Graduate

The Graduate visa gives international students a simple way to stay and work in the UK after finishing their degree. If you completed a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral qualification at a UK university with a student sponsor licence, you can apply to stay for 2 years (or 3 years if you hold a PhD). During that time, you can work in any job, at any level, with no salary threshold or sponsorship requirement.

It’s an unsponsored route, meaning your employer doesn’t need to hold a sponsor licence or do any immigration paperwork. This makes it one of the easiest UK visas to use in practice, both for you and for whoever hires you. The catch: it can’t be extended. Once your 2 (or 3) years are up, you’ll need to switch to another route, typically a Skilled Worker visa, if you want to stay longer.

For Concord clients, we often recommend using the Graduate visa strategically: land a role, build your track record, and transition to a Skilled Worker or Global Talent visa before it expires. Planning ahead here makes a real difference.

The Graduate visa is for international students who’ve just completed a degree at a UK university. You must have studied on a Student visa (or the old Tier 4 visa) and your university needs to have confirmed your course completion to UKVI. It doesn’t matter what you studied or what grade you achieved, if you graduated, you’re eligible.

It’s perfect for recent graduates who need time to find the right role, explore the UK job market, or build experience before committing to a longer-term visa. Many of our clients use it as a bridge: it gives them breathing room to work, interview, and eventually secure a sponsored position that leads to settlement. If you’re a PhD graduate, the extra year (3 years total) is especially valuable.