Working after your studies

If you finish your course early, UWE Bristol has a legal obligation to report this to UKVI.

If you have more than 60 days' permission from when you report that you've finished your course, UKVI will contact you to let you know that your immigration permission will be cut short (curtailed). Permission is usually curtailed to the new end date plus the additional period you were originally granted, for example two or four months after the new end date.

You can work full time between the new end date of your course and the new expiry date of your immigration permission. Employers will need to see confirmation from UWE Bristol if you complete your course early.

 

The Graduate Immigration Route was launched on 1 July 2021.

Who can apply

You can apply if:

• you are in the UK
• you have a current Tier 4 or Student visa
• you have successfully completed the course at degree level or higher for which your last visa was issued (or to which you were allowed to transfer).

Note that some courses of 12 months or shorter which are partially completed overseas may not be eligible. Please contact us if you are in any doubt.

UWE Bristol will notify UK Visas & Immigration of successful completion if applicable, you must not submit an application for a Graduate Visa until you have received an email confirming that this notification has been made.

Graduates with a debt to UWE Bristol will not be reported as eligible.

Please be aware that you are required to have completed a proportion of your course inside the UK, but that concessions apply if you were absent due to coronavirus. Please check paragraphs GR 6.1–6.3 of the Appendix Graduate for full details.

If your course was not a degree

In addition to degrees at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you can apply if you have completed a relevant qualification, including a law conversion, legal practice or Bar training course or a PGCE. A full list of relevant qualifications appears at GR 5.2 of the Appendix Graduate.

How to apply and costs

You must apply online before your Tier 4 or Student visa expires. The Immigration Advice Service will provide a link to the form once you are eligible.

Please be aware that you will be granted two years' permission from the decision date. If there is any overlap of your Graduate Route visa with your current permission, you will not be able to claim it back.

The application fee is £822. In addition, you must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) of £1,035 for every year of permission you are seeking. For most applicants this will be £2,070, making a total of £2,892. PhD alumni will have to pay an additional year's IHS, bringing the total to £3,927. 

Other qualifying criteria

There is no funds requirement – i.e. you do not have to submit evidence of your ability to meet living costs, such as bank statements.

If you have received official financial sponsorship (for example, from a government, or international scholarship agency) covering tuition fees and living costs in the 12 months before application, you must provide the written consent of that sponsor to your application.

What the visa allows

The Graduate Immigration Route allows you to stay in the UK for two years (or for three years if you are applying having completed a PhD). You do not require a sponsor (such as a university or employer), but UWE Bristol must confirm that you have passed your qualification.

You will be able to work with relatively few restrictions, but you must not be employed as a professional sportsperson. Self-employment and voluntary work are permitted.

You will not be able to extend this visa, but you are allowed to ‘switch’ into other types of work visa such as the Skilled Worker route.

Study is restricted. You are not allowed to follow a course with a sponsor (such as UWE Bristol) for which a Student visa would normally be required. This means that only recreational or informal courses are allowed.

Once you have completed your studies, your local authority will no longer consider you a student and you will not be eligible for council tax exemption.

Bringing family

Dependants who are already present in the UK as your dependant (or who were born to you in the UK) can apply for permission to remain with you. If you have dependants, please read paragraphs GR 9.1 to 15.2 of the Appendix Graduate and contact the Immigration Advice Service if you have any questions.

A useful source of information is the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) website, which will be kept up to date with developments.

The University provides careers and business support for graduates.

Careers

Whether you’re a recent UWE Bristol graduate or a long-standing member of our alumni community, we can support you to find a new job, progress in your role, change career, or launch a new business.

Our UWE Bristol graduates can access our online services for life and use our career coaching service for two years after graduation.

View the full range of alumni services for career development and business support.

How to get the graduate job you want

Our free webinar series gives you the knowledge and skills to prepare for and find a graduate job in the UK. As well as understanding what UK businesses are looking for in international students, we’ll show you how to build your network on LinkedIn and you’ll discover how studying a postgraduate course at UWE Bristol will help you get ahead in the UK job market.

Money advice

For a limited time, we are offering alumni free access to the Blackbullion site. You can use your existing account for up to a year after you graduate, if you have not already registered then you can do so below. You will be able to access the full package of resources from simple budgeting tips to breaking down student loan repayments. There’s advice about funding for postgraduate study, tax, investments, and even getting on the housing ladder.

When you register for Blackbullion as an alumni, your data will be processed in line with our alumni privacy notice and Blackbullion’s privacy notice.

We will capture basic engagement data (such as registrations and logins) in order to help us enhance and improve our services to alumni. Under no circumstances will we access or process your financial information.

A Skilled Worker visa allows you to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with an approved employer.

Who can apply 

You can apply if you:

• have an offer of a job at the relevant level and salary from a UK employer who has been approved by the Home Office
• have been issued with a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) by your employee
• meet all the other relevant criteria for this route.

If you are currently in the UK on a Student visa and applying to switch into Skilled Worker visa, you must also meet one of the following requirements:

• You have completed the course you were sponsored to study. Please note that we cannot confirm that taking an interim award would be a suitable qualification and you should check this with your employer.
• Your job start date is after your course has finished.
• You have studied for a PhD for at least 24 months.

How to apply

Applications can be made from inside or outside of the UK and you should speak to your employer to establish which option is best for you.

If you are not a PhD student and have been issued with a CoS and are applying from inside the UK you should not apply before the course end date stated on your most recent CAS unless you have successfully completed your course before that date.

If you withdraw from your studies or your Student visa sponsorship is withdrawn for any reason, either before or after the course end date on your CAS, we would not expect you to be eligible to switch into the Skilled Worker visa route.

Applications made from inside the UK must be made before your Student visa expires.

Costs

The cost of the application and associated Immigration Health Surcharge will vary according to the length of leave you are applying for.

What the visa allows

A Skilled Worker visa allows you to remain initially in the UK for up to 5 years depending on the contract offered to you by your employer.

While you hold a Skilled Worker visa you can:

• work in an eligible job
• study
• bring your partner and children with you as your ‘dependants’, if they’re eligible
• take on additional work in certain circumstances
• do voluntary work
• travel abroad and return to the UK
• apply to settle permanently in the UK (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’) if you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years and meet the other eligibility requirements.

You cannot:

• apply for most benefits (public funds), or the State Pension
• change jobs or employer unless you apply to update your visa.

Support from the Immigration Advice Service at UWE Bristol

It is essential that both employers and students are confident that they understand and comply with UKVI requirements.

The Immigration Advice Service at UWE Bristol is unable to offer full advice on switching into the Skilled Worker visa category and cannot produce documents which confirm either academic status or eligibility to make a Skilled Worker visa application.

Students are encouraged to provide employers with their most recent CAS as clarification of their course end date. Students can also download a HEAR document confirming their academic status from MYUWE.

You can download a letter for students to provide to employers. This letter outlines the current UKVI rules and guidance around students who wish to switch into the Skilled Worker visa.

Skilled Worker visa information letter (PDF)