Working in the UK after your studies

• Can I stay in the UK to work after I have finished studying?
• Can I work while I wait for a decision on my International Graduates Scheme application?
• I haven't got my results yet. Can I apply to stay under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work)?
• Can I include my family members in my work application?
• What is the Points Based System?
• I am an IGS participant. Can I apply now to stay for an extra year?
• Will my time under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) count towards the 10 years for settlement?

Can I stay in the UK to work after I have finished studying?

This depends on whether you meet the requirements for any of the schemes that the UK Government operates.

At the moment, the schemes that are most significant for students who have finished their studies are:

• Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) for those who have obtained a UK degree or postgraduate certificate or diploma (or HND from a Scottish institution). This replaces the International Graduates Scheme and the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme from 30 June 2008
• Work Permit scheme (for jobs where no one in the resident labour market can be recruited, and occupations where there is a shortage of qualified workers)
• Training and Work Experience Scheme (for work-based training for a professional or specialist qualification, or work experience)
• Tier 1 (General) for those with degrees and work experience and prior earnings at a certain level. This replaces the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme

Working in the UK after your studies

Can I work while I wait for a decision on my International Graduates Scheme application?

If you have applied for the International Graduates Scheme before your immigration permission to be in the UK as a student expires, you can work full-time while you wait for the decision on your International Graduates Scheme application. You can carry on working full-time even after your student permission expires, if you are still waiting for the decision at that stage. But you must not:

• engage in business, self-employment or provide services as a professional sportsperson or entertainer
• pursue a career by filling a permanent full-time vacancy

Letter from the Home Office explaining the position.

I haven't got my results yet. Can I apply to stay under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work)?

No. The Immigration Rules for Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) Migrants say that you must have been awarded a relevant qualification. If you do not yet have your results, you cannot prove that you meet this requirement and the Home Office will refuse your immigration application. For example, if you are enrolled on a Master's course, and you have done enough work to qualify you for a postgraduate certificate or diploma, you will be granted permission to stay in the UK under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) only if you have evidence that you have been awarded the postgraduate certificate or diploma (and you meet all other criteria). If your institution does not award the certificate or diploma before you complete the Master's course, you must wait until then to make your immigration application. If your student immigration permission expires before you get your results, you will have to leave the UK and apply for entry clearance in the country where you usually live to enter under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work). This means that you will have to meet the higher maintenance (funds) requirement.

Can I include my family members in my work application?

You might be in the UK with immigration permission as a student and applying to change your immigration status to be here under one of the work categories, for example, under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work), Tier 1 (General) or as a work permit holder. If your family members are currently in the UK with immigration permission as student dependants, they can apply at the same time as you to stay in the UK as your family members. If your family members are with you with some other form of immigration permission, for example, as a student, they cannot apply to stay as your family members. They will have to return to the country where they usually live and apply for entry clearance. Alternatively, check whether they can apply under any of the work categories in their own right. Children who are 18 or older cannot apply to stay with you unless you are applying under Tier 1 and they already have permission to be here as children of a Tier 1 Migrant.

What is the Points Based System?

The Points Based System (PBS) is a new immigration system the UK Government started to introduce in the first three months of 2008. Tier 1 is the first phase and its aim is to enable highly skilled people to work in the UK. Tier 1 (General) has replaced the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme and Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) has replaced the International Graduates Scheme (IGS) and Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland from 30 June 2008. If you are already in the UK with one year's IGS immigration permission when the new scheme comes into effect, you will be able to apply to stay for one extra year.

Tier 2 will replace work permits and Tier 5 will replace temporary work and exchange schemes, including Working Holidaymakers and BUNAC. If you are a visa national or if your country does not have a reciprocal scheme with the UK, you will no longer be able to apply to come to the UK under the exchange scheme that replaces the Working Holidaymaker programme, even if you are a Commonwealth citizen, once the new provisions come into force in October or November 2008.

For details of these changes, see UK Border Agency information:

How changes to our immigration system affect your application to work here.

I am an IGS participant. Can I apply now to stay for an extra year?

Yes. Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) came into force on 30 June 2008. See the UK Border Agency website for information about applying to extend your stay in the UK.

Will my time under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) count towards the 10 years for settlement?

If you stay lawfully and continuously in the UK for 10 years and you meet a number of other requirements, you might be able to apply for settlement (indefinite leave). This includes time spent in categories which do not usually lead to settlement, for example, periods of immigration permission as a student, International Graduates Scheme or Fresh Talent participant or as a Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) Migrant. This can be a complicated route to settlement and you should find out more from the UK Border Agency website and perhaps seek legal advice before applying. UKCISA cannot provide detailed information about this provision.

↑ Back to top