date you need to re-check is never hidden inside a PDF.
Document type, expiry and holder on one record
Copy of the document and check evidence attached
Separate follow-up check dates where your rules require them
Reminders from 180 days, to HR and the employee
Set the first reminder for visas and permits at 180 days, then 90, 60, 30 and 7. Reminders go to the HR owner and, if you choose, the employee and their line manager, by email, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack or Microsoft Teams. If the date passes with no renewal logged, the record escalates to a senior owner.
Configurable cadence per document type
HR owner, employee and manager can all be notified
Escalation when a date passes unresolved
A timestamped trail of every check and reminder
Every change, reminder and renewal is logged with who did it and when. When you need to show that checks were done, export the history for one employee or the whole workforce as CSV, PDF or XLSX.
Who checked, when, and what was on file
Reassign records in one click when HR staff change
Exports for audits and legal advisers
Create one record per document, not per employee: visa or residence permit, work permit, employment authorization card, and any follow-up check date your local rules require. Each record needs the expiry date, the employee, a named HR owner and a copy of the document. Then put reminders on each record that start early enough to renew - 180 days for sponsored visas is a sensible first alert. ExpiryEdge holds these records, sends reminders by email, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack or Teams, and escalates when a date passes without a renewal logged.
Start at least 6 months ahead for employer-sponsored visas and work out the real lead time backwards from the expiry date. Collect documents, confirm the role and salary still meet the visa conditions, budget for fees, and check current processing times on the government website, which can change. Some routes only let you apply within a certain window before expiry, so check that too. For permits the employee renews themselves, a reminder at 90 days and a request for proof of application at 30 days is a reasonable starting point.
Agencies track right to work per worker, not per placement, because the same person may be placed with several clients. Hold the document, the expiry date and the check evidence on the worker record, and check that the right to work is valid for the whole length of each booking, not just the start date. Reminders should reach the compliance team and the consultant who manages the worker. Who carries the legal duty to check - the agency, the client or both - depends on the country and the contract, so confirm it.
Track each document under the country that issued it, because every country has its own rules on what counts as proof, when follow-up checks are needed and what records to keep. Group employees by country or legal entity, give each group a local HR owner, and set reminder cadences per document type. A head-office view should show everything expiring in the next 30, 60 or 90 days across all countries. Get local immigration advice for each country rather than applying one country's rules everywhere.
List each document per person - passports, residence permits, visas, national ID cards - with the expiry date and where the original is kept. Set a first reminder 9 months ahead for passports, because some countries require several months of validity left on entry and renewals can take weeks. Add a reminder for residence permits at least 3 months out, or earlier if your country's process is slow. A shared tool that sends reminders to both partners works better than one person's phone calendar.
Keep a copy of each document checked, the date of the check, who did it, and the result of any online check, such as a UK Home Office online check or a completed US Form I-9 with any reverification. Keep records for as long as the official guidance in your country requires, which can extend after employment ends. Store them securely with restricted access, because they contain personal data. ExpiryEdge attaches the evidence to each record and keeps a timestamped log, but it does not perform the check itself.
It depends on the country, but in many places employing someone without the right to work can lead to civil penalties for the employer, loss of a sponsor licence or similar status, and in serious cases criminal liability. The employee can also face consequences for their own immigration record. Correct checks done at the right time often give the employer a defence. Because the details vary widely, take advice from an immigration lawyer on your specific situation rather than relying on general guidance.
Put every visa and permit date on a schedule
Import your employee document list, set a 180-day first reminder, assign an HR owner. Free 14-day trial, no credit card.