UK Post Study Work Visa: What is Post Study Work Visa in UK?

Students often want to explore job opportunities in the same country while pursuing an academic program in one of the top study destinations, such as study in UK. Since the country of English offers can take advantage of international exposure, your chances for career growth are manifold. In addition, if you plan to settle in a country, you must apply for a UK work permit in order to carry out a range of application procedures.

In recent years, the UK which is known to be one of the top three most sought-after countries for overseas education has taken numerous steps to help foreign students from diverse backgrounds remain in the country for job opportunities after their academic studies have been successfully completed. Therefore, we will present to you in this blog all the necessary details of the recent UK Post Study Work Visa policies and how you can apply for them after finishing your degree in the country.

UK Post Study Work Visa: The New ‘Graduate’ Route

The Post Study Work Visa (PSWV) is a temporary visa that allows the golden opportunity for international students to live, study and take up a job. In any chosen post or career path after they complete their education. This UK Post Study Work Visa route is open to everybody including the students of Indian origin having an immigration status in the UK. The Graduate Route is eligible for all those students who are enrolled at an institution approved by UK Higher Education Provider. This action is taken in response to the fact that the UK wants to retain the brightest students around the world and help them discover career opportunities in the country.

With this announcement, new fast-track Visa routes are being created to especially retain the science scholars staying in the country to pursue research. Hence, the removal limit that used to be there for students following a PhD degree, is being moved into the Skilled Worker Visa Route.

This step by the UK government to modify the UK work permit is taken with the aim that in order to make help the UK emerge as a renowned hub in the field of science and technology they can only be successful by promoting the STEM courses (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

This is because, as per the website of the Government of UK website, approximately half of the students from Indian origin heading to the UK in the last ten years which is around 1,30,000 since 2008/09 have chosen a course from a STEM field.

The recent numbers, the number of students enrolling from India has multiplied significantly in the past three years reaching the height of 22,000 in June 2019. Hence, this was a monumental increase of 42% from the estimates of the previous year and a nearly 100% increase over the last three years. 

Earlier, candidates having a masters or a bachelors degree can only stay in the UK for a maximum of 4 months to look and search for a job. After the implementation of new rules by the Government of the UK, international students are now being allowed to stay in the UK for a maximum of 2 years. The UK government and administration want skilled manpower that can grow and make its STEM-related fields in their country (UK). Those who have enrolled themselves from the year 2020/21 can now stay up to two years before they are required to upgrade or change their visa or else leave the country. 

United Kingdom clarifies UK Post Study Work Visa eligibility after confusion. Any overseas student with a Tier-4 Visa who is enrolled in an approved UK higher education programmed beginning in September 2020 is eligible for a stay-back term following graduation on a Post Study Work Visa UK. Having said that, international students are required to find a suitable job with a minimum salary of around £20,800 (INR 21 lakhs approx.) for a Tier 2 Visa license. Also, those who are pursuing their PhD in the UK are further allowed to stay up to 12 months or 1 year after the degree completion.

UK Post Study Work Visa Basic Requirements 

In order to apply for a Graduate Visa to continue your stay in the UK for two more years after completing your education, you need to fulfil certain pre-requisites of the post study work visa UK which are as follows: 

• You must be a degree holder from a recognised institution of higher education, be it a diploma or an undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degree.
  

• You must be financially independent and not in need of any monetary aid. 
  

• The application for the visa must be submitted within the 12 months finishing of the program. 
  

• You ought to look for employment opportunities in the 12-month period. 
  

• Those of you who would not have completed their degree in the English language would be required to take up IELTS. In which you need to score within the band of 6.5 in each of the four components in the examination. 
  

• You would need to have a source of adequate funding mentioned by the Government of UK.