A guide for international students
Graduate Route will be open this summer for international graduates who complete their degree at an undergraduate level or above (Masters, MPhil or PhD) in the summer 2021 or later and who have a valid Tier 4 visa at the time of application.
Those who complete a professional course or a course leading to a diploma in a regulated profession (ACCA, LPC, Bar Vocational Course, etc) are also eligible.
The application process for a Graduate visa is expected to be very simple. You will not need a sponsor, you will not need a job offer and you will not be required to show any savings or maintenance funds. The application will most likely be made online, as most applications are. You will be required to pay the application fee which has not yet been confirmed, and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). The amount of IHS may be £624 per year (as for most immigration categories) or £470 per year (a reduced amount which applies to Students, Youth Mobility visa applicants, and in some other categories).
The Graduate visa will allow you to spend additional two years in the UK with an unrestricted right to work or set up your own business. However, these two years will not count toward settlement, other than settlement on the basis of 10-year long residence.
Graduate route will not be extendable, and will be restricted to “once in a lifetime” – in other words, you will not be able to return to studies and apply for the graduate route second time.
However, you will be allowed to switch into the Skilled Worker route, Start-up or Innovator, or Global talent route. And of course, the investor route is still there if you have a spare two million pounds to invest.
Skilled Worker Route replaced Tier 2 in December 2020
The main features of this route:
- There is no resident labour market test
- Sponsorship is required and only the employer can be the sponsor of the employee
- You have to be paid above a certain level
- The job has to be classed as requiring a sufficient level of skill (NQF level 3 – much lower than for Tier 2 in the past)
- This route leads to settlement after five years
The main barriers to entry into this route are:
- The cost to the employer (there is an Immigration Skills Charge in addition to the cost of the sponsor licence and a one off fee for assigning the certificate of sponsorship)
- The minimum salary requirement that may reduce your competitiveness on the labour market
- Additional paperwork that may put off a potential employer
Potential benefits of sponsorship for the employer:
- A higher level of mutual commitment between the employer and employee
- Diversity in workplace
- Your skills and knowledge that are unique and add value
On the face of it, the Skilled Worker route appears more restrictive than the Graduate route. However, there are certain advantages of switching from Student visa to Skilled Worker route that you shouldn’t forget about.
Reduced cost to the employer
If you are switching from Tier 4 or Student visa into the Skilled Worker route, the employer will be exempt from the main financial burden – the Immigration Skills Charge. This applies for the whole five year period of sponsorship even if you are sponsored in two or more stretches of two or three years.
Your salary has additional flexibility
You will be entitled to New Entrant rate if you are switching from Student visa to the Skilled Worker route or if you are applying for the Skilled Worker route from outside the UK and you graduated within two years of applying.
You shouldn’t have held any other visa to the UK after your Tier 4 or Student visa ended. Your progression from Tier 4 to Skilled Worker has to be continuous even if there is a gap between the visas, otherwise your entitlement to New Entrant route is lost, unless you are under 26 or applying for a training position that would lead to a qualification in a regulated profession.
New Entrant rate means that the general minimum threshold for you will be £20,480 compared to £25,600 for experienced workers. The “going rate” for your occupation will also be reduced to 70% of the standard going rate. The immigration rules list
Some unexpected occupations you may find in the list of skilled jobs
The level of skills required for the Skilled Worker route is way lower than what it was for Tier 2. As an example, marketing profession is now open for marketing assistants and marketing executives – under Tier 2 it was available only at the level of Marketing Director.
But it is not only the lower level jobs in business management and sales that found their way to sponsored professions – teaching assistants, childminders, nursery assistants, senior care assistants, au pairs, playgroup supervisors, window dressers, kennel assistants, grooms, stable assistants, and florists are on the list.
On a practical level, many of these professions are only available to New Entrants because the general minimum pay threshold (£25,600 per year) puts the employer in a position where they have to pay nearly double of the going rate if they have to hire a foreign worker.
For example, “going rate” for a stable hand is £16,900 per year. Employing an experienced worker from overseas would require a salary of £25,600. A new entrant can be employed for a salary of £20,480 – still £3000 above the going rate, but this can be compensated by some extra hours on behalf of the employee, provided per hour rate does not go below the minimum wage).
This is not to suggest that international students should necessarily seek work as florists or creche workers – but those who wish to take up these jobs should be aware that the “new immigration system” allows it albeit in a rather restrictive way.
If you are a horse fanatic, as I am, and wish to work as a groom, riding instructor, of a stable hand, speak to the stable yard before your student visa expires. If they want to sponsor you but don’t know how to go about it, ask them to give us a call or send us an email.
25 responses
I wish to inquiry about my eligibility to apply for post study/Graduate visa. I moved from student visa to skilled work visa with NHS but now, the skilled work visa will be terminated because of my resignation from the sponsor job . Unfortunately, my student visa has expired since 17th of September 2023 but I was sent a mail for qualification to apply for a post study visa according to Glasgow caledonian university school mail sent from the visa team. Please, am I still eligible or able to apply for post study
You can only switch to Graduate route from student visa. If your latest visa was as a Skilled Worker, you won’t be able to switch to the Graduate route – unless you go back to studies and do another degree level course and then switch. But you can only have Graduate visa once – even if you only hold it for a few days and then switch to another category.
Hey thanks for all ur informations …am on my graduate visa working in a supported living home ,got promoted as a deputy service manager ,now the want to do my skilled worker visa for me ,will I be able to get the skilled worker visa as a deputy service manager ?
Hi Nonyelum, this shouldn’t be a problem. Let us know if you need help with the visa or if your employer needs a licence.
Hi, Many thanks for the information. I am currently in my first year of the graduate visa, and I have recently received a job offer that includes visa sponsorship for this year. Should I accept visa sponsorship from day one or when my graduate visa runs out? I am scared that if I leave the job for some reason, I will lose the possibility to self-sponsor myself for another year.
Hi Ana, it looks like you are asking the right questions. You may wish to give it a try first and see if you are a good match with the employer. If you need legal advice or want to discuss it in more detail, please book an express consultation for a 15-minute appointment.
Hello
Am on graduate visa and it expire 2024 can I switch to skilled worker visa even if my graduate visa is still valid???
Please
Yes, you can! You can switch from the graduate route to the skilled worker route at any time.
Hi,
I’m on a tier 4 visa right now and have a full time job
my tier 4 visa expired on 24th october and even though my company is amongst the list of sponsors, i’m not sure what’s the best route for me
tier 2/ PSW
i’m worried that the company will take a lot of time to provide the COS
any advice should be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Hello,
I have a query to clarify
Can we switch to skilled worker visa from student visa before completing the course.
In my situation, I just started my 1 year master course in the UK and it’s been just 2 months in the study and if I can find an employer (as I’m experienced already) who offers visa sponsorship for the position being hired, can I legally switch to skilled worker visa at this juncture? Please clarify
Thank you in advance for your clarification.
Yes, you can switch without completing the degree but the employer will no be exempt from Skilled Worker charge and you may not be eligible for a new entrant salary rate.
Thank you for your clarification Helena.
In this situation, Can we proceed to applying skilled worker visa while my student visa is in active?
Or I need to first withdraw/cancel my course before applying the skilled worker visa? Please advise
Thank you for the useful info. Can I ask I am going to apply for skilled worker visa soon after tier4 expires. Do you think how it is hard to fill application forms ( me and my 2 dependants) to home office myself without any solicitor to save money for 3 person? My employer will only provide me COS. There is risk to fill wrong or unknown professional words? by the way, I have submitted my application for tier4 before.
Hi Mandaa,
Thank you for your message.
Please give us a quick call over the phone (020 8930 9503) and we can advise you how best to proceed.
Best wishes,
Arina
Hi! I just want to ask, if i switch from a graduate route to a skilled worker visa, is my minimum rate still 20800 or the 25600? Also, will I need a labour market test? Thanks in advance
If you switch from the graduate route to the skilled worker route you still qualify for the new entrant rate – i.e. the general minimum threshold is £20,480. Even if you leave the UK and return on a Skilled Worker route you will continue to qualify for the new entrant rate for two years after expiry of your graduate visa.
Do employers pay immigration skills charge for someone switching from the two years post graduate work visa into skilled worker visa?
Yes, the exemption only applies if the employee is switching from the Student route, but not from the Graduate route.
Hi there,
My spouse has passed her exams and her Student visa will expire this May. I am initially here in UK on Student dependent visa, later switched to Skilled worker visa. My Skilled worker visa would be cancelled and looking for possibility of switching to Graduate dependent visa. Is there any possibility to switch from Skilled worker visa to Graduate dependent visa? Please suggest.
Thanks
Venkat
You will need to switch back into the Student dependent route, and then you can apply for Graduate dependent. You won’t be able to switch from Skilled Worker to Graduate dependent.
Thanks you very much, Helena!
Hi there, I have received a job offer for 2 years after my PhD but am unsure which visa would suit me best. I am not entirely sure that I will stay in my post for 2 years and I wanted to know if I moved employers on the skilled worker visa, would I have to pay the visa application fee again to move?
Thank you
Ingrid
You can accept this job offer with Graduate route or you can apply for a skilled worker visa. Graduate route will give you more flexibility and you can switch to the skilled worker route later if you need to. You won’t be able to switch from the skilled worker into the graduate route, though.
Hello,
If a recent graduate has a job offer and a sponsor, can he/she apply for the Skilled Worker Visa rather than the Graduate Route? Because Tier 2 allows you to eventually apply for permission to remain in the UK.
Thank you,
Raissa
Yes, absolutely. You can apply for a Skilled Worker visa (which is the current remake of Tier 2) and after five years you can apply for indefinite leave to remain. The benefit of switching into the Skilled Worker route from Tier 4 is that your employer will be exempt from the Immigration Skills Charge throughout the period of sponsorship. If you apply under the Graduate route first, it will give you more flexibility (you can easily change employment and try out a few things) and you can switch into the Skilled Worker route at a later stage. But the disadvantage is that it will delay your ILR and for the employer there will be a higher cost of hiring you.