UK’s New Graduate Visa Route Will Go Live in Weeks
A new visa route, ‘Appendix Graduate’ (also informally being referred to as the ‘Post Study Work’ visa) is due to commence on 01 July 2021.
This route is designed for foreign national students who wish to remain in the UK following the successful completion of their studies, so that they may work or look for work and gain valuable skills and experience. The key advantage of the Graduate Visa route is that applicants would not be tied to a sponsor and would be free to work in any field or position of their choice, contrasting the stipulations of the Skilled Worker visa route.
However, unlike the Skilled Worker route, the Graduate Visa does not offer a path to settlement, and the period of grant is limited to 2 years after completing studies (or 3 years, where the applicant has completed a PhD.
There are three eligibility requirements that an applicant must satisfy:
1. The Successful Completion Requirement
The applicant must have completed the course of study for which their last grant of permission was given on the Appendix Student (formerly Tier 4 Student) visa route, and the applicant’s sponsor should have informed the Home Office of the same. Also, the applicant’s existing higher education sponsor must have had a track record of compliance at the time of the application.
2. The Qualification Requirement
The course of study that the applicant has completed must be at the UK bachelor’s degree level or higher*, and the qualification must have been attained during the applicant’s most recent grant of permission.
3. The Study in the UK Requirement
Where the length of the applicant’s course was 12 months or less, the applicant must have studied in the UK for the full duration of the course. Where the length of the applicant’s course was longer than 12 months, the applicant should have spent at least 12 months studying in the UK.
If the applicant satisfies all of these requirements, they could be granted leave to remain in the UK for a period of 2 or 3 years as above. Furthermore, the Graduate Visa route does allow the applicant’s dependants to remain with them. However, it must be noted that any dependants will only be eligible if they were already in the UK as the dependant of the applicant when they were a Student (formerly Tier 4 Student) migrant, and are applying along with the applicant to switch into this category.
Please get in touch with us to find out if you are eligible or if you have any further queries about this immigration route or are considering applying and would like any formal advice and support with making your application – we would be happy to assist.