UK’s New Post-Study Work Visa Unveiled – The Graduate route

The Graduate route is aimed at retaining the brightest international students with the hopes that they will continue to contribute to the UK economy after their university studies.

Applicants will not need to be sponsored by their university or an employer in order to make this application. There will be no minimum salary requirement or cap on the number of applicants for this route.

The Graduate route

The Graduate route does not lead to settlement, however, so those residing in the UK on the Graduate route should look to switch into other immigration categories that lead to settlement if they wish to stay in the UK long-term.

Applicants must be in the UK to make this application and must already be on a Student visa. In addition to the general suitability and validity requirements, in order to be eligible for the Graduate visa, applicants must meet the following requirements

Successful completion requirement

• the applicant must have last been sponsored by a university or higher education provider with a track record of compliance at the date of application;
• the applicant must have successfully completed the course of study which was undertaken during their most recent period of leave on the Student visa;
• the sponsoring university or higher education provider must have notified the Home Office that the applicant has successfully completed the course of study.

Qualification requirement

• the applicant must have successfully completed a course of study for which they have or will be awarded a UK bachelor’s degree, UK postgraduate degree or a ‘relevant qualification’ as defined in the Immigration Rules.

Study in the UK requirement

• the applicant must have studied in the UK for a required ‘minimum period’ of the course, depending on the total length of the course. Different requirements are in place for those who undertook distance learning between 24 January 2020 and 27 September 2021.

The Graduate route will open for applications on 1 July 2021 and will allow students to stay in the UK for a further two years (three years for those who have completed a PhD or other doctoral qualification) after the completion of their course.

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