A part-time job is the difference between a scholarship that covers tuition and a scholarship you can actually live on. It is also the one thing about studying abroad that most students never check before they choose a country, because the rule is buried in a visa condition rather than on the university's website.
So we checked it for you. We took 15 of the most popular destinations for international students and pulled the rule for a full-time bachelor's student on a student visa from each country's immigration authority: how many hours you can work during term, what changes during breaks, what happens after you graduate, and what the minimum wage is where one exists. Then we ranked them by term-time hours.
The list changed while we were writing it. Sweden, which used to let students work without any limit, introduced a 15-hour weekly cap on June 11, 2026. It went from the top of this ranking to the bottom in a single rule change, which is a good reason to read the date on every source below.
1. Hong Kong: no limit, for now
Since November 1, 2024, full-time non-local undergraduates in Hong Kong have been temporarily exempted from the usual employment restrictions. If your program is locally accredited and at least one academic year long, you get a No Objection Letter from the Immigration Department and can work any number of hours, anywhere, in any job, during term and during breaks. Exchange students are excluded.
Two caveats. The government called the arrangement temporary and said it would review it; as of the Immigration Department's page revised in December 2025, the exemption is still in force, and no decision to end it or make it permanent has been published. If it ends, the default rule returns: on-campus work up to 20 hours a week, plus unlimited work from June 1 to August 31.
The pay is decent. Hong Kong's statutory minimum wage rose to HKD 43.10 an hour on May 1, 2026, and Humayl from Pakistan, who studies physics and maths at HKU, took up tutoring for financial independence. After graduation, the IANG scheme gives non-local graduates who apply within six months a 24-month stay with no job offer needed. Our Hong Kong guide has the full picture from 12 students.
2. Finland: 30 hours a week, averaged over the year
Finland's rule is generous and flexible. A student residence permit lets you work an average of 30 hours a week, measured as 120 hours a month or 1,560 hours a year. You can work more in some weeks and less in others as long as the yearly average holds, and you can work full-time in the holidays provided the average at the end of the year is still 30 hours or under. Employers are responsible for checking. There is no statutory minimum wage; pay is set by collective agreements per sector.
A Borderless student at Aalto University described on-campus jobs like social media management alongside part-time work in the city. After your degree, Finland offers a residence permit to look for work or start a business for up to two years, with unrestricted work rights, and you can apply for it up to five years after your study permit expires.
3. Japan: 28 hours a week, 8 hours a day in the holidays
Japan lets international students work up to 28 hours a week during term under the permission to engage in activities other than those permitted by the student visa, rising to 8 hours a day during the university's long vacations. Adult-entertainment businesses are off limits, and you need the permission stamp before you start.
Japan is also one of the few countries here with a rising minimum wage: the FY2026 national weighted average is JPY 1,177 an hour, and Tokyo pays JPY 1,280, with the new rates rolling out prefecture by prefecture between October and December 2026. After graduation, the Designated Activities visa for job hunting gives you six months, renewable once, so up to a year to find a job, with your university's recommendation.
4. New Zealand: 25 hours a week
New Zealand raised its limit from 20 to 25 hours a week for fee-paying student visas granted on or after November 3, 2025. Students with an older visa can apply for a variation to get the extra five hours. During the summer holidays, and during scheduled breaks if your course is worth 120 credits, you can work full-time. The adult minimum wage is NZD 23.95 an hour from April 1, 2026.
The post-study deal is among the best anywhere. A full-time bachelor's degree studied for at least 30 weeks in New Zealand qualifies for a Post Study Work Visa of up to three years with open work rights, applied for within three months of your student visa ending. From November 16, 2026, a new six-month Short-Term Graduate Work Visa is being added for lower-level qualifications.
5. Australia: 48 hours a fortnight (tie)
Australia counts by fortnight rather than week: a student visa lets you work 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session, across all jobs, per the Study Australia guide to visa condition 8105. That is 24 hours a week on average, but the fortnight rule lets you stack hours unevenly. During scheduled course breaks there is no limit, and you cannot start work before your course begins.
What makes Australia stand out is the pay. The national minimum wage is AUD 26.44 an hour from July 1, 2026, and casual employees, which most students are, get a 25 percent loading on top of that, about AUD 33 an hour. Neeharika from India wrote about finding part-time work in Sydney through university job listings. After graduation, the Temporary Graduate visa lets bachelor's graduates aged 35 or under stay and work, usually for two years.
5. Canada: 24 hours a week (tie)
Canada moved to a hard cap of 24 hours a week off campus during term for full-time students at designated learning institutions in programs of at least six months, with no work permit needed as long as the condition is printed on your study permit. During scheduled breaks, including summer, winter and reading weeks, there is no limit. The federal minimum wage is CAD 18.15 an hour from April 1, 2026, though most jobs fall under provincial rates.
Canada's Post-Graduation Work Permit is still one of the longest: a degree program of two years or more can earn a three-year open work permit. Since November 2024 applicants need CLB 7 English or NCLC 7 French in all four skills, and you must apply within 180 days of finishing.
The 20-hour club
Six countries land on the same number during term, with different fine print.
- Denmark: 90 hours a month from September to May, full-time in June, July and August, and a three-year job-seeking permit granted automatically alongside the study permit for state-approved degrees. No statutory minimum wage.
- Germany: 140 full working days a year, or 20 hours a week in the lecture period, no approval needed. Minimum wage €13.90 an hour in 2026, rising to €14.60 in 2027. Graduates get an 18-month permit to seek employment.
- United Kingdom: 20 hours a week during term for degree-level students, full-time outside term, no self-employment. Minimum wage £12.71 an hour for those 21 and over. The Graduate visa is two years if you apply by December 31, 2026 and 18 months for applications from January 1, 2027.
- Ireland: 20 hours a week as a hard per-week limit, 40 hours a week in June to September and from December 15 to January 15. Minimum wage €14.15 an hour. Honours bachelor's graduates get 12 months on the Third Level Graduate Programme.
- Norway: 20 hours a week automatically with a study permit, full-time in holidays, and a one-year job-seeker permit after graduation. No statutory minimum wage.
- United States: 20 hours a week during term, but on campus only, with no off-campus work at all in your first year. After graduation, Optional Practical Training gives 12 months, plus 24 more for STEM degrees. The federal minimum wage has been USD 7.25 since 2009, though many states set higher rates.
Where you can work the least
- Netherlands: your employer needs a work permit for you, and you choose either 16 hours a week year-round or full-time in June, July and August, never both. Minimum wage €14.99 an hour from July 2026. The one-year orientation permit after graduation needs no work permit.
- Singapore: 16 hours a week during term, only at institutions on the Ministry of Manpower's approved list, unlimited during vacation. No minimum wage.
- Sweden: 15 hours a week during semesters for permits granted from June 11, 2026, with unlimited work in June, July and August. Internships that are part of your program and student jobs at the university are exempt, and permits granted before June 11 keep the old unlimited rule until they are extended. Working over the cap can cost you the permit. Graduates can still stay for one year to look for work.
Read the date on the rule
Four of the fifteen rules above changed in the past two years, and three more are scheduled to. Hong Kong's exemption is temporary. New Zealand's post-study visas are being restructured from November 2026. The UK Graduate visa shrinks in January 2027. Sweden's cap is weeks old. The country that lets you work the most today may not be the one that lets you work the most when you graduate, so check the immigration authority's page in the month you apply, and again before you accept an offer.
Start your own journey
Work rights are one line in a much longer comparison: tuition, scholarships, cost of living, post-study visas, and whether the program exists in English. Most students compare one or two of those. The ones who end up somewhere they can afford compare all of them.
Kai, the Borderless AI college counselor, builds that comparison with you. Tell Kai your budget, your grades and where you want to live, and it puts universities across these countries side by side, tracks every deadline, and works through each application. It is free to use.
Start with Kai, and read the stories from students who did it.
