Working after your studies

The Graduate visa allows you to remain in the UK to work or look for work in the UK after successfully completing an eligible course.

Successful applicants will be granted a 2-year visa if they complete a degree course and doctoral graduates will be granted a 3-year visa. The main eligibility criteria are: 

• you can only apply in the UK
• you must apply before your Tier 4 or Student visa expires 
• you must have successfully completed a UK Bachelor's degree or postgraduate degree, such as a Master's or doctoral degree  
• your successful programme completion must have been reported to the Home Office by SOAS Student Visa Compliance
• you must have successfully completed the eligible programme during the validity of your current Tier 4 or Student visa 
• for programmes that are longer than 12 months, you must have studied on that programme in the UK for at least 12 months. You must also have held a valid student visa during those 12 months. 

Reporting programme completion to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)

You must wait for a confirmation email from SOAS Student Visa Compliance (SVC) before submitting your Graduate Visa application or your application may be refused.

When the SVC team report your programme completion to UKVI, you'll receive an email from them confirming this. Reports can only be sent to UKVI after the confirmed results are released via Online Student Services following review and ratification by the School Board of Exams and Assessment. For Postgraduate taught students who complete their programme in September, these reports should normally be made from the beginning of December.

If you do not receive an email from the SVC team in December informing you that your course completion has been reported to UKVI, please contact the SVC team as soon as possible and before your Student visa expires.

Starting work

Your Student visa allows you to work without any restriction on your weekly hours once your programme is finished. Refer to your CAS to find your official programme end date. This means you can work full-time once your programme has finished and while you are waiting to apply for your Graduate visa. 

The work conditions of your Student visa remain in place until your Graduate visa has been granted with one exception - you are allowed to take on a permanent full-time position once you have applied for your Graduate visa. 

However, you will need to discuss this with your employer as they may have their own internal rules about when they can offer you a permanent positions

Help and guidance

The Student Advice Service currently does not offer one-to-one appointments regarding Graduate Route or other post-study visa options as the focus of our advice work is assisting students and applicants with queries relating to their student visa.

We provide the following resources and links to help you understand how to apply for this visa:

• UK Government guidance
• UK Council for International Student Affairs

The Skilled Worker visa requires you to be sponsored by an employer with a Skilled Worker sponsor license and have a job offer to work in an eligible position. SOAS does not offer one to one appointments about Skilled Worker route but offers presentations during the academic year which are advertised in the Student Bulletin and this page. Read further details about the requirements on the UKCISA website.

UKCISA provides an overview of the visa options that may be available to you once your program is complete.

The SOAS Careers Service offers guidance, advice and information resources on careers, employers, vacancies, CV’s and interview skills.