Post Study Work Visa in UK: 2 Years If You Apply by 31 December 2026

  • Last Updated on: October 15, 2026 by
  • Shiva Sai Bejawada
Post Study Work Visa in UK
Post Study Work Visa in UK

As of October 2026, the post study work visa in UK is the Graduate visa. It lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027. Finish in September 2026, file in early January, and you lose six months of work rights for the same GBP 937 application fee. Bachelor’s and master’s graduates face the same cut. You’ll see who must file by 31 December, what the visa costs in rupees, and how much your first UK job must pay for you to stay on.

Written by
Shiva Sai Bejawada
Senior Counsellor (British Council Certified) -UK & Ireland
Shiva Sai Bejawada is a British Council Certified overseas-education counsellor at AOEC India who guides Indian students through UK and Ireland university selection, admissions, and student visa documentation.
6 Years, 96% visa approval rate
Reviewed by
Sridhar Kongara
Managing Director
Mr. Kongara Sridhar, Director of AOEC India, has over 12 years of experience in overseas education consulting, admissions, and student visa guidance.
Over 12 years Experience

Key Takeaways

  • File by 31 December 2026 for 2 years; from 1 January 2027 it lasts 18 months; a PhD keeps 3 years.
  • A 2-year grant costs GBP 3,007 (approx. INR 3,81,709) for the fee plus the health charge.
  • No job offer, proof of savings or English test needed; apply before your Student visa expires.
  • Leaving the UK before a decision withdraws it and loses the GBP 937 (approx. INR 1,18,943) fee.
  • To switch, your job must pay at least GBP 33,400 (approx. INR 42,39,796), often more, not GBP 41,700 (approx. INR 52,93,398).
  • Your Graduate visa years count toward the 10-year route to permanent residence, which the government has proposed ending, but not today’s 5-year work route.
Table of Contents
Post Study Work Visa in UK Duration: 2 Years, 18 Months or 3 Years Scroll here ↓ Graduate Visa Eligibility for Indian Students Scroll here ↓ Graduate Visa Fees, Processing Time and What Withdraws an Application Scroll here ↓ Work Rights on the Graduate Route and What Graduates Earn Scroll here ↓ Switching From the Graduate Visa to a Skilled Worker Visa Scroll here ↓ Frequently Asked Questions Scroll here ↓

Post Study Work Visa in UK Duration: 2 Years, 18 Months or 3 Years

Graduate visa length is set by the date you apply, not the graduation date. The Home Office rules give 18 months to anyone who applies on or after 1 January 2027, so a student who applies in December keeps 2 years even if the approval email arrives in January.

Your situationGraduate visa lengthYour next step
One-year master’s from Sept 2025, ending Sept 20262 years if you apply by 31 Dec 2026Apply after your university notifies the Home Office, by 31 December
Course ending in 202718 months if you apply from 1 Jan 2027Shortlist employers licensed to sponsor visa workers before you finish
PhD or other doctorate3 yearsApply before your Student visa expires
Spouse or child already here as your Student dependantsEnds on the same date as yoursEach applies and pays separately (Graduate visa family rules)
Chevening, Commonwealth or other fully funded scholar2 years or 18 months by filing date; 3 years for a PhDGet written consent from your scholarship sponsor first (UK scholarships for Indian students)
Already on a Graduate visaYour end date won’t change; it can’t be extendedCheck your job’s switch salary below

After a course of 12 months or longer, your Student visa stays valid for another 4 months, so September finishers can drift into January without noticing. So file in December. Courses starting in the September intake in the UK this year end in 2027, so they get 18 months. In our Hyderabad sessions, families now raise the December-versus-January question before they ask about fees. The January intake in the UK gets 18 months too.

Apply for your post study work visa in UK after your university has told the Home Office that you’ve successfully completed your course. Ask when it will do that; if you want 2 years, ask it to notify well before 31 December. If your Student visa would run out before that notice, speak to your university first: an early application should not be refused, but the caseworker must check with your university before going further.

Graduate Visa Eligibility for Indian Students

Most Indian graduates who study in the UK qualify without a job offer, proof of savings or an English test, though you’ll still need money to live on. All five must hold on filing day:

  • You are in the UK and apply before your Student visa expires.
  • Your university has told the Home Office that you’ve successfully completed your course; you don’t need to wait for graduation.
  • If your course lasted more than 12 months, you studied at least 12 of them in the UK.
  • Your university is licensed to sponsor students and has a track record of compliance, meaning a clean record of following the visa rules.
  • Your course led to a UK bachelor’s degree, a postgraduate degree such as a master’s or PhD, or one of a short list of named professional courses.

Your university can confirm conditions 2 to 5. The one only you control is the first: be in the UK on the day you apply, before your Student visa runs out.

Your partner or children can stay with you only if they are already here as your UK Student visa dependants. Since 3 August 2026, a baby born in the UK while you hold the Graduate visa can also be added. Adult dependants usually pay the same IHS as you.

Graduate Visa Fees, Processing Time and What Withdraws an Application

The Graduate visa application fee is GBP 937 (approx. INR 1,18,943), plus the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS, the upfront charge for NHS healthcare), set by how long your visa lasts. A 2-year grant adds GBP 2,070 (approx. INR 2,62,766) of IHS. Both are due on filing day.

Grant lengthApplication feeIHSTotal on filing day
18 monthsGBP 937 (approx. INR 1,18,943)GBP 1,552.50 (approx. INR 1,97,074)GBP 2,489.50 (approx. INR 3,16,017)
2 yearsGBP 937 (approx. INR 1,18,943)GBP 2,070 (approx. INR 2,62,766)GBP 3,007 (approx. INR 3,81,709)
3 years (doctorate)GBP 937 (approx. INR 1,18,943)GBP 3,105 (approx. INR 3,94,149)GBP 4,042 (approx. INR 5,13,091)

To apply:

  1. Apply online from inside the UK.
  2. Prove your identity with the UK Immigration: ID Check app, where you create or sign in to your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. If you’re told to instead, give fingerprints and a photo at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point.
  3. Give your passport and CAS number (see our CAS full form guide). If your partner or children apply too, you may be asked for proof of your relationship. Documents not in English or Welsh need a certified translation.
  4. Wait, usually under 8 weeks, for a Graduate visa decision and your eVisa (digital immigration status), without leaving the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. You open the eVisa through a UKVI account.
  • Don’t travel while you wait. A trip abroad cancels the application, and you must apply and pay the fee again; only the health charge is refunded.
  • As long as you apply before your Student visa runs out, you can stay in the UK until the decision arrives.
  • If you’re refused, you can ask for an Administrative Review, where the Home Office checks whether the caseworker made a mistake.

Work Rights on the Graduate Route and What Graduates Earn

You can take almost any job, work freelance or run your own business. The only work ruled out is playing sport professionally, and you can’t claim most state benefits (called public funds). Finding work is rarely the problem; finding well-paid work is:

So most graduates find a job quickly, but a first job under GBP 30,000 won’t pay enough to let you stay on.

From our counselling desk: The costliest mistake in our UK files is the booked flight home. A family trip lands inside the wait, the trip withdraws the application and the GBP 937 fee is lost.

Switching From the Graduate Visa to a Skilled Worker Visa

A Graduate visa cannot be extended, so you switch to a Skilled Worker visa with a job from an employer licensed to sponsor you. As a graduate, your job must pay at least GBP 33,400 (approx. INR 42,39,796), or 70% of the usual UK pay for that job if higher, not the GBP 41,700 (approx. INR 52,93,398) other workers need.

Salary you need by occupation

Find your job; the third column is the lowest salary that lets you switch.

Job (official code)Usual UK pay (going rate)Salary you need to switchIn INR
IT business analysts, architects and systems designers (2133)GBP 54,900GBP 38,400approx. INR 48,74,496
Programmers and software development professionals (2134)GBP 54,700GBP 38,300approx. INR 48,61,802
Other IT professionals, incl. DevOps and IT consultants (2139)GBP 52,300GBP 36,600approx. INR 46,46,004
Civil engineers (2121)GBP 50,400GBP 35,200approx. INR 44,68,288
Management consultants and business analysts (2431)GBP 50,200GBP 35,100approx. INR 44,55,594
Chartered and certified accountants (2421)GBP 49,200GBP 34,500approx. INR 43,79,430
Cyber security professionals (2135)GBP 48,500GBP 34,000approx. INR 43,15,960
Mechanical engineers (2122)GBP 46,800GBP 33,400 (the minimum)approx. INR 42,39,796
IT quality and testing professionals (2136)GBP 41,200GBP 33,400 (the minimum)approx. INR 42,39,796
Data analysts (3544)GBP 34,900GBP 33,400 (the minimum), only if sponsored before 31 Dec 2026approx. INR 42,39,796

Data analyst jobs sit on a temporary shortage list: you can switch into one only if your employer issues your certificate of sponsorship (the reference number for your job offer) before 31 December 2026. Two limits come with it. Your partner and children (unless born in the UK) can’t stay as your dependants on this job. When this visa runs out, you can’t renew it for the same job unless the government extends the shortage list. Going rates come from the official salary tables; GBP 10,000 is about INR 12,69,400. For the roles that pay most, see the highest paying jobs in the UK for Indians.

How long the lower graduate salary lasts

You can be paid at this lower graduate rate for 4 years in total, and your time on the post study work visa in UK counts toward those 4 years. A 2-year Graduate visa leaves you 2 years on the lower salary as a Skilled Worker; an 18-month one leaves 2 and a half. Apply for the switch from inside the UK before your Graduate visa ends, once your employer gives you a certificate of sponsorship.

Permanent residence: which years count

Your Graduate visa years do not count toward indefinite leave to remain (ILR, permanent residence) on the usual 5-year Skilled Worker route; that clock starts when you switch. They do count toward the separate 10-year route for people who have lived in the UK lawfully that long. To settle on the 5-year work route, your pay usually must reach at least GBP 41,700 and at least the full usual rate for your job; the 10-year route has no salary test. Staying on after your 4 years at the lower graduate rate usually needs the same pay, so raise it with your employer early.

Don’t plan around the 10-year route. The government has proposed ending it as a separate route, and a 10-year default for work routes too, in an earned settlement consultation that closed on 12 February 2026. No response has been published and neither is in force; the rules as updated on 8 October 2026 still say 5 and 10 years.

Get in Touch

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. No employer backs this visa, so you apply on your own, with no job offer and no minimum salary at all. A job offer only matters later, when you switch to a Skilled Worker visa before your Graduate visa ends.

No. You can’t extend it or split it, and you only ever get one. According to UKCISA’s Graduate route guidance, switching back to a Student visa and finishing another course won’t make you eligible for a second Graduate visa.

Yes, once your course is complete and the application is pending, you can start a full-time permanent job if you took a degree at a university with a clean record of following the visa rules. Until your course is complete, your Student visa work limits still apply.

Only in part. According to UKCISA, you can’t take any course that would normally need a Student visa, such as a full-time degree. A second full-time master’s needs a new Student visa, and finishing it will not make you eligible for a second Graduate visa.

Your biometric residence permit (BRP) works as proof for 24 months after the expiry date printed on it or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first, under the Graduate visa document rules. File in January 2027 and it no longer counts.

Ardent Overseas guides Indian students on UK admissions, Student visa files and Graduate visa filing from its Hyderabad and Tirupati offices. Bring your course end date and job title; we’ll map the filing date for your post study work visa in UK and your switch salary.

Sources

Official sources first, then reputable third-party.

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