Graduate Visa Week
Hi everyone! Link to Leeds Ambassadors Perla, Khanh, Tracy, and Sara will be sharing our experience participating in some of the webinars organised by the Careers Centre on the Graduate Visa Week. First up is Perla.
Graduate Route, and other post-study work opportunities in the UK.
The Graduate Route visa, is an amazing opportunity for students that want to extend their stay after they conclude their studies and gain work experience in the UK. This is an unsponsored route, so you do not need to have a job offer at the time of application. It is important to note that bachelor and master students holding this visa will be able to stay for 2 years and Phd students can stay for 3 years after graduating. Since this visa has been available for application from 1st of July 2021, the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) hosted a webinar to share: who can apply to this visa, how to apply, what type of work can be done under it, and options for after or instead of the Graduate Route.
If you are interested and wish to know more about it, I highly recommend you to not only read this blog post but also read the full and official information in the links I'm sharing with you.
- Who can apply?
The first question you might be asking yourself is if you are eligible for the Graduate Route visa. For you to know the answer to this question, you should consider 3 factors: your current and previous visas, your qualification, and your time studying in the UK.
In terms of current and previous visas, you must have a valid Student permission (hold a Tier 4 or Student visa) when you apply. This means that if your Student permission expires before 1st July 2021, or you hold any other type of permission, you are not eligible to apply.
In terms of qualification, you must have successfully completed a UK bachelor’s degree level or above, which must be awarded by a higher education provider listed as a “Student Sponsor – Track record”, such as The University of Leeds. This qualification must have been obtained during your current Student permission. You do not need to inform UKVI when you have successfully completed your degree, since the University will do it directly. Although, it is important that you check with the University if they have done so, before you apply.
In terms of your time studying in the UK, you should have been studying in the UK for at least 12 months. You need to be in the UK to apply for this visa, so if you have been distance learning due to COVID-19 and have not entered the UK with your student permission, you must enter the UK by 27th of September 2021.
- How much does it cost?
The cost of applying for the visa is £700. You will also have to cover the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), which is £624 per year, and the full amount has to be paid when applying. The good news is that there are no maintenance costs for the visa, so once you have paid for these 2 fees, you are all done.
- How to apply?
In order to apply for the Graduate Route, you will need to make sure you have all the documents needed and fill in the application online, following the instructions on the website.
- What type of work can you do?
One of the main benefits of the Graduate Route is that holders can basically have any job with any employer. You can use this route to explore options such as full, part-time and temporary work, and even self-employment, internships, and unpaid work. The only restrictions are working as a professional sportsperson or coach, which are not allowed under this visa. As mentioned before, you do not need a job offer at the time of application, and you can also switch jobs while on this visa, so you can develop your career in the UK as desired.
- Options for after or instead of the Graduate Route
So now you must be wondering, what happens after the Graduate route if I want to stay in the UK? Well, luckily there are various options! Because the Graduate Route cannot be extended, you could switch to the Skilled Worker Route (Tier 2) visa, for sponsored work. There are also other types of visa which you might be eligible for such as the Tier 5 visa for internships and temporary work, the Youth Mobility Scheme visa, UK Ancestry visa, or the UK Family visa. These other visas have their own eligibility criteria, which you should check in the UK government’s website.
