Graduate Immigration Route

Yes, there is a £700 application fee to be paid when applying for this route. All applicants will also need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, charged at £624 per year. This totals between £1,248 for the two-year duration granted to most in this route, or £1,872 for those who have completed a PHD. 

Please be aware that the same fees will apply to dependents of graduates, with a discount on the Health Surcharge for children under the age of 18.

No, this is not a settlement route. Instead, the graduate route offers successful applicants the opportunity to gain flexible work experience in the UK after finishing their studies.

If a person wishes to continue living and working in the UK once their time as a graduate is over, they would be required to apply for an alternative immigration visa.

It is possible that you would qualify for the graduate route, but students awarded a scholarship or sponsorship by a government or international scholarship agency must provide written consent to the application for this new route.

There is clear guidance that students should not miss out on the graduate route as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

If you were a student in the UK and your course had shifted to distance learning as a result of the pandemic, you still qualify for the graduate scheme – even if you carried out this distance learning outside of the UK.

You will still have had to complete your course and meet all other requirements to apply for the route.

While there is no right of appeal if your application to the graduate route is refused, you are entitled to an administrative review if a casework error was made while processing your application. 

You must seek expert legal advice immediately if you believe there has been an administrative error when your application was processed. If this error has resulted in your application being unsuccessful, you could be in a position to request a review.

While not possible in every situation, there are some limited circumstances in which your family would be able to apply with you for this route. These include:

• If your partner has or have last been granted, permission as a dependent partner of a student; or 
• If your child has been granted permission as a dependent child of either a student or dependent partner of the student; or 
• If your child/children were born in the UK during your time as a student

Contact an expert immigration solicitor if you are unsure if your family qualifies to apply with you for the scheme.