A UK Graduate Work Visa allows you to stay for two years in the UK after you have successfully completed a course. UK Graduate Work Visa holders can work flexibly, switch jobs, and develop their careers as required. You can work at any skill level for two or three years for doctoral students.
This visa was previously known as a Tier 1 Post-Study Visa.
Who Can Apply for a UK Graduate Work Visa?
You qualify to apply for a Graduate Work visa if you meet the following requirements:
- You are currently in the UK with a student visa.
- You studied a UK bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree, or other eligible courses for a minimum of 12 months with your student visa.
- Your university or college can provide proof to the Home Office that you have successfully completed the course.
Benefits of the UK Graduate Work Visa
The benefits of the UK Graduate work visa are as follows:
- After you have completed a course in a British university, you can stay and work in the UK for two years or three years if you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification.
- You can look for a job, work, volunteer, and be self-employed.
- You can add your partner and children as dependents on your visa application if they have stayed with you during your study.
Conditions of the UK Graduate Work Visa
Once you obtain a UK Graduate Work Visa, you are obliged to follow the listed conditions:
- You are allowed to take up extra study, but you cannot study with a student sponsor on a course that would meet the requirements of a UK Student visa, and you cannot study at a state school.
- You are not allowed to bring new dependents.
- It is only possible to be granted permission under the Graduate route once.
- You cannot apply for public funds or the State Pension.
- You cannot work as a professional sportsperson.
Required Degrees for Applying for a UK Graduate Work Visa
To apply for the Graduate Work visa, you must have finished one of the following degrees or courses:
- A Bachelor’s Degree.
- A Master’s Degree.
- PhD or higher doctoral degree in any field.
- A law conversion course approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
- Legal Practice Course in England or Wales.
- Solicitors Course in Northern Ireland.
- A professional legal practice diploma in Scotland.
- Bar Practice Course in England and Wales, or Bar Course in Northern Ireland.
- Foundation program in medicine or dentistry.
- Postgraduate Certificate in Education.
- Postgraduate Diploma in Education.
- Any course regulated by UK law or a UK public body.
Required Documents for the UK Graduate Work Visa
To apply for the Graduate Work visa, you must prepare the following documents:
- A valid passport.
- Your biometric residence permit, if you received one when you applied for your student visa or general work visa.
- Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) reference number when you applied for a student visa.
- Depending on your situation, you may need to provide the following documents:
- Proof of your relationship with your partner and children if they are applying with you. You must provide marriage or civil partnership certificate, joint bank statements/joint financial statements, utility bills, or local taxation evidence
- A letter from your scholarship or sponsorship provider approving your application.
Note: You need to provide a certified translation of your documents if they are not in English or Welsh.
How to Apply for the UK Graduate Work Visa?
To apply for the Graduate Work Visa, you must complete the online application form on the UK’s visa and immigration government webpage. Once you start the application, the process is as follows:
- Upload the required documents. You will be presented with a list of documents to upload to your online application. You can either scan or photograph your documents; they can be in PNG, JPG, or JPEG or PDF format.
- Pay the required fees on the application form. You must pay both the healthcare surcharge and the application fee when applying online.
- Confirm your identity. If you have a BRP, you can download the scanning of your biometric residence permit (BRP) with the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app. You will provide your data and scan your BRP.
- Book and attend an appointment at the UKVACS to provide your biometrics if you don’t have a BRP. You can schedule an appointment as you apply online. You’ll be asked to provide your fingerprints and photograph when you attend the appointment at the UKVACS.
- Provide additional documents (if required). You can submit the supporting documents either when applying online or when you attend the UKVCAS appointment.
Note: If you are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Lichtenstein, you should scan your passport instead. If you cannot scan your BRP or passport with the app, you must get your fingerprints and photograph taken at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services service point.
Biometric Residence Permit
If you have provided your fingerprints and photo at a visa application center, you will get a biometric residence permit. When applying from within the UK, your BRP would be sent to you by courier within seven to ten days of getting your decision letter from the Home Office. A BRP proves your right to:
- Study
- Identity
- Right to any public services or benefits
When to Apply for a UK Graduate Work Visa?
You must apply for a UK Graduate Work Visa before your Student visa expires. You can apply after your university or college has told the Home Office that you have completed the course you took with your Student visa. As part of your application, you must prove your identity and provide your documents.
Duration of the UK Graduate Work Visa
The UK Graduate Work visa is valid for two years. If you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification, it is valid for three years. If you want to stay longer, you have to switch to another visa.
Can I Extend the UK Graduate Work Visa?
You cannot extend a UK Graduate Work Visa. However, you can switch to a different visa, for which you must meet the specific requirements (e.g. a UK Skilled Worker Visa).
How to Switch to a Different Visa if You Find a Job?
To switch to a different visa, if you find a job, you must meet the eligibility requirements of the specific work visa. Then, you simply have to submit another visa application via the UK Government Website and UKVACS.
Fees for the UK Graduate Work Visa
When you apply for the UK Graduate Work Visa, you have to pay the following fees:
| Application fee | £715 (€810) |
| Healthcare surcharge for two years | £1248 |
| Healthcare surcharge for three years | £1,872 |
If you’re a doctor or nurse, or you work in health or adult social care, check if you’re eligible to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa instead. It’s cheaper to apply for and you do not need to pay the annual immigration health surcharge.
If you get a job in public sector healthcare after you have paid the healthcare surcharge, you may be able to get a refund.
Processing Time for the UK Graduate Work Visa
After you have applied online and submitted the required documents, you will get a response in about eight weeks if your UK Graduate Work Visa application has been approved. You can stay in the UK while you wait for a decision.
If I Could Not Study in the UK because of COVID-19
The rules on how long you need to have studied your course in the UK may not apply if you had to study outside the UK because of COVID-19. If your Student Visa or Tier 4 Visa was for more than 12 months, you can count any time spent studying outside the UK between 24 January 2020 and 30 June 2022 as time spent studying in the UK.
Your Student visa was for 12 months or less if you can apply if either of the following are true:
- You started your course before 21 June 2021 and you entered the UK on a Student visa on or before 27 September 2021.
- You started your course between 21 June 2021 and 30 June 2022 and you entered the UK on a Student visa on or before 30 June 2022.
Can I Obtain ILR With a Graduate Visa?
You cannot obtain identified leave to remain (ILR) on the UK Graduate Work Visa. However, you can switch to the Skilled Worker visa, the Global Talent, the Innovator visa, Health and Care visa, the Scale-up visa, the International Sportsperson visa, or the Family visa, which allows you to obtain ILR after the staying required number of years.
Can I Bring My Family Members?
Your partner and children can apply to stay as dependents on your UK Graduate Work Visa if they joined you in the UK as dependents on your current Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa.
A dependent partner or child is any of the following:
- Your husband, wife, civil partner, or unmarried partner.
- Your child under 18 – including if they were born in the UK during your stay.
- Your child over 18 if they are living in the UK as your dependent.
- If you have a child when you are in the UK, you must apply for their dependent visa so you can travel in and out of the nation with them.