Graduate Visa FAQs
Find the main Graduate Visa (Post-Study work) information page here on Ask Herts.
Stage 1: Check your eligibility
- If your visa is due to expire before the Exam Board sits
- What if I have received a notice that I have been reported as an early completer?
- Will I still be eligible if I went on holiday during my studies?
- Can I travel home for a vacation after I have completed, and return to the UK to apply?
- How do I determine eligibility for my dependants?
Stage 2: When and how to apply for a Graduate Visa
- What else will I need for my application?
- Can I apply if I have a University debt?
- Can I apply for a visa extension so I can get my results?
Stage 3: After you receive your Graduate Visa
- How long is this visa valid?
- Can I apply for an extension or for another Graduate Visa?
- What type of work will I be able to do?
- Can I study on the Graduate Visa?
Stage 4: What happens after your Graduate Visa expires
- Can I stay in the UK after my Graduate Visa ends?
- Will I be able to switch back to the Student Route from the UK at the end of my Graduate Visa?
General FAQ
Stage 1: Check your eligibility
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If your visa is due to expire before the Exam Board sits
You are free to take the action below if your visa will expire before the Exam Board sits and your award is 'locked' on your record. (This could be the case if you have used wrap-up leave for repeats or deferrals.) However, you should be aware that you will not have met the Graduate Visa eligibility criteria at the point of application.
Taking the action below will be at your own risk, so please read fully and be sure you understand how it works. We strongly urge against this course of action and suggest you wait until your award is ‘locked’ to submit your Graduate Visa application.
- You can request that your School confirms you have successfully completed your course before the Exam Board sits. This confirmation from your School will allow the University to report you as completed to the Home Office. The Student Immigration Team will not take any action without confirmation from your School.
- If the Exam Board awards you a lower qualification that is ineligible for the Graduate Visa, then the Student Immigration Team must inform the Home Office. This could negatively impact a pending application for a Graduate Visa, or a Graduate Visa you may have already been granted prior to the lower award being locked on your record.
- Remember, if you decide to apply before we have had the opportunity to confirm successful completion with the Home Office, then you do so at your own risk. The Home Office may refuse your application, or they may contact us asking for confirmation of completion. If they do contact us and your award still hasn’t been locked, then we can ask them to hold your application but there is no guarantee that they will agree to this.
- If your application is rejected, you could lose your application fee and have a visa refusal on your immigration record. The University will not accept liability for loss you incur based upon an application you submit prior to your award being officially locked on your record, so think carefully before you take any action!
- Remember if you are not eligible to apply for the Graduate Visa, you can always look at other types of visas that allow you to work in the UK.
Contact the Student Immigration Team (Advice) if you need further guidance.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
What if I have received a notice that I have been reported as an early completer?
If you complete studies more than 2 weeks before the end date on your CAS, your visa sponsorship will be stopped and your visa will be subject to cancellation. The Home Office will contact you, normally by emailing you a letter, to let you know that they are going to cancel your visa.
However, your new visa end date should still include your 'wrap up' period. For example, for courses of 12 months or more, you should receive 4 additional months after the University reports your early completion. The Home Office letter should also give you 60 days notice before your new visa end date.
You can apply for the Graduate Visa after we have notified you that we have reported you as completing for the Graduate route. Because you need to submit the Graduate Visa application before your visa is cancelled by UKVI, we advise you to apply as soon as you are able. Do not wait for your original visa end date, as this will have changed.
⚠️ If you leave the UK after the University has reported your early completion, Border Force can refuse you re-entry, or can serve notice of cancellation when you request re-entry to the UK. We advise that you remain in the UK if you have completed early and are planning to apply for the Graduate Route.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Will I still be eligible if I went on holiday during my studies?
One of the requirements of the Graduate Route is that you have studied in the UK for at least 12 months while holding a valid Student visa. Leaving the UK during weekends or outside of term-time count towards studying in the UK, but periods of absence outside of these times may impact your eligibility for the Graduate Route.
The Home Office Graduate Route guidance does not provide information about whether authorised absences that take place outside the UK will count as time spent studying in the UK. Therefore, we can't say how these absences will be interpreted by a UKVI caseworker processing your Graduate Route application. The Graduate Route application form asks you to enter information about your time spent outside the UK and your world travel history.
As it is your Graduate Visa application, it is ultimately your decision to take authorised absence during term-time or not. In the absence of clear guidance being available, you may wish to consider remaining in the UK until the end of your course (as listed on your CAS) if this is a cause for concern.
⚠️ There is no definition of short-term travel but if you are out of the country for a prolonged period during term time, your visa sponsorship will be withdrawn by the University before this is an issue for the Graduate Route.
Please do not ask us to confirm whether or not your application will be affected, because we are unable guarantee any visa application.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Can I travel home for a vacation after I have completed, and return to the UK to apply?
It depends if you have completed your course earlier than expected. If you have completed by the course end date on your CAS, you may travel while your Student visa is still valid.
If you have shortened your course and will complete your studies before the original course end date on your CAS, the University must report this to the Home Office. Your Student visa will then be subject to cancellation; therefore, you will not be able to leave the UK and re-enter on your cancelled Student visa. This is because:
- cancelled permission is regarded as a variation of permission [Immigration Rules Part 1 paragraph 31], and
- the period of permission remaining will be six months or less, and
- permission varied to a period of six months or less lapses on departure from the Common Travel Area.
The Border Force can check whether your permission has been cancelled during your absence and refuse your re-entry, or can serve notice of cancellation when you request re-entry to the UK.
We would strongly advise you to apply for your Graduate Visa as soon as you are eligible and travel to your home country once you have received your new visa.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
How do I determine eligibility for my dependants?
Students whose dependants are already with them in the UK on a student dependant visa are allowed to apply as a dependant under the Graduate Visa. No new dependants can come to the UK to join you under this route.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Stage 2: Apply for a Graduate Visa
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What else will I need for my application?
Make sure you have the following information to hand when you apply:
- CAS number - you will be required to include the CAS number you used to apply for the eligible course on the application form. Make sure you keep a copy of your CAS number, as we are unable to provide copies.
- Passport
- BRP
- Address details of where you have been living for the last 2 years (including dates)
- Name, address and contact number of your landlord (if you are renting)
- Details of any periods of 2 weeks or more spent outside of the UK
- Details of periods spent in any other country in the last 10 years
- Details of any medical treatment in the UK (including visits to the doctor)
- NI Number (if applicable)
- Driving licence number (if applicable)
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Can I apply if I have a University debt?
The University will not confirm that you have successfully completed your course to the Home Office if you have a debt to the University. This includes where you have a ceremony (graduation block).
⚠️If you apply while you are still in debt, your application will be refused as you will not meet Graduate Visa eligibility criteria.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Can I apply for a visa extension so I can get my results?
No, you cannot get a new CAS just to wait for your results so please do not submit a CAS request as it will be refused. You can only apply for a visa extension if you need more time to complete your studies.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Stage 3: After you receive your Graduate Visa
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How long is this visa valid?
If your application is successful, undergraduate and postgraduate students will be given 2 years, and PhD graduates will be given 3 years. The period of leave should be granted from the date of the decision.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Can I apply for an extension or for another Graduate Visa?
No, graduates will only be eligible for one Graduate Visa. Once a student has been given a Graduate Visa, they cannot apply for an extension or apply for another one even if they do more eligible study. If you are granted a Graduate Visa but are subsequently unable to work or you decide to leave the UK for any period, you will not able be able to request an extension.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
What type of work will I be able to do?
Most types of employment, self-employment and voluntary work are allowed. Working as a professional sportsperson is prohibited. Full-time or part-time work are allowed. These do not need to be linked to your degree and there is no minimum wage requirement. The Graduate Visa is an unsponsored route – i.e. you don’t need to have an employer to sponsor you. You do not need a new CAS or a COS to apply.
Although the Home Office has stated that work at any skill level will be allowed they have also implied that this route could be closed if evidence suggests that it is being used to obtain jobs it regards as 'low skilled', which is what happened with Tier 1 (Post-study Work). For an idea of the type of jobs the Home Office thinks of as 'skilled', see Appendix Skilled Occupations of the Immigration Rules, which sets out job titles, descriptions and wages required for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Can I study on the Graduate Visa?
This visa is given to enable you to work in the UK, so the ability to study will be limited. You should be permitted to undertake 'supplementary' study.
If the study is with an education provider who is also a student route sponsor and the study you want to do meets the approved qualification and level of study requirements of the Student route, then you will not be allowed to study with a Graduate Visa – in those instances, you would need to apply for a Student visa.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Stage 4: What happens after your Graduate Visa expires
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Can I stay in the UK after my Graduate Visa ends?
You will be able to apply to switch from this route into skilled work if you find a job that meets the requirements of the Skilled Worker route. As previously mentioned you cannot apply to extend this visa or apply for a new Graduate Visa if you undertake further study. The GV does not count towards permanent residency requirements (settlement) for ILTR applications.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
Will I be able to switch back to the Student Route from the UK at the end of my Graduate Visa?
Graduate Visa holders may switch to a Student Visa from within the UK as long as there are no more than 28 days between your GV expiry date and your new course start date. Certain visa holders cannot switch onto a Student visa from the UK.
Top of page | Graduate Visa information page
General FAQ
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Are other visa routes affected by the Graduate Route being opened?
The Home Office has closed the Doctorate Extension Scheme (DES) now the Graduate route has opened.
Graduate Visa holders may switch to the Innovator Founder route in the UK if you intend to start a business. You will need to be endorsed by an approved endorsing body.