Graduate visa (PSW)

What the Graduate visa is

A Graduate visa gives you permission to stay in the UK for at least 18 months after successfully completing an eligible course in the UK. You must be in the UK on a Student or Tier 4 (General) visa when you apply, and your education provider must have told the Home Office that you completed your course. There is no job offer, sponsor, salary or maintenance requirement.

Your visa starts from the day your application is approved. It cannot be extended, but you may be able to switch to another visa, such as Skilled Worker, before it expires.

Changes from 1 January 2027

Following the UK Immigration White Paper 2025 and the Statement of Changes of 14 October 2025, implemented 11 November 2025, the duration of the Graduate visa depends on when you apply.

• Apply on or before 31 December 2026: the Graduate visa lasts 2 years.
• Apply on or after 1 January 2027: the Graduate visa lasts 18 months.
• PhD or other doctoral qualification: 3 years, whenever you apply.

Eligibility requirements

All of the following must be true when you apply.

• You are in the UK

  You must be in the UK when you apply. Applications cannot be made from abroad.

• Current visa

  Your current visa is a Student visa or a Tier 4 (General) student visa.

• Eligible course

  You studied a UK bachelor's degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course on that visa.

• Licensed provider with a track record

  Your education provider is a licensed sponsor showing 'Student Sponsor - Track Record' in the status column of the register.

• Time studied in the UK

  At least 12 months if your course is longer than 12 months, or the whole course if it is shorter.

• Completion reported

  Your provider has told the Home Office you successfully completed the course. You do not need to have graduated or received a certificate.

• Application timing

  Apply before your Student or Tier 4 (General) visa expires.

If your provider allowed you to change course without applying for a new Student visa, you only need to have completed the course you changed to. Student Union Sabbatical Officers can apply if they completed an eligible course just before starting their current visa.

Eligible courses

You usually need one of the first three; the others also qualify.

• A UK bachelor's degree.
• A UK master's degree.
• A UK PhD or doctorate.
• A law conversion course approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
• 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 Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).
• A course that made you eligible for a job regulated by UK law or a UK public authority; your provider can confirm whether yours qualifies.

What you can and cannot do

• Work in most jobs and look for work.
• Be self-employed.
• Do voluntary work, provided it is unpaid and for a registered charity, voluntary organisation, associated fundraising body or statutory body.
• Continue living in the UK with your partner and children, if they are eligible.
• Travel abroad and return to the UK.
• Switch to another visa, such as Skilled Worker, before your Graduate visa expires.

Duration and costs

What you pay depends on how long your visa will last. There is no maintenance funds requirement.

Bachelor's or master's, applying on or before 31 December 2026

2 years

Bachelor's or master's, applying on or after 1 January 2027

18 months

PhD or other doctoral qualification

3 years

Application fee

£937

Immigration Health Surcharge, 18-month visa

£1,152.50

Immigration Health Surcharge, 2-year visa

£2,070

Immigration Health Surcharge, 3-year visa

£3,105

Total, 18-month visa

£2,089.50

Total, 2-year visa

£3,007

Total, 3-year visa

£4,042

Money to support yourself

Not required

Biometrics (fingerprints and photo)

No fee

If you get a job in public sector healthcare after paying the surcharge you may be able to get a refund, and if you are a doctor, nurse or health or adult social care worker, GOV.UK suggests checking whether the Health and Care Worker visa (cheaper, with no surcharge) is available to you instead. Figures as published on GOV.UK, last updated 3 August 2026.

Processing times

The Graduate visa is applied for inside the UK only.

Main applicant, inside the UK

8 weeks

Dependants, inside the UK

8 weeks

Priority or super priority service

May be offered for an extra fee; you are told when you apply

The clock starts once you have applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents. You can stay in the UK while you wait, provided you applied before your Student visa expired, but you must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man or your application will be withdrawn. You will be contacted if your application will take longer, for example because documents need verifying or you have a criminal conviction. Time published on GOV.UK: applications inside the UK, 21 July 2025.

Documents you'll need

• A valid passport or other travel document that shows your identity and nationality.
• Your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) reference number from your Student or Tier 4 (General) visa application. Ask your provider if you cannot find it.
• Your biometric residence permit (BRP) to prove your Student visa. You can use it for 24 months after the expiry date printed on the card or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first.
• Proof of your relationship with your partner or children if they are applying with you.
• A letter from your scholarship or sponsorship provider approving your application, if they paid both your course fees and living costs in the last 12 months.
• A certified translation of any document not in English or Welsh.

Application process

Your partner and children

Only existing dependants can stay with you on a Graduate visa.

Your partner and children can apply to stay as your dependants if they joined you as dependants on your Student or Tier 4 (General) visa. A child can also apply if they were born in the UK during your Student or Graduate visa. Their visa ends on the same date as yours, and each applies separately and pays the fee and surcharge.

• A dependant is your husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner; your child under 18; or your child over 18 who already has permission as your dependant.
• Your partner must have been a dependant on your Student visa, and you must show you are still partners: a marriage or civil partnership recognised in the UK, or living together in a relationship for at least 2 years, or an ongoing commitment where you cannot live together.
• Children must live with you (unless away in full-time education) and not be married or in a civil partnership. Provide evidence of their address, such as a bank statement, credit card bills, a driving licence, an NHS registration document or a letter from their school or college.
• A child under 18 born in the UK during your Student or Graduate visa does not need to have been a dependant; provide a UK birth certificate or special guardianship order. A child born in the UK does not automatically become British.
• Dependants provide their passport, their BRP (usable for 24 months after its printed expiry or until 31 December 2026), your Unique Application Number, and a letter from your scholarship provider if it paid their living costs in the last 12 months.
• New dependants may be able to join you from outside the UK if you switch to a different visa, for example Skilled Worker.

After your Graduate visa

The Graduate visa gives you valuable UK work experience, but it cannot be extended and does not count towards settlement. To stay long term, you will need to switch to another visa before it expires.

Common refusal reasons

Each mandatory requirement of the route is a ground for refusal if it is not met or not evidenced. Applications are refused when:

• The applicant is outside the UK, or their current visa is not a Student or Tier 4 (General) visa.
• The education provider has not reported successful completion of the course to the Home Office by the time of the application.
• The education provider is not a licensed sponsor with a 'track record of compliance'.
• The course is not eligible: for example an HND, a foundation degree or another course below bachelor's level that is not on the list of eligible qualifications.
• The applicant did not study in the UK for at least 12 months (or the whole of a shorter course) and no COVID-19 exception applies.
• The application is made after the Student visa has expired.
• A scholarship or sponsorship provider that paid both fees and living costs in the last 12 months has not given written approval.
• A dependant was not already a dependant on the Student visa and was not born in the UK during the stay.
• Documents are false, incomplete or not accompanied by a certified translation, or there are previous immigration breaches.
• The applicant travelled outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man while the application was pending, which causes it to be withdrawn.

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Information sourced from GOV.UK (Graduate visa), last updated 3 August 2026, and the GOV.UK visa processing times guidance (applications inside the UK, 21 July 2025), reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Rules change; we verify requirements at the point of instruction.