The Graduate Route is a new work route for students who have studied at degree level (or other relevant qualification at degree level or above) from an approved UK Higher Education provider. The new visa category permits you to remain inside the UK to find employment. Your application does not need sponsorship or any endorsement by an employer or by St Mary’s University. It is similar to the old Tier 1 Post-Study Work route that ended in 2012, you will be able to work in most jobs under this visa category. While your Graduate Route application is pending, you can continue to work under the conditions of your Student Route or Tier 4 permission.
Online visa applications will open from 9am on Thursday 1st July 2021.
When your Graduate Route visa is issued you can work in most jobs either employed or self-employed but you are unable to work as a professional sportsperson or coach. You can be employed at any level of salary or skill but if your plan is to switch in to the Skilled Worker Route afterwards, please check which jobs are eligible under the route to ensure the switch in to the same job is possible. (More information about the Skilled Worker Route can be found on this page).
You will be eligible to apply when you have successfully completed your course. You must have successfully completed the course for which your visa was granted. If you leave St Mary’s with an exit award or you do not complete the course for which your visa was granted, you will not be eligible to apply. If you changed your course during your studies and that did not require you to make a new visa application from overseas, you will be eligible to apply. Before you can apply for your visa, St Mary’s must first notify the Home Office that you have successfully completed your course, this will happen after the exam board. The UKVI Compliance and Immigration Team (UCIT) will confirm for you by email when confirmation has been submitted to UKVI.
You may receive your provisional results 1-2 months before the exam board depending on the schedule of your programme. You then need to wait for the exam board to ratify your provisional results. After the exam board meets, allow for 1-3 weeks to receive your official result sheet by email. The visa team will work on UKVI reporting and notifying all eligible students. This is estimated to be 1-2 weeks after the Registry processing. For example, if your course ends in September, your results will be normally be ratified in the November board, and you will receive the UKVI reporting email around mid-December. You will have around 1.5 months of leave remaining on your Student visa to apply for a Graduate visa.
The relevant course must be either:
- Undergraduate degree
- Masters degree
- PhD degree or other doctoral qualification
Or one of the qualifications listed in paragraph GR 5.2 of the Graduate Immigration rules when they are published.
- A law conversion course validated by the Joint Academic Stage Board in England and Wales
- The Legal Practice Course in England and Wales, the Solicitors Course in Northern Ireland, or a Diploma in Professional Legal Practice in Scotland
- The Bar Practice Course in England and Wales, or the Bar Course in Northern Ireland
- A foundation programme in Medicine or Dentistry
- A Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE)
- A professional course requiring study at UK bachelor’s degree level or above in a profession with reserved activities that is regulated by UK law or UK public authority.
No, you will only be eligible to apply if your current visa is under the Tier 4 or Student Route category.
You must be inside the UK when you submit your visa application. Please note that your visa must be valid (not expired) when you apply. The deadline for submitting a valid Graduate visa application is the expiry date of your Student visa.
Due to COVID-19, there are concessions in place for students unable to travel to the UK due to the pandemic, recognising the continued disruption many face in international travel.
If you have been distance learning (overseas) during your studies, you must read the concessions to ensure you understand the dates by which you will need to have entered the UK. The information is separated for students whose courses are more than 12 months or less than 12 months in duration.
Find out more
Continuing St Mary’s students
If you are on a course of longer than 12 months that began before September 2020 and you would have required student visa sponsorship for more than just the final year of your course, any time that you spend outside the UK distance learning between 24th January 2020 and 27th September 2021 will not prevent you from meeting the ‘study in the UK’ requirement. In summer 2021, this is most likely to apply to UG students who began their St Mary’s degrees in 2018/19.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate level applicants can stay for two years. PhD graduates can stay for three years.
You are allowed to take courses such as part-time courses, short courses and evening courses while you are in the UK on a Graduate Route visa. If you want to study a programme that requires or provides visa sponsorship under the Student Route, you should not attempt to enrol on that programme with a Graduate Route visa as this is not permitted.
Yes, you can but you will only benefit from applying for the Graduate Route once. If you were granted a Graduate visa prior to studying at St Mary’s with a Student visa, please inform the visa team, as you will not be eligible for the Graduate visa again upon finishing your course here.
Your partner and/or children who are already here in the UK as your Tier 4 or Student Route visa dependant/s can apply to extend their stay. They can only apply to extend their visa/s from within the UK. Dependant/s who are outside the UK are unable to apply for a visa as your Graduate Route dependant/s.
Any dependant/s from overseas cannot be added (for example, your dependant/s may have been overseas as you were not eligible to have them with you in the first place or your partner may have remained overseas for work purposes etc).
Partners already in the UK with you under another form of immigration permission cannot be added as a dependant under the Graduate Route.
Your dependant/s will have the same work conditions as you, they can work in most jobs either employed or self-employed but they are unable to work as a professional sportsperson or coach.
Graduate Route dependants do not have the same study restrictions and can enrol on to any programme with a Student Route Sponsor.
- Before the thesis submission: you can work up to 20 hours per week in part-time jobs;
- After all work is submitted with no resit, before applying for a Graduate visa: you can work full time on a fixed-term/temporary basis; Your employment contract must reflect this by having an end date on or before your Student visa’s expiry date.
- After applying for a Graduate visa and pending a decision: you may start working in permanent full-time jobs if you applied for your Student visa on or after 06 April 2022, but not entertainer work or be self-employment; If you applied for your Student visa before 06 April 2022, you must wait for the Graduate visa to be granted to start working in permanent full-time jobs,
- After a Graduate visa is granted, you can work based on the conditions of the immigration route.
You may be offered Sponsorship under the Skilled Worker Route by an employer instead. You may therefore need to apply under the Skilled Worker Route so please check the conditions of the route before you apply to ensure you meet the requirements. There is no deadline for applying in your home country under the Skilled Worker route. For the first two years after you return home, you only need to meet the lower "new entrant" minimum salary for a Skilled Worker application. Even after two years, you can still be a "new entrant" if you are under 26 years old.
See the detailed guide to the Skilled Worker Route on this UKCISA page, with other work route options.
- To apply to switch into the Skilled Worker Route you must be sponsored and offered a job at the correct skill level, and earn the required salary for the job.
- The Skilled Worker Route leads to Settlement in the UK, the Graduate Route does not. If you switch to a Skilled Worker visa before your Graduate visa expires, your time spent using the Graduate visa does not count towards the 5-year route to settlement.
- You can add dependant/s to the Skilled Worker Route who were not student dependant/s. They can either join you from overseas or switch to Skilled Worker Dependants from other eligible visa categories in the UK.
- You cannot add dependant/s to the Graduate Route if they were not already your Student dependant/s. If your family members are eligible to apply as your Student dependants but have not done so, they can apply before your Student leave expires. Check your eligibility to bring dependants.
- All studying is permitted on the Skilled Worker Route. Studying is restricted to courses not offering student visa sponsorship on the Graduate Route.
- It is easier to change jobs on the Graduate Route, as you are not sponsored by any employer. You would need to obtain new sponsorship, apply and pay for a new visa to change your job on the Skilled Worker Route, as your visa is sponsor and position specific.
- You can switch into the Skilled Worker Route as a new entrant providing you obtain sponsorship before the Graduate Route visa expires.
St Mary’s Careers Service can help you plan your job search and identify potential vacancies through booking a one to one appointment with a Careers Consultant. You can do this by emailing careers@stmarys.ac.uk or calling 0208 240 4055. Appointments are available online or in person. We have a jobs board, Career Connect through which you can find part-time jobs, internships and graduate opportunities and lots of information on finding jobs on the Careers Moodle pages.
There is a lot of information on writing a successful CV on the Careers Moodle pages. You can also book an appointment to get a CV check by emailing careers@stmarys.ac.uk or calling 0208 240 4055. Appointments are available online or in person.
Disclaimer
Please note the FAQ’s were formed before the Home Office published Policy Guidance or the Immigration Rules and are subject to change at any point in time. The information is considered as a guide to provide you with more information for your perusal.
Skilled Worker Route Visa
You and your employer have a responsibility to ensure you are eligible to apply for a Skilled Worker Route visa before you apply.
Providing advice on exact requirements for the Skilled Worker Route application is outside of our expertise. You will need to seek assistance from a fully qualified advisor or solicitor that may vary in cost:
If you submitted a Skilled Worker visa application after 17th July 2023:
- If your course of study is complete, you can start working in your Skilled Worker job immediately after a valid Skilled Worker visa application is submitted.
- If you are within 3 months of the course end date on your CAS for your course of study and your CoS start date from your employer is after the course end date on your CAS, you can start working in your Skilled Worker job immediately after a valid Skilled Worker visa application is submitted.
- If you are studying a PhD course and your CoS start date is after 24 months since your course start date on your CAS, and more than 3 months before your course end date on your CAS, then you cannot start working in your Skilled Worker job until your Skilled Worker visa has been granted.
Completion letter
- Your employer may request confirmation you have completed your course after your course has ended.
A letter may be required from your Course Lead confirming that:
1. You have completed your course,
2. All teaching elements have ended,
3. All work has been submitted.
Early completion of your course
- If you complete your course more than 2 weeks earlier than the course end date on your CAS, the student visa team must report early completion of your course to the Home Office based on your Course Lead’s written confirmation. Please contact studentvisas@stmarys.ac.uk if you are finishing your course more than 2 weeks earlier than expected.
For more details on eligibility for a Skilled Worker visa, please refer to UKCISA