Citizenship Areas
Take your next step after an eligible UK course, with permission to work or look for work while planning your longer-term future.
The route is for eligible students who have successfully completed a qualifying course and whose education provider has reported completion to the Home Office. We review your course, study history and current permission.
A Graduate application is made in the UK, following eligible Student or Tier 4 (General) permission. We assess the timing and your circumstances before preparing the application.
The application date and qualification affect the period granted. This is a temporary route and cannot be extended.
We help graduates coordinate their application with their course completion, current permission and family arrangements.
Assess the qualifying course, education provider, completion position and current permission, including any earlier Graduate or Doctorate Extension Scheme grant.
Review the provider’s completion notification and prepare the appropriate application and supporting information before existing permission expires.
We assist with submission and the identity-check process or biometric appointment required for your application.
Review the decision and conditions, coordinate eligible dependant applications and plan work and future immigration options.
The application should follow the education provider’s completion notification and be made before your current permission expires. A graduation ceremony or printed certificate is not itself the trigger for applying.
Application, healthcare and professional costs should be considered together. We can advise on the appropriate timing and service for your circumstances.
Graduate permission allows work in most jobs, looking for work and self-employment without employer sponsorship. You can normally change jobs without a sponsored-work update application.
Study on Graduate permission is restricted where the course is eligible for the Student route. We can review proposed study or training and advise on whether a different application is appropriate.
A qualifying partner normally needs to have been your dependant on your current Student or Tier 4 (General) permission. The route does not generally allow you to bring a new partner as a dependant.
Children normally need earlier dependant permission. A specific exception can apply to children born in the UK during the relevant Student, Tier 4 or Graduate permission.
Each family member needs a separate application and must meet the relevant conditions. Older children with existing dependant permission require an individual assessment.
Graduate is normally a one-time route. A further course does not create an entitlement to a second Graduate grant, and earlier Graduate or Doctorate Extension Scheme permission can affect eligibility.
If you want to stay longer, assess another route before your permission expires. A job offer alone does not guarantee eligibility for a work visa.
A qualifying role with an approved employer may support a move to Skilled Worker or, where eligible, Health and Care Worker. We assess the role, sponsorship and the rules applying to you.
Global Talent, Innovator Founder or an appropriate family route may be relevant in individual cases. Each has a separate eligibility assessment and application process.
Explore our Skilled Worker, Global Talent and Innovator Founder services, or discuss your circumstances with us.
The Graduate route does not lead directly to settlement. If you later move to a settlement route, that route’s qualifying period and conditions apply; Graduate time does not automatically count towards its qualifying period.
We can review your full immigration history when advising on future settlement options, rather than assuming that time spent in the UK creates an automatic entitlement.
Naturalisation has its own status, residence, absence, language, good-character and other conditions. Graduate permission does not confer settlement or citizenship.