UK Graduate Visa
United Kingdom
Residency
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See if you're a match →The UK Graduate visa is for people who are in the UK on a Student or Tier 4 visa and have successfully completed an eligible UK course. It gives post-study permission to stay and work, but it cannot be extended and usually needs a later route for long-term settlement.
- Type
- Study-to-residence pathway
- Study plan
- Students using education as a bridge to residence
- Core requirements
- Study records, local status, and post-study requirements
- What to know
- Study can help, but permanent residence has its own rules
Summary
The UK Graduate visa is a post-study route for people who are already in the UK on a Student or Tier 4 visa and have successfully completed an eligible UK course. It can be a useful bridge into UK work after graduation, but it is not a permanent route by itself.
This route is narrow: you must apply from inside the UK before your Student or Tier 4 permission expires.
Irish citizens normally do not need this pathway because of Common Travel Area rights.
Eligibility
You may be a fit if:
- You are in the UK.
- You are not already a British or Irish citizen.
- Your current visa is a Student visa or Tier 4 student visa.
- You successfully completed the course linked to that student permission.
- Your education provider told the Home Office that you successfully completed the course.
- The course is eligible, such as a UK bachelor's degree, master's degree, PhD, doctorate, or another covered professional or regulated course.
- You studied in the UK for the required amount of time.
- You apply before your Student or Tier 4 visa expires.
- You meet identity, document, and suitability requirements.
The education provider's status matters. The provider generally needs the required sponsor status and compliance record for the Graduate route.
What This Route Allows
A Graduate visa can let you stay in the UK after completing the eligible course. It can allow work in most jobs, job searching, self-employment, travel, and continued residence with eligible dependants.
The route can help a graduate move into a longer-term route later, such as Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, or another qualifying status.
What This Route Is Not
- A visa you can apply for from outside the UK.
- A route for people who studied outside the UK.
- A route for people whose current UK status is not Student or Tier 4.
- A visa that can be extended.
- A direct permanent-residence route by itself.
Next Steps
- Confirm your current visa is Student or Tier 4.
- Ask your education provider whether they have reported successful course completion to the Home Office.
- Confirm the course type and UK study-time requirement.
- Apply before your Student or Tier 4 visa expires.
- Use the Graduate period to build a longer-term UK plan if you want to stay after the Graduate visa ends.