UK Graduate visa period reducing to 18 months (for some)

23 October 2025

The Graduate route, previously known as the Post Study Work (“PSW”) visa route, is an unsponsored route designed for international students to switch into after the completion of their studies.

How does the Graduate route work now?

Currently, once a student with permission in the Student route has completed their studies and their sponsor has notified the Home Office of the same, they can switch into the Graduate route.

How long they get in the Graduate route depends on their qualification. Students who have completed a PhD are granted three years of leave, whereas students completing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree (or other specified qualification) are granted two years.

The route is unsponsored, meaning the applicant is not tied to an employer, and can engage in self-employment. It is not a route to settlement but time spent in the UK in this route can be combined with other types of leave when applying for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the 10 year long residence route.

What changes are planned to the Graduate route?

Students completing a PhD will still qualify for three years of leave, as before. For students completing other relevant qualifications, it depends on when the application is lodged.

Where the application is lodged before 1 January 2027, the applicant will still be granted two years of permission, as before.

Anyone applying on or after 1 January 2027, who did not complete a PhD, will only get 18 months.

What is the difference between a Graduate visa and a High Potential Individual visa?

The High Potential Individual visa is for qualifications attained outside the UK from a list of around 40 top international universities in the past five years, allowing work in the UK without having to be sponsored, while the Graduate visa immigration route is meant for those who graduated in the UK, and can only be applied for in the UK.

Applicants for the Graduate visa must have a Student visa as their current or most recent visa for the UK, and they must have successfully completed their course of study during their last grant of permission as a Student.

High Potential Individuals, on the other hand, have five years after graduation to make use of the route.

Also High Potential Individuals have fewer requirements to meet to bring dependants to the UK, while  Graduates are only allowed to have dependants joining them if they were already dependants while on a Student visa.

What are the changes to the High Potential Individual visa?

The list of qualifying universities is published by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) every November. You can find previous lists here. The  lists consist of eligible non-UK institutions that are included in the list of the top 50 universities for that year in at least two of the following ranking systems:

1.     Times Higher Education World University Rankings

2.     Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings

3.     The Academic Ranking of World Universities

This November, the new list is set to be expanded to double the number of qualifying top universities. For the first time ever there will be a cap of 8,000 for these visas (though it is expected that this will not be filled as government figures reveal that between May 2022 when the visa launched and the end June 2024, roughly 4,500 main applicant visas and around 620 dependant visas had been granted under the route.)

Applying for a Student, Graduate or High Potential visa?

To discuss student, graduate and High Potential visa applications, or indeed any UK immigration issues, contact us on 0207 033 9527 or enquiries@vanessaganguin.com.