Graduate Route to Skilled Worker

Understanding the Graduate Route

The Graduate route allows you to stay and work in the UK after completing a qualifying UK course: 2 years for an application made on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months for one made on or after 1 January 2027, and 3 years after a PhD or other doctorate. During that time you can work for any employer in any role without sponsorship.

The Graduate route is a bridging visa. It cannot be extended, it cannot be granted twice, and its time does not count towards settlement (indefinite leave to remain). Settling in the UK means moving onto a route that does count, such as the Skilled Worker visa.

What Changes With the Timing

The switch can be made at any point before the Graduate visa expires. These are the published rules that move depending on when it happens.

Switching earlier in the Graduate route

• The 5-year period towards settlement runs from the start of the Skilled Worker permission, so it starts earlier.
• Skilled Worker permission is tied to a specific sponsor. Changing employer needs a new application.
• The visa fee and healthcare surcharge fall due earlier.

Switching later in the Graduate route

• Graduate route permission is unsponsored, so you can change employer without an immigration application.
• The 5-year period towards settlement starts correspondingly later.
• The new entrant concession caps total stay at 4 years, and GOV.UK says that cap includes time already spent in the UK on a Graduate visa. Time on the Graduate route therefore reduces how long the concession can run.
• The Graduate visa expiry date is a hard deadline: the Skilled Worker application must be made before it. An in-UK decision usually takes 8 weeks.

Eligibility for the Switch

The requirements are the same as any Skilled Worker application:

• Job offer from a licensed sponsor
• A valid certificate of sponsorship, used within 3 months of being assigned
• A job at skill level 6 on the Regulated Qualifications Framework — roughly degree level — for new applicants since 22 July 2025. Jobs at levels 3 to 5 can only be sponsored if they are on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List, and Temporary Shortage List roles cannot bring dependants
• Salary of at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for the job, whichever is higher, unless one of the published lower rates applies
• English at B2 for new Skilled Worker applications made on or after 8 January 2026. B1 is still accepted for an extension on the same route. A bachelor's degree, master's degree or doctorate awarded in the UK meets the requirement

GOV.UK lists being currently in the UK on a Graduate visa (or having been in the last 2 years, with a Graduate or visit visa as your most recent visa) among the criteria for the 70% new entrant rate, with a salary floor of £33,400.

How the Settlement Period Counts

Time on the Graduate route does not count towards the 5 years of continuous residence needed for settlement on the Skilled Worker route. The arithmetic follows from that:

• Switch at the start of the Graduate route: the 5-year qualifying period ends about 5 years after graduation.
• Use the full 2 years of the Graduate route, then switch: the 5-year qualifying period ends about 7 years after graduation.
• Use the full 18 months granted from 1 January 2027, then switch: about 6 years and 6 months after graduation.

The published qualifying period is 5 years. The government has proposed extending it to 10 years; that is a proposal, not law, and the current rule is unchanged.

The Application Process

1. Secure a job offer from a licensed sponsor.
2. Your employer assigns you a Certificate of Sponsorship.
3. Apply online for a Skilled Worker visa from within the UK.
4. Pay the application fee — £943 for permission of 3 years or less, £1,865 for more than 3 years, or £628 and £1,235 for a job on the Immigration Salary List — plus the healthcare surcharge at £1,035 a year.
5. Prove your identity, either with the "UK Immigration: ID Check" app or by giving fingerprints and a photograph at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services service point. GOV.UK tells you which applies when you apply.
6. Wait for the decision: usually 8 weeks for an application made inside the UK. Paying £500 for the priority service normally gives a decision within 5 working days, and £1,000 for super priority the next working day.

The application must be made before your Graduate route visa expires; that is what triggers Section 3C leave, which keeps you lawfully in the UK on your existing conditions while the application is decided. You must also not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision, or the application will be withdrawn.

Salary Considerations

The new entrant concession reduces the salary threshold, but be aware of the following:

• GOV.UK caps total stay in the UK at 4 years where you apply on the new entrant basis, and says this includes any time already spent in the UK on a Graduate visa.
• Once the concession no longer applies, the salary must meet the general threshold of £41,700 a year or the going rate for the job, whichever is higher.
• If the job is on the Immigration Salary List, the salary must be at least £33,400 a year with the full going rate.
• There are separate PhD discounts: 80% of the going rate with a floor of £33,400 for a science, technology, engineering or maths doctorate relevant to the job, and 90% with a floor of £37,500 for a non-STEM one. An overseas doctorate needs an Ecctis assessment.

If There Is No Sponsored Role Before the Visa Expires

These are the published facts that bear on that situation:

• The register of licensed sponsors is public. GOV.UK publishes the full list of employers holding a worker sponsor licence, including small businesses — a licence costs £611 for a small or charitable sponsor and £1,682 for a medium or large one.
• The Graduate route cannot be extended. It also cannot be granted a second time.
• Other routes have their own rules. The partner route requires a British or settled partner, a combined income of at least £29,000 and English at A1. The Global Talent route requires an endorsement or a qualifying prestigious prize.
• A Skilled Worker visa can be applied for from abroad. The fee outside the UK is £819 for 3 years or less and £1,618 for more than 3 years, and a decision usually takes 3 weeks.

Comparing Your Options After Graduation

For a broader comparison of paths after your Student visa, including the direct Student to Skilled Worker switch, see our Student to Skilled Worker guide.

The published difference between the two is straightforward: the Graduate route needs no sponsor and its time does not count towards settlement; the Skilled Worker route needs a sponsor and its time does.

Questions and answers