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Graduate Route

Graduate Route information session 

The UKCISA webinar on the new Graduate Route is now live on their website. The webinar covers eligibility, applications and work options under the Graduate Route, followed by a Q&A.  

You can view the recording of the webinar at this link.What is the Graduate route visa?

What is the Gradute route visa?

The Graduate route is a visa available to international students who have successfully completed a degree at undergraduate level or above at a UCL and who have a valid Tier 4 or Student visa at the time of application. The Graduate Route has replaced the Doctorate Extension Scheme visa. 

Most successful applicants will be eligible for a two-year visa, however PhD graduates will be eligible for a three-year visa.

Am I eligible for the Graduate Route? 

To meet the requirements of the Graduate route students will need to:

  • have successfully completed an eligible course at UCL
  • apply after UCL has reported your course completion to the Home Office (you will receive an email from UCL when this is reported)
  • have a valid Student or Tier 4 visa at the time of application
  • only apply for this visa inside the UK
  • have held had a Student/Tier 4 Visa for at least 12 months if studying a course longer than 12 months or for the full duration of your course if the course is 12 months or less. (please see exceptions below for those graduating in 2021)

If, in the last 12 months before the date of your application, you have been awarded a scholarship or sponsorship by a Government or international scholarship agency covering both fees and living costs for study in the UK, you must provide written consent to the application from that Government or agency.

If you are currently sponsored on the Doctorate Extension Scheme you will not be eligible to apply for the Graduate Route.  

 How do I apply for the Graduate route?

You must not apply until UCL has reported your course completion to UKVI.  When UCL reports your course completion to UKVI, you will receive an email from UCL confirming this. You must not apply for the Graduate Route until you receive this email, as applying too early may result in a refusal. 

The Graduate route will require a new visa application, which will only be possible from inside the UK. It will include the payment of a visa fee of £822 and the Immigration Health Surcharge at the full rate of £1,035 per year.

Students will also need to know the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) they used for their most recent Student (or Tier 4) application in order to apply for the Graduate route. Details of your CAS can be found on your Portico account.  

The Graduate Route application form has been designed to be straightforward and simple. You can find further information on how to apply using the IDV app and what kind of status you will recieve once your application is approved at pages 4 - 6 of this guidance document. 

Further information about the new visa route can also be found on the Home Office website. 

As part of the scheme UCL is required to report to UKVI that students have been awarded their degree. Once UCL has done this will you be eligible to apply for the Graduate Route. Our team will be contacting all students via email to notify them once we have reported this to UKVI. You have up until the expiry of your current Tier 4/Student Visa to submit your Graduate Route application.

Can my family members apply with me?

Dependent family members will be permitted on the Graduate route, provided those family members are in the UK and they hold a valid permission as dependants of the main applicant on the Student/Tier 4 route. New dependants will not be permitted, except where a dependent child was born in the UK during a period of Student or Graduate permission.

Your dependant partner will need to provide evidence to show that your relationship is genuine and subsisting. For example, at least 6 different documents from different sources demonstrating that you have lived together at the same address since your last visa was issued.

When do I have to return to the UK if I want to apply for the Graduate route in 2022 and beyond? 

Students who began a course of 12 months or less in 2020 or 2021 who have already applied for their student visa and travelled to the UK on that visa, will be able to apply for the Graduate Route visa if they re-enter the UK before the end date of their visa.

If your course started at any time, and is longer than 12 months in duration, any time that you spend outside the UK distance learning between 24 January 2020 and 30 June 2022 will not prevent you meeting the Graduate route eligibility requirements.  In these circumstances, you must return to the UK and apply for the Graduate route before your Student visa/Tier 4 visa expires. For example, you are an undergraduate student with a Tier 4/Student visa who entered the UK to start their programme in September 2019.  You then spent time outside the UK distance learning between 24 January 2020 and 30 June 2022 and intend to successfully complete your course in June 2022.  To be eligible for the Graduate route, you must return to the UK and submit your application before your Student visa/Tier 4 visa expires. 

If you hold a visa type other than a Student/Tier4 visa and you have been studying via distance learning overseas from the beginning of your programme, you will need to apply for a Student Visa from overseas before returning to the UK to be eligible for the Graduate Route in 2021.

If you hold a visa type other than a Student/Tier4 visa and you have been studying from inside the UK either in person or via distance learning, in most cases you will need to complete 12 months of study on a Student visa to be eligible for the Graduate Route scheme.

To contact the Student Immigration Advice Team, please open an enquiry via askUCL. 

When is my course completion reported to UKVI?

We are only be able to submit a notification to UKVI that you have been awarded your degree once your marks have been ratified by UCL’s Exam Boards and noted on our systems. UCL will therefore be running regular reports to ensure that your award is picked up and reported as quickly as possible but please see below for the expected timings of our reports to UKVI for the coming year:

  • For Undergraduate students, we expect to start submitting these notifications from mid-July.
  • For Undergraduate students who are required to submit work during the late summer assessment period, we expect to start submitting these notifications in mid-September.
  • For Postgraduate Taught programmes with a June end date we expect to start submitting these notifications from mid-July.
  • For students enrolled on a PGCE or LLM programme, we expect to start submitting these notifications from mid-August.
  • For all other Postgraduate Taught students we expect to be able to start submitting these notifications from early December.   
  • Postgraduate Research students are awarded their degree on the 28th of each month . We expect to submit a notification of award to UKVI within 7 working days of the award being noted on the system.

I have deferred my dissertation; will I still be eligible for the Graduate visa?

UCL is not able to provide further Student visa sponsorship to those who have deferred their dissertation.  If you have used your visa wrap-up period for repeats or deferrals, it is likely that your Student visa will expire before the Exam Board meets to confer your award. 

If your academic department is able to confer your award before your Student visa expires, we can report your eligibility for the Graduate visa on this basis.  However please note this is a decision for your academic department and may not be possible.

If you are not eligible to apply for the Graduate visa, there are other post-study work visa routes available. 

When can I start working on the Graduate route visa?

You made your most recent Student application before 6 April 2022
You must wait for a decision on your Graduate application before you can start:

  • a permanent full-time job
  • self-employment
  • work as an entertainer.

You made your Student application on or after 6 April 2022
You can start a full-time permanent job after making your Graduate route application. But you must wait for a decision before you start self-employment or work as an entertainer.

You must not work as a professional sportsperson with Graduate permission. The date on which you applied for Student or Graduate permission makes no difference.

Can I study on the Graduate route visa?

The rules state that you cannot study any course which could in theory be sponsored under the Student route.  

Examples of permitted study would therefore include:

  • Part-time undergraduate course
  • English language courses
  • Some professional courses
  • Online study
  • Evening classes
  • Recreational courses

If you are unsure whether you can study a specific course under the Graduate route, please contact the Student Immigration Compliance Team on askUCL. 

Further information about the new visa route can be found on the Home Office website and the UKCISA website.