Graduate Visa UK 2026: 18 Months PSW, Fees and the Skilled Worker Switch

The 18-month grant for 2026 bachelor and master graduates

The Graduate route is the unsponsored work visa available to anyone who completes a UK degree at a tracked institution. In 2026 the grant length for bachelor and master graduates is 18 months, reduced from the two years that applied between launch in 2021 and the implementation of the May 2025 white paper changes. PhD graduates still receive three years.

The route imposes no salary threshold, no sponsor requirement, no job offer requirement and no minimum hours. A Graduate route holder can work for any UK employer, switch employers freely, run a business, freelance, or take a non-graduate role. The single restriction is that the visa cannot be extended in its own right and the route is one-shot: an applicant who used it before cannot apply again.

Eligibility: the Student visa precondition

Eligibility for the Graduate route runs through the Student visa. The applicant must have studied for the qualifying course in the UK on a Student visa, completed the course at a sponsoring institution on the list of approved Student route sponsors maintained by UKVI, and applied for the Graduate route from inside the UK before the Student visa expires.

The qualifying course is a UK bachelor, master, or PhD, or a small number of equivalent professional qualifications named in Appendix Graduate of the Immigration Rules. Distance learning years count only where the year was completed in the UK during the published exception periods. The sponsoring institution itself confirms course completion to the Home Office, and the applicant cannot apply until that confirmation has been made.

An applicant who already received a Doctorate Extension Scheme grant before the route launched, or who has previously held a Graduate route grant, is not eligible for a second grant. The route is explicitly designed as a one-shot post-study window.

Dependants are permitted under the route on a constrained basis. A partner or child who was already a dependant of the same applicant on the underlying Student visa can extend onto the Graduate route. A new dependant relationship formed during the Student period or after the Graduate grant cannot be added on the Graduate route alone. The dependant policy was tightened during the 2024 to 2025 Statements of Changes to align with the broader white paper direction on dependants.

The 2026 fees: GBP 1,083 plus IHS

The 2026 Graduate route application fee is GBP 1,083, paid in addition to the Immigration Health Surcharge, which sits at GBP 1,035 per year for the route. For an 18-month bachelor or master grant the IHS payable up front is GBP 1,553. For a three-year PhD grant the IHS is GBP 3,105.

Both figures are paid at point of application and there is no reduction or concession for low-income applicants. Where the application is refused, the application fee is not refunded but the IHS is refunded in full per the published policy at gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/refunds. Where the applicant withdraws after biometrics, the published refund policy applies in part: applicants typically retain liability for the application fee.

Switching to Skilled Worker from inside the UK

The Graduate route is intended as a job-seeking and bridging route. The published policy intent in the original 2021 launch documents and reinforced in the May 2025 white paper is that the holder uses the time to find a sponsored role and switches into Skilled Worker (or another sponsored route) before the Graduate leave expires.

A switch from Graduate to Skilled Worker is permitted inside the UK without leaving the country. The switch requires a sponsored job offer from a UKVI-licensed Skilled Worker sponsor, a Certificate of Sponsorship, a role at RQF Level 6 or above (the level set by the autumn 2025 Statement of Changes that raised the skill threshold) and a salary at or above the GBP 38,700 general threshold in force in 2026. The new entrant discount of 70 per cent of the going rate is generally available to applicants switching from the Graduate route within the published criteria.

Time held on the Graduate route does not count towards the five-year qualifying period for settlement on Skilled Worker. The settlement clock starts on the date of the first Skilled Worker grant, not on the date of the underlying Student or Graduate visa. Practitioners describing the route as a "bridge" rather than a "pathway" capture this distinction well: the route bridges study to sponsored work but does not itself accrue toward indefinite leave.

What the route does not allow

The route does not allow extension in its own right. A Graduate visa holder whose 18 months are running out cannot apply for a further 18 months on the same route. The only routes onward are: switch to a sponsored route (Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker), switch to a partner or family route under Appendix FM where a qualifying relationship exists, or depart and re-apply from overseas on a fresh route.

The route is also not a settlement route. Five years on the Graduate route alone does not lead to indefinite leave to remain because the route is not listed as a qualifying route under the published settlement framework. The May 2025 white paper proposed lengthening the standard qualifying period for settlement to ten years on most routes, with the Skilled Worker pathway remaining the principal settlement-leading work route. Implementation of the qualifying-period change is being phased through 2026 by Statement of Changes amendments to the Immigration Rules.

The 2026 update: from two years to 18 months

The defining 2026 change for the Graduate route is the shortening from two years to 18 months for non-PhD graduates. The May 2025 white paper "Restoring control over the immigration system" proposed the reduction, and a Statement of Changes laid before Parliament during summer 2025 implemented it. The reduced length applies to applications made on or after the implementation date set in the Statement of Changes. Applications made before the implementation date were decided under the previous two-year rule.

PhD graduates were unaffected: the three-year grant continues. The policy rationale in the white paper was that 18 months gave a sufficient window for a graduate to find a sponsored role under the raised salary thresholds, while reducing the residence count of unsponsored migration on Home Office statistics.

What this means in practice

Consider a graduate finishing a one-year master at a Russell Group university in summer 2026. The Student visa expires in autumn 2026. Before that expiry the graduate applies in-country for the Graduate route, pays GBP 1,083 plus GBP 1,553 IHS, and receives 18 months. The clock now runs to early 2028. During that window the graduate accepts a sponsored Skilled Worker role at a Manchester firm at GBP 42,000, comfortably above the GBP 38,700 threshold, on a Certificate of Sponsorship issued in mid-2027. The graduate switches in-country to Skilled Worker, and the five-year settlement clock starts from that switch date, not from the start of the Graduate route.

How we verified this

This guide was cross-checked in May 2026 against the live GOV.UK Graduate route page at gov.uk/graduate-visa, Appendix Graduate of the Immigration Rules, the May 2025 white paper "Restoring control over the immigration system" published at gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-white-paper, and the summer 2025 Statement of Changes that implemented the 18-month reduction. The 2026 application fee schedule was checked against the Home Office visa fees publication, and the IHS rate against gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application. The Skilled Worker salary threshold and skill level were checked against the autumn 2025 Statement of Changes covering Appendix Skilled Worker.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the Graduate visa in 2026?

Eighteen months for bachelor and master graduates, three years for PhD graduates. The reduction from two years to 18 months for non-PhD applicants follows the May 2025 white paper and the summer 2025 Statement of Changes that implemented it.

What is the Graduate visa fee in 2026?

The application fee is GBP 1,083. The Immigration Health Surcharge runs at GBP 1,035 per year, payable up front: GBP 1,553 for an 18-month grant and GBP 3,105 for a three-year PhD grant.

Can a Graduate visa be extended?

No. The route grants a one-time unsponsored period, and no further grant under the same route is available. The onward options are a switch to a sponsored route such as Skilled Worker, a switch to a partner or family route under Appendix FM, or departure and a fresh application from overseas on a different route.

Does time on the Graduate visa count towards settlement?

No. The Graduate route is not a settlement-leading route. Time on the route does not count towards the five-year qualifying period for Skilled Worker settlement, which starts only from the first Skilled Worker grant date.

Can a Graduate visa holder switch to Skilled Worker without leaving the UK?

Yes. The switch is permitted in-country provided a UKVI-licensed sponsor has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship, the role sits at RQF Level 6 or above, and the salary meets the general GBP 38,700 threshold in force in 2026 (or a lower threshold where the published new-entrant or shortage list discount applies).

Who qualifies as a PhD graduate for the three-year grant?

An applicant who has completed a UK doctoral degree at a Student route sponsor and whose institution has confirmed course completion to UKVI. Doctoral graduates are explicitly carved out of the 18-month reduction and continue to receive a three-year Graduate route grant.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Graduate visa
• Home Office: Restoring control over the immigration system (May 2025 white paper)
• GOV.UK: Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules
• GOV.UK: Immigration Health Surcharge
• GOV.UK: Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker