Hi there, Jack here from Cardiff Met International with the update you've all
been waiting for. The full details of the new graduate
route visa replacing the UK post study work visa.
Welcome to my latest video on the new UK graduate route visa.
If you haven't watched any of my videos before my name is Jack and I'm part of
the international team here at Cardiff Metropolitan University
in the UK. I'm currently on a mission to help international students
better understand the UK university system.
If you've watched either of my recent live streams, you'll know that we are still
going through a period of lockdown restrictions here in the UK
due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. This means that I'm still filming and
working from home and more importantly that I need a haircut.
But luckily these restrictions haven't stopped the
UK government making the promised announcement
about the upcoming graduate route visa. It's now over a year since the new graduate
visa, replacing the post study work visa, or psw,
was announced. However the exact details of when the scheme will start
and what's involved in making an application have been a little less
forthcoming. This has led to much speculation and
concern from international students wanting to plan their time in the UK. But
the wait is now over. At the end of last week the
UK Government announced that the graduate route will open for
applications from the 1st of July 2021. The announcement was included as
part of the latest Statement of Changes in
Immigration Rules made by UK Visas and Immigrations. Now,
this statement is over 100 pages, so I doubt you'll want to read it in
full, even if you are practicing your English at the moment.
So in this video I'm going to review all of the important information
about the graduate route so you're fully informed about this new
visa option. I'll be talking through the requirements, how to apply,
the rules of the visa, and answering a couple of key questions
the students have been asking over the last year. So let's dive straight in!
First up let's take a look at who will be eligible and what the requirements
will be. The headline is that the graduate route
will be available to international students who have completed
a degree at undergraduate level or above at a higher education provider
with a track record of compliance and who have a valid
Tier 4 or student visa at the time of application.
At the time of application you'll need to be able to provide your biometrics
and a valid passport or travel document to show your identity and nationality.
Students that have been sponsored by their government to study in the UK must
also provide written consent from their sponsor that they may remain in the UK
upon completion of their studies. You must have a valid Tier 4
or student visa when you make your application, so you must still have a
valid visa on the 1st of July 2021. Students whose
visas expire before this date will not be eligible
for the graduate route. As well as having a valid visa you must
have fully completed your course at the time of application.
This must be the course that you were issued your visa to study by your higher
education provider. If you are studying a postgraduate
course you must have also completed the dissertation section of your course.
Once your course is complete your student sponsor, which is your
university, must have notified the Home Office
by the date of application that you have successfully completed the course of
study. So before you apply you'll need to make
sure that your university has let the UK Government know that you
have completed your course. This is something that they will do
automatically, but you will want to make sure before you make your application.
You'll also need to make sure that the qualification you have taken
is eligible for the graduate route. As well as UK bachelors and postgraduate
degrees, the route is also available for students
who have studied a number of legal, medical and teacher training programs.
The last requirement is that you have studied in the UK. For
courses that are 12 months or less you must have studied in the UK for the
whole course. For courses longer than 12 months you
must have spent at least 12 months studying in the UK.
For students concerned about the impact of a Coronavirus Pandemic
on this element of the requirements, I'll be talking about this a little bit later
in the video. So once you know that you're eligible
for the graduate route visa, you'll need to make an application.
Whilst the application process is not yet live,
students will be able to apply on the Government website from the 1st of July
2021. You must be in the UK when you make your
application, so you cannot return to your home country once you've completed your
course and apply from there. The application fee will be 700 pounds
along with a biometric enrolment fee of 19 pounds 20. As well as the
application fee you will need to pay the immigration
health surcharge fee for each year you remain in the UK. This
is currently 624 pounds per year. Unlike with the student
visa there is no maintenance requirement for
the graduate route. This means that there is no set amount of money that you will
be required to show when you apply. Once you've applied for and been
successfully awarded your graduate route visa, what exactly can you do? What are the
conditions of the visa? Successful applicants on this route at
bachelor's or master's level will be able to stay in the UK and work,
or look for work, at any skill level for two years.
Doctoral students will be able to stay for three years.
During this time you will be able to do any job apart from being a professional
sports person. You'll also be able to be self-employed
with certain restrictions. Some study is permitted as long as it
isn't with an education provider that would otherwise need to sponsor you
for a student visa. If you're interested in further study
it's worth reading more about this before you apply for the graduate route.
Whatever you do during your time in the UK on the graduate route visa,
it doesn't count towards the five-year requirement for 'indefinite leave
for remain'. However graduates will be able to apply
for the skilled worker route from within the UK once they have found
a suitable job. Dependents will be allowed on the
graduate route visa, however they must already be existing dependents
linked to your Tier 4 or student visa. Again
if you are applying with dependents it's worth reading more about this as there
are quite a few extra rules. So that covers the main details of the
graduate route and how to apply. However I'm now going to mention a
couple of extra points. First of all the requirement to spend 12
months or more studying in the UK depending on the length of your course.
With restrictions in place due to the current Coronavirus Pandemic
the following exemptions have been made. Students who began their course in 2020
and entered the UK on or before the 21st of June 2021
will meet the UK study requirement of the graduate route.
Students who began their course in January or February 2021
and entered the UK before the 27th of September
2021 and complete that course of study in the UK
will also meet the UK study requirement. So if you haven't been able to travel to
the UK yet you still have plenty of time to meet
the requirements. Lastly there has been speculation that students
who change their course once they arrive in the UK will not be
eligible for the route. To put this doubt to rest
the following passage was included in the announcement.
The applicant must have successfully completed the course of study
which was undertaken during their last grant of permission to study on the
student route (where the applicant was allowed to
change their course of study without applying for further permission
as a student this requirement only applies to the
course to which they changed). This means that as long as you complete
the course that you have changed to you will still be eligible for the
graduate route. So there we have it. The information
you've been waiting for. Almost everything there is to know about the
graduate route visa. Hopefully you'll be feeling a bit more
informed when planning your study in the UK.
As always it's important to remember that visa rules can change at any time
and that individual circumstances may be relevant.
Make sure to follow public announcements about any future changes
and read the rules in full before you make your application.
Please do give me a like if this has been helpful and if you have any
questions just let me know in the comments below.
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and hopefully we'll welcome you to Cardiff Met on day soon.
Bye-bye.