If you wish to stay in the UK to work when you have finished your studies, unless you are an EEA or Swiss national you will need to apply for visa permission to do so. There are different routes which you should check to see if you qualify and which is most appropriate for you.
- Recent and future changes to work visas
- Tier 1 (Post Study Work)
- Other Tier 1 visa categories
- Tier 2 (General) – you have a job offer from an employer able to sponsor you
- Information on other routes for working in the UK
Recent and future changes to work visas
There have recently been changes to work visas, and more changes are planned. Here are brief details of the changes to the main work visa categories. To keep up to date with developments, check the UK Border Agency website regularly.
Tier 1 (Post Study Work) available until April 2012
The UK government has confirmed that Tier 1 (Post Study Work) will close in April 2012 but the exact date has not been announced. Preliminary information is available from the UKCISA and UK Border Agency websites. For information on how to apply for Tier 1 (PSW) before its closure in April 2012 see below. The government has said that at the same time as the route closes it will make provisions to make it easier for some degree students with a job offer to apply under Tier 2.
Closure of Tier 1 (General) and changes to other Tier 1 routes
Tier 1 (General) has now closed to new applicants. The last date for applying overseas for Tier 1 (General) was 23 December 2010 and in the UK the last date for applying was 5 April 2011. The UK Border Agency will process all applications made by the closure date. Those who already hold a Tier 1 (General) visa will still be able to apply to extend it. The government planned to introduce a new, very limited category called Tier 1 (Exceptional talent), though this has not yet opened. For information on this and other Tier 1 categories, see below.
Tier 2: requirements tightened and numbers applying from overseas subject to limits
Under Tier 2 a licensed employer has to sponsor an applicant for a specific vacancy before they apply for a visa. The rules for this category have become more restrictive and overseas applications are now limited by number. For information on the changes to Tier 2, see UKBA’s announcement. For brief information about Tier 2 requirements, see below.
Tier 1 (Post Study Work)
Tier 1 (Post Study Work) will be closed in April 2012. The exact date of closure has not yet been announced. Any application must be made by the closure date. This scheme is to enable students from outside the EEA who have successfully completed their qualification (undergraduate degree, Masters, DPhil, Postgraduate Certificate in Education/Professional Graduate Diploma of Education or HND from a Scottish institution) to apply to remain in the UK to seek and take any employment (but not, unless exceptions apply, as a doctor or dentist in training) or to be self employed. Successful applicants will be granted two years’ immigration permission. It is not necessary to have a job offer before applying. Information, a self-assessment tool, the application form and the policy guidance document giving full details of the requirements are available from the UK Border Agency. For further information and a guide to completing the UK application form, visit UKCISA‘s website.
To be eligible to apply, you must have officially completed your qualification, though as long as this has been confirmed, you do not have to wait until graduation. You will need a Degree Confirmation Letter from your university to include with your application. You should confirm on the form that you require the Degree Confirmation Letter for a T1 PSW application. This letter will be issued to you as long as your results have been confirmed, even if you have not yet graduated. If you have graduated, you will also need to include your original graduation certificate with your Tier 1 PSW visa application.
To qualify for T1 PSW you will also need to show that you have held at least £800 in a cash or savings account continuously for 90 days. You need to check carefully the UK Border Agency’s policy guidance which gives the exact requirements for the documentation you need to provide to prove that you have this money.
If you have been fully sponsored by a government or international scholarship agency for your studies within the last 12 months you may have to include a letter from the sponsor giving permission for you to remain in the UK. Check UKBA’s policy guidance to see if this applies to you.
Instead of applying in the UK before your student visa expires, you could apply in your home country. You would need to apply on form VAF9 and complete Appendix 4, available from the UK visas website. If you are applying in your home country you will need to show a higher amount of funding; £2,800.
Applicants from within or outside the UK must apply under the scheme within 12 months of obtaining their qualification (and by the scheme’s closure date in April 2012 if this is sooner). The 12 months period starts on the date of the first notification in writing that the qualification has been awarded – this date will be stated on your Degree Confirmation Letter. If you apply in the UK, you must apply before your student or Tier 4 student visa expires.
If you have a T1 PSW visa and work in a graduate level job for at least six months for a Tier 2 licensed employer you can score points towards an application to switch to a Tier 2 visa to stay in the same job. See below for more information on Tier 2.
Other Tier 1 visa categories
You can see full details of the remaining Tier 1 visa categories on the UK Border Agency website.
Exceptional talent: This category is not yet open, but is described in UKBA’s Statement of Policy. Only 1,000 visas will be granted in this category in its first year of operation, to ‘exceptionally talented migrants in the fields of science, arts and humanities’, as endorsed by a ‘designated Competent Body’. UKBA planned to publish a list of Competent Bodies in April 2011 but appears not to have done so.
Entrepreneurs: for applicants or pairs of applicants proposing to set up, or take over, and actively run a business in the UK and who either have access to funding of £200,000, or access to funding of £50,000 from particular specified sources.
Investors: for applicants with £1million to invest in the UK
Tier 1 (General): This category has now permanently closed to new applications. There is information about the arrangements for those who already hold a visa in this category on the UKBA website.
Tier 2 (General) – you have a job offer from an employer able to sponsor you
This category is for applicants who have been offered a graduate level job by an employer who holds a Tier 2 license and has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship to the applicant. The route aims to enable employers to offer jobs to nationals from outside the EEA which cannot be filled by applicants from ‘the resident workforce’.
UKCISA provides useful information on Tier 2. For full requirements, see UK Border Agency’s information.
You can check whether an employer is a Tier 2 licensed sponsor by looking at UKBA’s register. You would need to discuss with a prospective employer about whether they are willing and able to sponsor you so that you can apply under Tier 2.
For a Tier 2 application, the job you have been offered must be graduate level, which means it must either appear on UKBA’s Graduate Occupation List or Shortage Occupation List. The salary offered must be appropriate to the type of work and at least £20,000. If the job offer is not in a ‘shortage occupation’, it must usually pass the Resident Labour Market Test, requiring the employer to have advisertised it appropriately and demonstrated that no one settled in the UK or a national of the EEA could be found to fill it.
In order to apply for Tier 2 from within the UK, if your last visa granted was as a student or a Tier 4 student, you will have to show that you have completed, during the period of that visa, a course of at least one academic year. You will also need to meet maintenance and English language requirements as set out in UKBA’s Tier 2 Policy Guidance.
The number of Tier 2 (General) applications made outside the UK is limited by a quota system which may slow down your application or make it more difficult for you to apply. For this reason it is usually better to apply under Tier 2 from within the UK if you are eligible to do so.
If you already have a Tier 1 Post Study Work visa and have been working for at least six months for an employer who wishes to keep you on in the same graduate level job under Tier 2, it does not have to meet the Resident Labour Market Test and you do not have to meet the maintenance requirement. You must apply in the UK to benefit from this provision.
Information on other routes for working in the UK
If you are in the UK as the dependant of an EEA or Swiss national you may have the right to work in the UK. For further information, look at the UK Border Agency‘s website.
If you are a Commonwealth citizen with a grandparent born in the UK, you may be able to apply from outside the UK for a visa to come to the UK for five years to look for a job and work, on the basis of UK ancestry.
If you are a Turkish citizen you may benefit from a European agreement with Turkey if you want to set up in business in the UK, or to obtain the right to stay longer to work if you have already been legally working in the UK.
See UKBA information for all other work categories.
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