The United Kingdom Home Ministry on Thursday announced that the post-study work visa, which was announced last year, has been put into effect. Through this visa, international students who have graduated overseas would be able to apply for a stay in the UK for job experiences.
The visa has been designed to give opportunities to students studying in UK universities to stay on and look for work for at least two years.
To apply, students must have completed an eligible course that has been recognized by the UK education department. The student should also have appropriate immigration requirements.
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A maximum of two years will be allowed for the students who are looking to work after graduating. However, this time period has been extended to three years for PhD students.
The applicants do not need to have a job offer or application in hand to apply for the visa. In fact, a student can use their two 2 year time period to search for jobs in the country.
Moreover, there are no minimum salary requirements or caps on numbers, allowing graduates on the route to work flexibly, switch jobs and develop their careers as required.
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Applicants who began their studies during Autumn of 2020 are required to be in the UK before 27th September. Students beginning their course later this year or early next year will need to be in the UK by April 6, 2022. They would be entering through a student visa.
The Graduate Route visa, announced by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in 2020 has now been opened for application and is expected to benefit Indian students studying overseas.
“To put it into some context, last year more than 56,000 Indian nationals were granted a student visa, that’s a 13 per cent increase on the previous year, and that is almost now a quarter of all student visas issued by the UK,” Patel told PTI. “When you think about those numbers, think about the totality in terms of how this route will benefit India, it’s a very, very big move. And, we will continue to work with the various academic institutions on making this route viable,” she said.
