Graduate visa
Stay and work after a UK degree without a sponsor. Two years now, 18 months for later applicants.
Rules and fees checked against gov.uk on 8 November 2026. Page updated 8 November 2026. How we check our guides.
- Who it is for
- International students who complete a UK degree while on a Student visa
- Length
- 2 years (3 for PhDs); 18 months for applications from 1 January 2027
- Fee
- £880 plus the health surcharge for the whole period
- Sponsor needed
- No
The Graduate visa, introduced in July 2021, lets you stay and work at any skill level after finishing a UK degree. You do not need a job offer or a sponsor, and there is no salary requirement. It is a bridge: it does not lead to settlement, and most people use it to find an employer who will sponsor a Skilled Worker visa.
Who qualifies
- You must be in the UK on a Student visa when you apply.
- You must have successfully completed a UK bachelor's degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course (including certain professional qualifications such as the PGCE and the Legal Practice Course) with a sponsor that has a track record of compliance.
- Your university must have told the Home Office that you completed the course before you apply. Check with your international student office; applying before the report is sent is a refusal.
- You must have studied in the UK for the full course if it was 12 months or less, or for at least 12 months if it was longer. Distance learning from abroad does not count, apart from the COVID concessions for 2020 to 2022.
You cannot apply from outside the UK, and you can only hold the Graduate visa once.
How long it lasts
Two years for bachelor's and master's graduates and three years for PhD and other doctoral graduates. The May 2025 white paper announced a cut to 18 months, and the rules put that into effect for applications made on or after 1 January 2027. If you will graduate before then and want the full two years, apply before that date.
Cost
The fee is £880 and the Immigration Health Surcharge is charged at the full adult rate of £1,035 a year, so a two-year grant costs £2,950 up front. Decisions usually take about eight weeks.
What you can do
Work in any job at any level, be self-employed, set up a business, volunteer and travel. You can study, but not a course that would qualify for a Student visa. You cannot be a professional sportsperson, and you cannot claim public funds. Your dependants can stay with you if they were already your dependants on the Student route; you cannot add new ones.
Why it does not count towards settlement
Time on the Graduate visa, like time as a student, does not count towards the five-year qualifying period for ILR on work routes. It does count towards the ten-year long residence route. The practical consequence is that your settlement clock on the Skilled Worker route starts only when that visa is granted, so switching earlier rather than later shortens your wait.
Switching to Skilled Worker
You can switch at any point during the Graduate visa once an employer offers you a sponsored job. Graduates benefit from the new entrant salary discount, which lets a sponsor pay 70% of the going rate (subject to a floor) for up to four years if you are under 26 or switching from the Graduate route within two years of your course ending. From the July 2025 changes the job must be at RQF level 6, which most graduate jobs are. The employer still pays the Immigration Skills Charge.