UK Graduate Route 2026: How Long You Can Stay After Study

Quick Summary Matrix: Key Figures at a Glance

Item	GOV.UK (retrieved 27 August 2026)
Apply by 31 Dec 2026	2 years (bachelor’s / master’s)
Apply from 1 Jan 2027	18 months (bachelor’s / master’s)
PhD / other doctorate	3 years (both windows)
Where you must be	In the UK
Current visa	Student visa or Tier 4 (General)
Job offer required?	No
Application fee	£937
IHS (typical)	£1,035 for each year you will be in the UK
Usual decision	Within 8 weeks after online apply + identity + documents
Extend this visa?	No

This page is a Zinjet explainer of GOV.UK Graduate visa. Zinjet is not an immigration lawyer. Figures change — re-check GOV.UK before you pay.

Need the Student visa first? UK Student visa requirements 2026. Coming from Nigeria? Study in the UK from Nigeria.

Who can apply (all of these, not “most”)

GOV.UK says you can apply if all of the following are true:

1. You are in the UK.
2. Your current visa is a Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa.
3. You studied a UK bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree, or other eligible course for the minimum period on that visa.
4. Your education provider has told the Home Office you successfully completed the course.

Ask the university or college if you are not sure they have reported completion. You do not have to wait for a graduation ceremony or a paper certificate.

If any line fails, this route is the wrong product. Use Check if you need a UK visa instead of guessing.

Course eligibility is a separate page

“Eligible course” is not “any CAS”. GOV.UK keeps a dedicated page: the course you studied. Pathway colleges, short professional awards, and some integrated programmes may not count. Confirm before you budget the £937 fee.

Step-by-step: from last assignment to a Graduate visa

1. Finish the eligible course on a Student / Tier 4 visa (minimum study period as GOV.UK defines for that qualification).
2. Chase the provider’s report to the Home Office. Email the international student office; keep the reply.
3. Do not wait for a ceremony, transcript print run, or “result senate” if the school has already reported success.
4. Start the online application on GOV.UK apply before the Student / Tier 4 visa expires.
5. Prove identity and upload documents. You will find out if you need an appointment when you start.
6. Pay the £937 fee and the healthcare surcharge.
7. Wait in the UK. Usual decision: within 8 weeks after you have applied online, proved identity, and provided documents.
8. Read the grant. GOV.UK says a successful decision includes a full list of what you can and cannot do.

How long you can stay

When you apply	Bachelor’s / master’s	Doctoral qualification
On or before 31 December 2026	2 years	3 years
On or after 1 January 2027	18 months	3 years

The visa starts the day the application is approved, not the day lectures ended.

You cannot extend a Graduate visa. You may switch to another route if you qualify — GOV.UK’s example is Skilled Worker. Switching is a new application with its own salary, sponsor, and English rules. Do not treat Skilled Worker as automatic.

Cost (GOV.UK)

When you apply you need to:

• pay the £937 application fee
• pay the healthcare surcharge — GOV.UK says this is usually £1,035 for each year you will be in the UK

Work the total on how much it costs. Zinjet does not add “priority” or “agent” fees on top of those figures.

Public-sector healthcare exception

If you are a doctor or nurse, or you work in health or adult social care, GOV.UK says to check the Health and Care Worker visa. It is cheaper and you do not pay the annual IHS. If you already paid the surcharge and later get a public-sector healthcare job, there is a refund route.

What you can and cannot do

You can:

• work in most jobs
• look for work
• be self-employed
• continue living in the UK with a partner and children if they are eligible
• travel abroad and return
• do unpaid voluntary work for a registered charity, a voluntary organisation, an associated fundraising body, or a statutory body

You cannot:

• claim most benefits (public funds) or the State Pension
• work as a professional sportsperson

Studying on a Graduate visa

GOV.UK: you can only study if the chosen course is not eligible for a Student visa. If it is eligible, extend the Student visa instead. Sensitive STEM topics may still need an ATAS certificate.

Partner and children

GOV.UK has a separate page for your partner and children. Eligibility is not “whoever travelled on your CAS”. Read that page. Taught master’s students already face tight Student visa dependant rules — do not assume a Graduate visa re-opens family.

Refusal and delay risks

1. Applying outside the UK. Instant mismatch with the rule.
2. Wrong current visa (visitor, short-term study, already on Graduate).
3. Provider has not reported completion. You apply; UKVI has no completion record.
4. Course not on the eligible list. Pathway or short award that never counted.
5. Student visa already expired when you click submit.
6. Identity appointment lag eating the last days of leave. Start before you “feel ready.”
7. Assuming a job offer is required and waiting for one until the Student visa dies.

If the application is refused, GOV.UK will say whether you can apply again or need a different route. Zinjet cannot overturn a Home Office decision.

Real-world scenarios

Taught master’s finishing November 2026

You want the 2-year grant. The school must report completion, and you must apply on or before 31 December 2026. A January result letter is not the same as a January application.

PhD completing in 2027

Doctoral qualifications stay 3 years on GOV.UK in both windows. Still apply from inside the UK, on a Student / Tier 4 visa, after the provider reports.

Nigeria-based family planning a visit

A Graduate visa is not a visit visa for relatives. They use the visitor rules. Do not mix the two on one timeline.

Checklists

Before you apply

• Student / Tier 4 still valid on the day you submit
• Written confirmation the provider reported completion
• Course checked against course you studied
• Money for £937 + IHS
• Passport and UKVI account login working (eVisa era)

After a grant

• Read the full conditions in the decision
• If you want to stay past the end date, research Skilled Worker (or another route) months before expiry — you cannot extend this visa
• If you want another degree that needs a Student visa, switch before you enrol

Documents UKVI actually asks for

GOV.UK will tell you inside the form. Typical pieces:

• Current passport and any previous passports with UK stamps
• BRP or eVisa login (physical BRP cards stopped 1 June 2026 on the Student-visa guide)
• Evidence the provider reported completion (email, portal screenshot, or the fact UKVI can already see it)
• Proof you are still on Student / Tier 4 (the visa you hold today)
• Partner/child documents only if you are applying for them and they meet the family page

You do not submit a job contract. Waiting for one is how Student visas expire.

Identity appointments

The form tells you if you need an appointment. If you do, book it before the Student visa ends. GOV.UK: the application may take longer if you need an appointment. Usual 8-week decision clock starts after online apply + identity + documents, not after you “meant to apply.”

Worked cost example (illustrative of GOV.UK rows, not a quote)

If you apply in December 2026 for a 2-year Graduate visa:

• Application fee: £937
• IHS: GOV.UK typical £1,035 per year × 2 years = £2,070 if they charge two years (confirm on the cost page — pro-rating exists in other routes)
• Total you must be ready to pay to UKVI: £937 + whatever the IHS calculator shows the same week

Doctors/nurses should still check Health and Care Worker before paying IHS you might not need.

Switching later, without pretending it is easy

Skilled Worker needs a licensed worker sponsor, a salary at the going threshold, and English. Those thresholds change. We will not print a 2026 salary number here unless we are quoting GOV.UK Skilled Worker in a dedicated guide. Start research six months before the Graduate visa ends, not in week 103.

Global Talent, Health and Care Worker, and Innovator Founder are other legal routes with their own tests. None of them “extend” Graduate.

How Zinjet fits

We list partner programmes in the United Kingdom catalog. Schools issue CAS. UKVI decides visas. Get started or contact.

Jobs after the Graduate visa ends are a different product: Handmework.

Related resources

• UK Student visa requirements 2026
• Check the school is a licensed student sponsor
• Study in the UK from Nigeria
• Official: Graduate visa (GOV.UK)