Graduate Visa Duration: 2 Years, or 18 Months from 2027

TL;DR

The UK Graduate visa currently lasts 2 years for Bachelor's and Master's graduates and 3 years for PhDs. From January 2027 the Bachelor's/Master's grant drops to 18 months; the PhD grant is unchanged. The trigger is your application submission date, so applying before the change locks in 2 years. The visa can't be extended — most holders switch to Skilled Worker before it ends.

Duration by qualification

The cut was set out in the 2025 immigration white paper and confirmed for January 2027 (House of Commons Library). For the news-and-context version of this change, see Graduate visa drops to 18 months.

The trigger is your application date

This is the part that matters for planning: the duration is fixed by when you submit your Graduate application, not when your course finishes or your Student visa expires.

• Apply before the January 2027 change → 2 years (Bachelor's/Master's)
• Apply on or after the change → 18 months

So a Master's graduate finishing in late 2026 should aim to submit before the cut-off to keep the longer grant — provided their university has already confirmed course completion (the eligibility trigger).

Why the length matters

The Graduate visa is a bridge, not a destination — time on it doesn't count toward the 5 years needed for Indefinite Leave to Remain, and it can't be extended. Its value is the runway it gives you to find a sponsored role and switch to Skilled Worker.

Cutting Bachelor's/Master's holders from 24 to 18 months removes a quarter of that runway. Practical implications:

• Start job-hunting earlier — ideally before you graduate
• Target licensed sponsors from the outset — see our sister site Tarve for UK visa-sponsoring employers
• Plan the Skilled Worker switch well before your Graduate visa expires; the new-entrant salary threshold of £30,960 applies if you switch directly from Graduate

Worked example: locking in 2 years

Priya finishes a one-year taught Master's on 30 November 2026. Her university confirms course completion to UKVI on 12 December 2026. Her Student visa runs until 31 January 2027.

• If she applies on 20 December 2026, she's assessed under the old rule → 2-year Graduate visa.
• If she waits until 5 January 2027, she's assessed under the new rule → 18-month Graduate visa — six months less, for the sake of a two-week delay.

The lesson: once your completion is reported, apply promptly. The application date is the only thing that fixes your grant length, and it's entirely within your control.

What counts as your "application date"

The trigger is the date you submit and pay for the online application — not the date you book biometrics, attend an appointment, or receive the decision. So even if your biometric slot is weeks away, submitting before the cut-off secures the longer grant.

You cannot apply, though, until your sponsor has reported your course completion. If results are delayed, that can push your earliest possible application date past the cut-off — another reason to confirm the reporting timeline with your university early.

How the shorter grant changes the Skilled Worker switch

Because Graduate time doesn't count toward ILR and the visa can't be extended, the route's whole job is to give you runway to find a sponsored role and switch to Skilled Worker. Going from 24 to 18 months removes a quarter of that runway.

Practical response: treat the job search as starting before you graduate, target licensed sponsors from day one, and aim to have a Certificate of Sponsorship in hand with several months to spare. The new-entrant salary threshold of £30,960 applies when you switch directly from Graduate, which keeps more roles in reach.

Could the Graduate route change further?

The duration cut isn't necessarily the last change. As of May 2026 the Home Office had floated — but not confirmed — the idea of requiring Graduate visa holders to be in graduate-level employment, mirroring post-study work rules in some other countries. No firm proposal had been published. If introduced, it would change the route from "work in anything" to "work in a qualifying role," so it's worth tracking the House of Commons Library briefing before you plan around the route.

What to do now

1. Confirm your course completion date and when your university will report it to UKVI
2. If you're a Bachelor's/Master's graduate finishing around the cut-off, aim to apply before January 2027 to keep 2 years
3. Line up the documents — they're minimal; see Graduate visa documents
4. Begin the Skilled Worker conversation with employers early

What the change doesn't affect

The January 2027 reform is only about duration for Bachelor's and Master's graduates. It does not change:

• PhD grants — still 3 years
• Eligibility — the same completed-eligible-degree-on-a-Student-visa test
• Work rights — still any job, any skill level, self-employment allowed (except professional sport)
• The fee — still £880 plus £1,035/year IHS, so an 18-month grant is slightly cheaper overall
• The no-extension rule — the Graduate visa has never been extendable, and still isn't

So if you already hold a Graduate visa granted before the change, nothing about your current leave changes — the new duration applies only to applications submitted on or after the cut-off. There's also no way to "convert" an 18-month grant into a longer one later: the length is fixed at grant and the visa can't be extended, so the application-date decision is final.

Run the checklist generator to confirm your eligibility window, or return to the Graduate visa guide.