Verified against official sources — 30 Oct 2026
Graduate Visa Guide: Staying in the UK After Your Course
NEW Published 30 October 2026
Who can apply, the 2027 change from 2 years to 18 months, the £937 fee and higher healthcare surcharge, what you can work at, and why timing your application matters.
You can apply for a Graduate visa if you are in the UK, your current visa is a Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa, you studied a UK bachelor's degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course for the required minimum period, and your education provider has told the Home Office you successfully completed your course. It lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027, and 3 years after a PhD. The application fee is £937, and the healthcare surcharge is usually £1,035 for each year. You must apply before your Student visa expires.
SECTION 01Eligibility: in the UK, Course Completed, Provider Reported
GOV.UK lists the conditions as a set that must all be true: you are in the UK; your current visa is a Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa; you studied a UK bachelor's degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course for a minimum period of time with that visa; and your education provider has told the Home Office you have successfully completed your course. The fourth condition is the one students cannot self-certify — you can ask your provider if you are not sure whether they have told the Home Office. You do not have to wait until you have graduated or been given a certificate: once the provider has reported completion, you can apply.
The eligible courses, per GOV.UK: a UK bachelor's degree, a UK master's degree, a UK PhD or doctorate — and also a Solicitors Regulation Authority–approved law conversion course, the Legal Practice Course in England and Wales (or its Northern Ireland and Scotland equivalents), the Bar Practice Course or Bar Course, a PGCE, or a PGDE. You may also be able to apply if passing your course made you eligible for a job regulated by UK law or a UK public authority. The provider itself must be a licensed sponsor with a track record of compliance — GOV.UK shows you how to check: it will have "Student Sponsor - Track Record" in the status column.
SECTION 02How Long You Must Have Studied in the UK
The minimum period rule: you need to have studied in the UK for at least 12 months if your course's total length is more than 12 months, or the total length of your course if it is shorter than 12 months. "Studying in the UK" means being in the UK when your provider needed you to be there — GOV.UK's example: on a 1-year master's, leaving the UK during term breaks or on weekends still counts as studying in the UK for 1 year. If your provider let you change course without a new visa, it is the course you changed to that you must have completed. A niche eligibility also exists for those whose current Student visa is held as a Student Union Sabbatical Officer, based on a course completed just before that visa.
SECTION 03How Long It Lasts — and the 1 January 2027 Change
A Graduate visa lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027; if you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification, it lasts 3 years. Your visa starts from the day your application is approved. Two consequences deserve emphasis. The duration turns on your application date, not your course end date — a student completing in autumn 2026 who applies promptly is in the 2-year group, while the same student applying in January falls into the 18-month group. And the visa cannot be extended: when it ends, you stay only by switching to a different visa you qualify for — GOV.UK's example is the Skilled Worker visa. Plan the Graduate period as a bridge with a fixed end, not a status.
SECTION 04What It Costs: £937 Plus £1,035 a Year
Budget for a different price structure from the Student visa. When you apply you pay the £937 application fee, and the healthcare surcharge — "usually £1,035 for each year you'll be in the UK", GOV.UK's standard rate, not the £776 student rate. On a 2-year grant, the surcharge alone is therefore usually £2,070. GOV.UK offers an official cost checker on the page, and one redirection worth knowing: if you are a doctor or nurse, or work in health or adult social care, check the Health and Care Worker visa instead — it is cheaper to apply for and carries no annual surcharge; and if you take a public-sector healthcare job after paying the surcharge, you may be able to get a refund.
SECTION 05Applying: Online, from Inside the UK, Before Your Visa Expires
You must apply online, and you must apply before your Student visa or Tier 4 visa expires — this deadline is absolute in GOV.UK's presentation. You can apply as soon as your provider has told the Home Office you completed your course. Your documents: a valid passport or other travel document; and your CAS reference number from when you applied for your Student visa — if you cannot find it, ask your education provider. Depending on circumstances you may also need relationship evidence for a partner or children applying with you, and a letter from a scholarship or sponsorship provider approving your application if they paid both your course fees and living costs in the last 12 months; documents not in English or Welsh need certified translations.
Identity is proven by the ID Check app or at a UKVCAS service point; a service point may need to keep your passport and documents while your application is processed. You must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision — your application will be withdrawn if you do. Decisions usually arrive within 8 weeks, and you can stay in the UK while you wait. On success, you get an eVisa through your UKVI account.
SECTION 06What You Can and Cannot Do
With a Graduate visa you can work in most jobs, look for work, be self-employed, do voluntary work (unpaid, for the organisation types GOV.UK lists — registered charities, voluntary organisations, associated fundraising bodies and statutory bodies), continue living in the UK with your partner and children if they are eligible, and travel abroad and return to the UK. You cannot apply for most benefits (public funds) or the State Pension, or work as a professional sportsperson. Studying has a twist: you can only study a course that is not eligible for a Student visa — if your chosen course is Student-visa-eligible, you extend your Student visa instead. You may also need an ATAS certificate if you study or research sensitive topics.
SECTION 07Partner and Children on a Graduate Visa
The Graduate route carries dependants forward; it does not create them. If your partner and children joined you in the UK as dependants on your Student visa, they can apply to stay as dependants on your Graduate visa; a child born in the UK during your Student or Graduate visa can also apply. Each applies separately and pays the visa fee. The eligibility is continuity-based — a partner needs to have been a dependant on your Student visa to apply as your Graduate dependant — and if their application succeeds, their visa ends on the same date as yours. GOV.UK notes that new dependants may be able to join you from outside the UK if you later switch to a different visa, such as Skilled Worker. Full background is in our dependants guide.
FAQFrequently Asked Questions
Do I need a job offer to get a Graduate visa?
No job offer appears in GOV.UK's eligibility conditions. The route lets you work in most jobs or look for work — it is unsponsored. You need to be in the UK on a Student visa, with an eligible completed course your provider has reported to the Home Office.
My course ends in November 2026. How do I get 2 years instead of 18 months?
Apply on or before 31 December 2026. The duration follows the application date: 2 years up to that date, 18 months from 1 January 2027 — and you must in any case apply before your Student visa expires, after your provider reports your completion.
How much will it cost in total?
The £937 application fee plus the healthcare surcharge at usually £1,035 per year — so a 2-year grant usually means £2,070 of surcharge, £3,007 in total, before any dependant's own fee and surcharge.
Can I extend my Graduate visa or apply twice?
GOV.UK states you cannot extend your Graduate visa. Staying longer means switching to a different visa you qualify for, such as the Skilled Worker visa.
Can I study a new master's on a Graduate visa?
Only if the course is not eligible for a Student visa. If it is eligible, GOV.UK directs you to extend your Student visa instead — the Graduate visa is a work route, not a study route.
Official references and verification status
These official references were accessed and checked on 30 October 2026, and this guide's claims were verified against them (see the accompanying sources file). Two honest limits: GOV.UK describes the healthcare surcharge as "usually £1,035 for each year" — this guide keeps its "usually", since exact totals follow the visa length granted in the individual case; and the COVID-era study-abroad counting concessions on GOV.UK's page apply to defined past periods and are not summarised here, because they do not affect current applicants.
- GOV.UK — Graduate visa
- GOV.UK — Student visa (overview and full guide)
- GOV.UK — Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application
General educational information, not individualized legal or immigration advice. Follow the official GOV.UK instructions for your own situation, and consult a qualified UK immigration adviser regulated in the UK for advice about an individual case.
General information only. This guide is based on official sources publicly available and checked on the date shown on this page. Visa rules change, and consular and USCIS officers decide every case on its own facts — nothing here is a confirmation or a guarantee for your individual case, and this is not legal advice. Always confirm the current requirement on the official page linked in this guide before you act, and consider a qualified immigration attorney for your specific situation.