Graduate visa: cost, length and the 2027 change
Applied for by 31 December 2026, the Graduate visa lasts 2 years and costs one person £3,007; applied for from 1 January 2027, it lasts 18 months.
Graduate visa cost
Total to pay when you apply
£3,007
Graduate (inside the UK only) · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026
| Person | Fee | Surcharge |
|---|---|---|
| Main applicant | £937 | £2,070 |
| Application fees | £937 |
| Health surcharge (2 years) | £2,070 |
| Total | £3,007 |
Calculated in your browser: nothing you type is sent anywhere. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the Home Office.
Published by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026, rules checked 13 October 2026
The Graduate visa lets a student who has completed an eligible UK degree stay and work, or look for work, without a sponsor. It is applied for from inside the UK, before the Student visa expires, once the university has told the Home Office that the course was completed; there is no salary, English or savings test. The application fee is £937 and the health surcharge is charged at the full rate of £1,035 a year, not the student rate. Its length depends on the date of application: 2 years for applications made on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months for those made from 1 January 2027, and 3 years after a PhD or other doctorate either way. For one person that is £3,007 for two years, £2,489.50 for 18 months and £4,042 for three. The visa cannot be extended; people who want to stay usually switch to a Skilled Worker visa, where recent graduates can be paid the lower new entrant rate.
Applying before or after 1 January 2027
The cut-off is the date of the application, not the date of graduation: a student whose results are confirmed in December 2026 and who applies by the 31st gets two years; one who waits until January gets 18 months. The visa starts on the day it is approved, so time spent waiting for a decision (usually up to 8 weeks) does not shorten it. You can apply as soon as the university has reported successful completion, without waiting for the graduation ceremony, but always before your Student visa runs out.
| Applied | Length | Fee | Surcharge | Total, one person |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By 31 December 2026 | 2 years | £937 | £2,070 | £3,007 |
| From 1 January 2027 | 18 months | £937 | £1,552.50 | £2,489.50 |
| After a PhD, any date | 3 years | £937 | £3,105 | £4,042 |
GOV.UK's Graduate visa page prints £1,152.50 for the 18-month surcharge; the surcharge rules give £1,552.50, which is what the table above uses. The exact amount is computed when you apply.
Who qualifies
You must be in the UK on a Student visa (or the old Tier 4 visa) and have completed a UK bachelor's degree, a postgraduate degree or another eligible course, having studied in the UK for at least 12 months of a course longer than that, or for the whole of a shorter course. Breaks and weekends spent abroad still count as study in the UK when the university did not need you there. Partners and children can stay with you only if they were already your dependants on the Student visa; a child born in the UK during your Graduate visa can now be added (HC 259). A family of three applying together pays £8,503 for two years.
What to do with it
The visa allows almost any work, self-employment and job-hunting, but not work as a professional sportsperson, and no access to benefits. Time on it does not count towards settlement, so the usual next step is a Skilled Worker visa with a licensed employer: within two years of a Student or Graduate visa you can be paid the new entrant rate, 70% of the going rate with a £33,400 floor, for up to four years in total. The switching guide and the new entrant calculator show the threshold for your job; graduates of the top universities abroad look instead at the High Potential Individual visa.