Qualification requirement

You must have successfully completed a relevant qualification: a UK bachelor’s degree, a UK postgraduate degree, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) or one of the other qualifications listed in paragraph GR 5.2 of Appendix Graduate of the UK's Immigration Rules. 

Successful course completion and notification to the Home Office

Successful completion

You must have successfully completed the course for which your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) was assigned (except in the case of an approved course transfer). Successfully completed means you have been assessed by the University and have been or will be awarded a relevant qualification (as above). 

Please note that if you graduate with a lower qualification, you may not be eligible to apply for the Graduate route.

Home Office notification

The University must notify the Home Office before you apply for the Graduate route that you have successfully completed your course. If you apply for the Graduate route before your results are published and before the University has notified the Home Office that you have been successfully completed your course, it would be correctly refused under paragraph GR 3.1 of Appendix Graduate of the UK's Immigration Rules. The University will endeavour to notify the Home Office promptly and the University's International Student Advisory Team will email students to inform them once this has been done.

Please do not apply for the Graduate route until you have received an email from the International Student Advisory Team confirming the Home Office has been notified.

If you do not receive confirmation from the International Student Advisory Team that the Home Office has been notified of your successful course completion one month after the official publication of your results or before your visa expires, please email immigration@reading.ac.uk. 

Immigration status and study in the UK requirement

Immigration status: 

At the time you apply for the Graduate route, you must hold valid immigration permission as a “Tier 4 Student” or “Student”. You cannot switch to the Graduate route visa from any other immigration category. 

The study in the UK rules are different depending on the length of your course.

Courses of 12 months or less:

If you are studying a course of 12 months or less, you must have studied the whole course physically in the UK as a “Tier 4 Student” or “Student”.

Courses of more than 12 months:

If you are studying a course of more than 12 months, you must have studied at least 12 months of the course physically in the UK as a “Tier 4 Student” or “Student”.

If a course lasting longer than 12 months was completed using a combination of immigration routes, then you must have spent the minimum required time as a Student or Tier 4 migrant in the most recent period of permission.

Important additional information

All course related work must be undertaken from within the UK. This includes writing and submitting your written coursework/dissertation and sitting exams, even if they are online. Your visa sponsorship may be affected if your are found to be studying from overseas during term-time.

Travel outside the UK for short trips during weekends and official University vacation periods should not affect your eligibility. Travel during term-time is not permitted, but if essential, authorisation should be sought from your school. However, you will need to consider your eligibility because you must declare all travel in your Graduate Route visa application, and you must be honest with your answers. 

Therefore, our advice is that you should not travel outside the UK during term-time to safeguard your Student visa status and Graduate Route eligibility. 

Extensions to coursework and re-sit exams 

The University may not be able to provide you with further Student visa sponsorship to cover an extension to your course, for example in the case of extensions to coursework/dissertation deadlines or for re-sit examinations. Under the UK’s Immigration Rules, further visa sponsorship can only be provided in specific circumstances and is therefore not guaranteed. If your work/exam results are not going to be assessed by an examination board until after your Student visa expires you will not be eligible for the Graduate route. If you are being offered an extension to your coursework/dissertation deadline or have re-sit examinations, please contact the International Student Advisory Team for further advice. 

Debt

Please be aware if there is an outstanding debt on your university account which prevents your final results from being published, this will prevent the University from reporting your successful completion for the Graduate route to UKVI. Therefore, please ensure you have paid your tuition fees in full and that you have settled any outstanding debts with the University in good time before the publication of results.  

Where?

You can only apply for the Graduate route from inside the UK. There is no provision to apply from outside the UK.

When?

After you have received confirmation from the International Student Advisory Team (by email) that the University has notified the Home Office of your successful course completion (as per the 'successful completion and notification to the Home Office section above)

You must apply before your Tier 4/Student immigration permission (visa) expires.

When someone applies to extend their immigration permission from within the UK, they must submit the application in-time i.e. before their Tier 4/Student permission expires.

Whilst an immigration application is pending with the Home Office, the applicant will continue to have permission to be in the UK until their application is decided. The period between the expiry of the Tier 4/Student permission and the new permission being granted is know as 3C leave. 3C leave is an extension of your immigration permission (and the conditions of that immigration permission) whilst the application is being processed.

The application fee is £822 per applicant.

You will pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) per applicant at £1035 per year of permission that you are applying for. That is 3 years for PhD graduates, 2 years for others.

2 years will cost £2,070
3 years will cost £3,105

 

 

When you apply you will need to provide:

• a valid passport or other travel document that shows your identity and nationality
• your biometric residence permit (BRP), if you were given one when you applied for your Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa
• your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) reference number from when you applied for your Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa. When we email to confirm we have notified the Home Office that you have successfully completed your course, we will state the CAS reference number that has been reported against. If you do not think the correct CAS number has been reported against, please email immigration@reading.ac.uk.

There is no maintenance (money) or English language requirement.

Other documents you might need:

Students who have been sponsored (for both tuition fees and living costs) by a government or international scholarship agency, will need a letter of consent from the sponsor to stay in the UK under this route.

You should check the terms and conditions of any scholarships/sponserships you were awarded, because you may have agreed to return to your home country for a period of time when accepting the award.

Please note that the Chevening website states that its scholars cannot apply for the Graduate route. 

Can I apply for the Graduate route visa and stay in the UK at the end of my course? | Chevening

The Graduate route application process has been designed to be straightforward and simple. As part of your application, you will need to prove your identity, complete an online application form, and provide your documents (valid passport (or travel document) and previous BRP card (if applicable). 

Applicants will be able to submit biometrics through the UK Immigration: ID Check’ app. If you cannot scan your passport or BRP with the app, you will be asked to provide your fingerprints and have a photograph taken at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point.

Applications will take approximately 8 weeks to be processed, but you should not travel until the outcome of the application. This is because travelling outside the Common Travel Area automatically withdraws your application.

You will receive the decision via email, and you will be granted the relevant amount of permission from the date of decision. PhD graduate will be granted 3 years of immigration permission under the route and other graduates 2 years. 

If you have verified your identity using the app, as soon as you get notification of the decision on your Graduate route application, you will be able to view your immigration status digitally (eVisa) and prove your rights in the UK.

You will use your UKVI account credentials to sign into the online View and Prove service on GOV.UK, which is where you can access your eVisa.

"Visa nationals" will receive a Biometric Residence Permit to show when re-entering the UK after travel. For further information, please see pages 4-5 in the Home Office’s Graduate route guidance.

Eligibility for dependants is restricted to those who are already in the UK as Student dependants of the main applicant, except for babies born in the UK during the current grant of Tier 4/Student permission. 

If they are not already in the UK as a dependant and you are permitted to bring dependants to the UK, there is no deadline for them to join you on the Student route in the UK, other than your current Tier 4 or Student visa expiry date. 

Dependants do not have to apply at the same time as the main applicant for the Graduate route, but they must apply for the Graduate route from within the UK and before the expiry of their Student dependant visa. 

Your Graduate route dependant will have the same work conditions as you.

Please see gov.uk for more details.

Work

If you are granted permission under the Graduate route, you will be able to stay and work full or part-time, or look for work, at any skill level whether employed or self-employment, except as a professional sportsperson or coach. You do not require an employer to sponsor you.

Whilst your application is pending, if you submitted your application before your permission expired, then you will be able to work under your Tier 4/Student conditions. This means if you were studying full-time you can work full-time after your course end date, but you cannot fill a permanent full-time position; or be self-employed or engage in business activity, work as a professional sportsperson (including as a sports coach) or work as an entertainer. 

However, if you applied for your current Student visa on or after 6 April 2022 you will be able to begin working full time in a position that fills a permanent vacancy, providing you have successfully completed your course and have made a valid application to the Graduate route.

If you were studying part-time, you must wait until you have been issued permission under the Graduate route before you start to work.

Study

You cannot study any course that can be sponsored under the Student route as this is a study condition that is restricted under the Graduate route.

Public funds

You will have ‘no recourse to public funds’. This means you will not have access to public funds in the UK. Find out more.

If your application is successful, you will get a full list of what you can and cannot do with a Graduate visa.

You cannot extend your stay as a Graduate, nor is it a direct route to settlement (except as part of the long residence provision), but you may be able to switch into another route providing you meet the requirements. 

If clarification is needed on any aspect of the Rules or you have questions about your application, please email the International Student Advisory Team at immigration@reading.ac.uk where we will respond to you as soon as possible.