The graduate route is a visa for international students in the United Kingdom who desire to get employed or seek a job due to the successful conclusion of their programs at the undergraduate level or above at a higher education issuer with a trail account of compliance. The graduate route is unsupported, implying that the institution does not need to sponsor you for your visa. Also, there are no provisions to possess an employment queue up at the application period.
Candidates will be awarded a visa for 24 months, which includes the undergraduate and masters students, or three years, which includes the Ph.D. students. There are no maintenance provisions, which implies that you do not need to possess a set sum of funds in your bank account as you did during your student visa. Automatically, you will fulfill the English language provisions as you currently handle a qualification educated In English.
Note: If your conclusion date is delayed as a result of a deferral or a referral which includes re-submission or a resit test, your results may not be regarded by the evaluation council until after your Student Visa lapses, in which, in some situations, you will not be qualified for the Graudtae Route Visa. It is not feasible to extend your student visa to wait for results, and it is only sometimes possible to prolong your student visa if the period of your program is changed.
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Where to Apply for the Graduate Route Visa
You can only make an application for the Graduate Route from inside the United Kingdom. There is no requirement to create applications from outside the United Kingdom. Suppose you are not in the United Kingdom and you satisfy the qualification provisions for the Graduate Route. In that case, you must travel to the United Kingdom before your student visa lapses to apply. You are not allowed to travel outside the Common Travel Area after you present your graduate route visa application and while your application is on hold, as this will automatically cancel your application.
When to Make an Application for the Graduate Route
You can only make an application for the Graduate Route:
- When you have successfully concluded and been granted your degree, either a Master’s, bachelor or Ph.D.
- When you have obtained verification that the institution has presented your successful conclusion to the Home Office
- Before your student consent, which is student visa expires
- While you are in the United Kingdom,
- If your student visa was endorsed for a certain period at the time which all study occurred in the United Kingdom
- If you have not formerly handled a graduate route visa or a doctorate extension program visa
- Suppose you possess a letter of approval for the application from your monetary sponsor. In that case, this is applied only if an administration or foreign scholarship agency has financially supported you for your fees and living expenses within the last year.
These vital provisions are explained below in more detail.
What it Means to Conclude Your Program Successfully
If you have learned and successfully concluded one of the programs listed below, which includes the legal practice course, bachelor’s, master’s, graduate diploma in law, Ph.D., or Bar practice course, you will satisfy the program provisions for the graduate route. Know that if you conclude your studies with a lower qualification, for instance, a post-graduate diploma, you will not be able to make an application for the graduate route visa.
A successful conclusion implies that you must have been granted your qualification. Your award is verified after your results are publicized and your evaluation council has satisfied and accepted your program classification. Your award will then be publicized on your student profile. The award date is when your final results are publicized and forwarded to you by the Library and Student Center.
Your award date may have been postponed if you conclude later than initially intended because of repeats, referrals, deferrals, or resit forms. A lot of students may not successfully conclude while handing a student visa.
How and When the Institution will Notify you That They Have Reported Your Successful Conclusion to the Home Office
You will not only be qualified for the Graduate route visa when the institution has presented your successful conclusion to the Home Office. You must submit your graduate route visa application once you obtain verification through email from the institution’s Visa Compliance Team. The message will verify that your successful program conclusion has been reported to the Home Office. You should anticipate to acquire your verification between 2-4 weeks after your award date. Check your junk message or email if you still need to obtain it. However, only message the Visa Compliance Team concerning your verification if your visa expires within two weeks.
The visa compliance team will only answer general questions concerning conclusion reports if it is evident that the usual duration of 30 days has passed or the student visa will be elapsing within the next 14 days. If you have yet to obtain a verification, the visa compliance team can only verify a successful conclusion for students whose relocation records have been maintained. Suppose you have received applications for immigration or travel documents from the visa compliance team, and you have not offered your up-to-date documentation. In that case, the institution is not able to verify the conclusion.
Application for the Graduate Route Before Student or Tier 4 Visa Expires
When you apply for the Graduate Route, you must possess an accurate Tier 4 or student visa for the program you have just concluded. If you need to repeat an aspect of your program, such as deferred modules, repeat modules, or resit evaluation, your award and result date may be after your student visa lapses. If your student visa lapses before you conclude your program, the institution will only support a further student visa application if you are needed to attend classes. Suppose you are completing your program without any official lecture attendance. In that case, you will be able to prolong your student visa at the end of the program or the award date, and with that, you will not be qualified for the graduate route visa.
Since you would not attend lectures for a deferred or referred dissertation, you would be instructed to present silently. If your student visa expires before you get your degree, you will not be qualified for the graduate route visa. Suppose you do not successfully conclude your program with an accurate student visa and must be provided with a new CAS for a student visa prolongment. In that case, you may question other relocation choices that are obtainable to you. University immigration counselors are not empowered to provide complicated immigration recommendations and will propose you visit an immigration professional.
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What is the Study in the United Kingdom Rules
You must satisfy the study in the United Kingdom provisions, which determine the least duration you have to handle a valid Tier 4 or valid student visa when every study occurs in the United Kingdom. The study in the United Kingdom rules vary based on the duration of your program. Many university programs extend above one year, including master’s programs, often one year and two or three days extended. The program’s beginning and ending date are cited on your Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies.
For programs above one year, you must have held student consent, which is a student visa for one year, which is the period all studies must occur in the United Kingdom. If, since beginning your program, you have held approval under a varied immigration class, and this resulted in your program being concluded making use of a mixture of immigration paths, your most current visa must be a student visa, and you are required to have spent a least of one year in the United Kingdom studying on your student visa.
For programs of one year or less, you are required to handle a Tier 4 or student visa for the period of your program. Hence, guidance declares that if you applied for a student visa before you began the program. Still, it was only approved after you began; you will be handled as possessing a student visa from the program’s beginning date.
Traveling Outside the United Kingdom and Ways it Affects the Study in the United Kingdom Provisions
If you intend to go on a journey outside the United Kingdom and desires to understand if this will influence your qualification for the graduate route visa, then quick travels at weekends and holiday period should not influence your Graduate Route visa application. If you plan on going on a trip for a longer time, then examine if you have already satisfied the study in the United Kingdom rules listed above. A prolonged journey can also threaten your student visa, so you may require an accepted absence from the visa compliance team.
A student learning a 3-year undergraduate program will see it more straightforward to satisfy the one-year provisions and may carry this out after the first year of their program. A master’s student whose program is just one year and visa will be one year and three months extended should carry out all their study in the United Kingdom. The study in the United Kingdom rules are challenging to translate, and institutions wait for an explanation from the UKVI on some points. We doubt over time; we will see a relaxation of these laws with greater attention on holding a student visa instead of being in the United Kingdom; however, we can only recommend warning about trips outside assigned holiday durations and weekends.
Sponsored by a Government or International Scholarship Agency
Suppose you have been sponsored for your tuition payments and living expenses by an administration or foreign scholarship agency in the one year before you present your application for the graduate route. In that case, you must submit a letter of approval from your sponsor organization to assist with your application. If you do not present an approval letter, it could imply that your graduate routes visa application will not be valid, which poses severe consequences, including the likelihood of overstaying your visa.
How To Apply for the Graduate Route
- You need to make an application online on the GOV.UK website. The application will charge £715, and you will be required to make payment of the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) of £624 annually. The entire Immigration Health Surcharge for the 24-month visa will be £1,248, and the 3-year visa for Ph.D. students will be £1,872.
- You must obtain a judgment on your visa application within eight weeks. You will be notified if your application will take longer, if the Home Office wants to conduct more investigation, or if your documents need confirmation.
- You will be required to understand the CAS number you utilized for your student visa application when you applied for the graduate route. Your confirmation of acceptance of studies would have been forwarded to you before the beginning of your university program. It will also be cited in the email verifying that your successful program conclusion was reported to the Home Office.
The graduate route application procedures have been formed to be simple and easy. As an aspect of the application, you must ascertain your identity using the United Kingdom Immigration. If you are a citizen of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, or Liechtenstein, you will often need to scan your passport using the ID check App. Every other citizen will need to scan their BRP utilizing the app.
You will be able to use the digital procedures and will be required to upload your documents, conclude a live scan, which takes place like a selfie, and obtain a digital status if your application is successful. If you cannot scan your passport or BRP with the app, you will be asked to come for a meeting at a United Kingdom Visas and Citizenship Application Service service point. There, you will be informed what to do when you want to make another application.
Working Under the Graduate Route
The kind of job you can perform is unlimited if you work as a skilled spokesperson or coach. The job can be in any division or status without the least income provision. You can get hired or be self-employed. A current modification to the student visa work rules permits you to begin work by taking a permanent full-time vacancy while awaiting a judgment on your graduate route visa request. This does not have to do with starting self-employment or kinds of jobs limited under the student rules and applies only to students who carried out their student application on or after April 2022. This rule will also not be advantageous to you if you do not handle student consent when you apply for the graduate route.
Requirement of the Graduate Route Visa
If you are provided with a graduate route visa, your visa will be subjected to these conditions:
- You cannot study a program that would always need sponsorship under the student route.
- Employment, which also includes self-employment and voluntary jobs, is allowed. You will not be capable of getting employed as a skilled sportsperson.
- You will not have access to public finances.
