UK Graduate visa: apply by 31 December 2026 to keep two years
A UK Graduate visa is two years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, and 18 months from 1 January 2027. Here is who should apply now.
If you finished a UK degree this year and you are still here on a Student visa, the length of your UK Graduate visa depends on the day you apply. Apply on or before 31 December 2026 and a bachelor’s or master’s graduate is granted two years. Apply on or after 1 January 2027 and that same graduate is granted 18 months. A PhD or other doctorate is still three years on either date. As of October 2026, GOV.UK and Appendix Graduate both say this.
The Home Office set the cut in a statement of changes laid on 14 October 2025. The explanatory memorandum says the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May announced it, and that 18 months applies to applications from 1 January 2027. It also gives a provisional estimate of about 12,000 fewer Student visa applications a year, and provisional revenue reductions of £27 million on the Student route and £23 million on the Graduate route.
Key takeaways
A non-doctoral UK Graduate visa is two years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027. A doctorate stays at three years.
The grant runs from the decision date. GOV.UK says you usually get a decision within eight weeks.
You must be in the UK, on Student or Tier 4 permission, and your university must have reported completion before you apply.
Leaving the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man before the decision withdraws the application.
As of October 2026 the application fee is £937. The healthcare surcharge on the cost page is £2,070 for two years and £1,152.50 for 18 months.
The visa is unsponsored and is not a route to settlement. A later Skilled Worker application still has a salary test, and new-entrant time is capped at four years including time on this visa.
What the UK Graduate visa grants before 1 January 2027
GR 8.1 grants permission from the date of the decision. A PhD or other doctoral qualification gets three years. Every other eligible qualification gets two years when the application is made before 1 January 2027, and 18 months when it is made on or after that date. The public overview states the same split as on or before 31 December 2026, and on or after 1 January 2027.
| When you apply | Qualification | Permission from the decision date |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1 January 2027 | Bachelor’s, master’s, or another eligible non-doctoral course | 2 years |
| On or after 1 January 2027 | Bachelor’s, master’s, or another eligible non-doctoral course | 18 months |
| Either date | PhD or other doctoral qualification | 3 years |
The route is unsponsored, so an employer does not need a sponsor licence while you hold it. It is not a route to settlement, and you cannot extend it. A longer stay means another visa. For most people that is Skilled Worker, which has its own job and pay rules.
A one-year course that started in September 2026 will not be completed before this cutoff. You may apply only after the provider has told the Home Office you completed the course on your last Student permission. For that cohort, the 18-month line is the one in the table.
Who can apply while two years is still available
You apply online on the Graduate form, and GR 1.2 says you must be in the UK. Your current or last permission must be as a Student. On GOV.UK that means a Student visa or a Tier 4 (General) student visa, and you must apply before it expires.
GR 4.3 says the sponsor must have notified the Home Office, by the date of application, that you completed the course. You do not have to wait for a ceremony or a certificate. You do have to wait for that notification. A results email to you is a different step. Ask the international student office which day they send the report.
The qualification is a UK bachelor’s degree, a UK postgraduate degree, or a course listed in GR 5.2, which names specific law courses, a PGCE or PGDE, and some regulated professional courses. A renamed course, or an added assessed placement, does not by itself block you.
Time in the UK is a separate test, in the course rules and GR 6.1. A course of 12 months or less needs permission for the whole course in the UK. A longer course needs at least 12 months. The distance-learning concession in GR 6.2 and GR 6.3 covers study overseas only between 24 January 2020 and 30 June 2022.
Two validity rules catch people who otherwise look ready. GR 1.4 bars anyone already granted permission as a Graduate, or under the Doctorate Extension Scheme. GR 1.5 requires written consent if, in the 12 months before you apply, you completed a UK course funded by a government or international scholarship agency that covered both fees and living costs. Caseworker guidance gives a Chevening or Marshall scholarship as an example. Consent that arrives after you submit does not repair an invalid application.
Why the application date and the decision date both matter
The application date chooses the length. The permission then runs from the decision. GOV.UK says you usually get a decision within eight weeks after you apply online, prove your identity and provide documents. You can stay in the UK while you wait if you applied before the Student visa expired.
Eight weeks is the published usual time, not a booked slot. An application on 31 December 2026 that is decided eight weeks later is decided in late February 2027, and two years from then runs to late February 2029. An application on 1 January 2027, on the same assumption, ends in late August 2028. That is six months less permission.
Applying as soon as you qualify also gets two years, and the clock starts earlier, so the visa ends earlier. If the Student visa expires on 20 November 2026, that is your last day. If it expires on 28 February 2027 and completion is already reported, a December day can meet both limits. Saving the form is not enough: the apply page lets you finish later, and the rules use the date the application is made.
You must not travel outside of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision. Your application will be withdrawn if you do.
A flight home after you submit, and before the decision, withdraws the application. If you are abroad and your Student permission is still valid, re-enter before it ends, then apply from inside the UK. A UKVCAS identity check may also mean the service point keeps your passport while the case is open.
Ask the university which day it will tell the Home Office you have passed, and apply only after that report. Photo: USACE Europe District (BY 2.0)
What you pay as of October 2026
The fee table dated 8 October 2026 lists the Graduate route fee for a main applicant and for dependants at £937, with no change in that revision. The cost page shows the same £937, plus the immigration health surcharge, and says you will be told the amount when you apply.
That page says the surcharge is usually £1,035 for each year you will be in the UK. It then lists £2,070 for a two-year Graduate visa, £3,105 for three years, and £1,152.50 for 18 months. Pay the figure on the application screen.
| Length granted | Application fee | Healthcare surcharge listed |
|---|---|---|
| 18 months | £937 | £1,152.50 |
| 2 years | £937 | £2,070 |
| 3 years, doctoral | £937 | £3,105 |
Each family member applies separately and pays the visa fee. GR 9.2 also requires the fee and the Immigration Health Charge for a partner or child. A partner’s permission ends on your end date. A child’s ends on whichever parent’s permission ends first.
A partner qualifies if they already have, or last had, permission as your Student dependant. A child born in the UK during your last Student grant, or born in the UK while you hold Graduate permission, is the extra case in GR 9.4A. Birth in the UK does not by itself make the child a British citizen. Other dependants are not permitted on this route. Public guidance says a new dependant may be able to join you if you switch to a visa that allows it, such as Skilled Worker.
If a dependant still uses a biometric residence permit to prove the earlier status, the same page says they can use it for 24 months after the date printed on the card, or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first.
Work you can take now, and the salary test that follows
Once the visa is granted you can work in most jobs, look for work, be self-employed, and travel out and back. Voluntary work must be unpaid and for a registered charity, a voluntary organisation, an associated fundraising body, or a statutory body. You cannot work as a professional sportsperson, and you cannot claim most benefits or the State Pension. GR 8.2 also bars study with a Student sponsor where the course would meet the Student route’s level and qualification rules. Some research needs an ATAS certificate.
UKCISA, last updated on 3 August 2026, says a full-time permanent job can start while the application is pending if your Student sponsor had a track record of compliance. Self-employment, and work as an entertainer, waits for the decision. Confirm that with your adviser before you give notice.
The visa does not lower the Skilled Worker salary. As of October 2026, GOV.UK says pay must be whichever is higher: £41,700 a year, or the occupation’s going rate. The going-rates table, updated on 22 July 2025, assumes a 37.5-hour week and must be pro-rated for other hours.
A new entrant may be paid 70% of the standard going rate if the salary is still at least £33,400. People on a Graduate visa, people who held one in the last two years, and applicants under 26 can use that test. The lower-salary page caps this concession at four years in total, and time on a Graduate visa counts. Two years of Graduate permission uses two of those four years. Eighteen months uses less.
Programmers and software development professionals, code 2134, have a standard going rate of £54,700. Seventy percent is £38,290, above the £33,400 floor, so a new entrant in that code is measured against £38,290 on a 37.5-hour week. A standard applicant in the same code needs £54,700, because the going rate is above £41,700.
Data analysts, code 3544, have a standard going rate of £34,900. A standard applicant still needs £41,700. A new entrant needs £33,400, because 70% of £34,900 is £24,430 and the floor is higher. Check the live code before you treat an offer as visa-ready, and keep the roles and the pay they publish on one opportunities list.
A sequence if your results are already in
Read the end date on your Student visa. If it is before 31 December 2026, that earlier date is the last day you can apply.
Ask the team that reports completions whether the Home Office has been told you passed, and on what date they will send the report if not.
If a government or international scholarship paid both fees and living costs, and you completed that course in the last 12 months, request written consent now.
Confirm you have never held Graduate permission or Doctorate Extension Scheme permission.
Pick a day in the UK, before the Student visa expires, and on or before 31 December 2026 if you want two years and the course is not a doctorate.
Apply online, pay what the screen shows, and prove your identity. Stay in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until the decision. A grant comes as an eVisa.
Use the months to reach a sponsored offer at the going rate for your code. Notes on this blog cover applications and interviews. They do not replace the visa pages above.
Frequently asked questions
Does a PhD graduate need to apply before 31 December 2026?
GR 8.1 grants three years for a PhD or other doctorate on either side of 1 January 2027. You still apply from inside the UK, after the completion report, and before the Student visa expires. A later valid application starts those three years later, because the clock runs from the decision.
Can I apply from Pakistan and come back for the decision?
GR 1.2 requires you to be in the UK, and the overview says the same. Leave the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man after you apply and before a decision, and the apply page says the application is withdrawn. Fly home first only if you can re-enter on a Student visa that is still valid.
What if the university reports my result in January?
GR 4.3 needs the sponsor’s notification by the application date. A report on or after 1 January 2027 puts a non-doctoral graduate on 18 months. Ask if it can be sent while your Student permission is still valid. GR 1.4 blocks anyone already granted Graduate permission.
Is the 18-month visa ever the better deal?
On the October 2026 cost page, the surcharge is £1,152.50 for 18 months and £2,070 for two years, beside the same £937 fee. The shorter grant also uses less of the four-year new-entrant cap. Take the shorter visa only when you already have a sponsor at the going rate. If you still need months to find that offer, the two-year grant is the one that buys them.
Write down three dates: when the university will report completion, when the Student visa expires, and 31 December 2026. You can apply only after the report, and only before the visa expires. For two years, the application also has to be in on or before that year-end date. If the harder task is a role that can meet a later salary test, HuntBlitz scores each match against your profile and shows the odds before you apply.