Post-study work

The Graduate Visa (post-study work visa) opened to eligible applicants on 1 July 2021.

If you are interested in applying for this visa, please refer to the Home Office Graduate Visa guidance for further information on eligibility and full costs.

You must have successfully completed your degree programme and have received confirmation of your award from the University before you apply. To be eligible you must also hold a valid Student Visa (previously known as Tier 4) and you must be here in the UK when you submit the application. It is very important that you successfully complete your programme on time. Students who are required to repeat study may not be eligible. Students who are repeating study and/or have resits to undertake in the last four months of their visa ("wrap-up period"), may not be able to meet the requirement of obtaining their eligible award whilst in the UK on a Student visa, depending on the date/s of the assessment/examination boards.

Only after your award being confirmed to you will Student Immigration Services notify the Home Office of your successful completion and award. You will receive an email to confirm when this happens, at which point you can go ahead and apply for the Graduate visa.

Please refer to the detailed guidance on the UKCISA - graduate route pages before submitting and paying for an application.

You do not have to confirm your intention to apply to the University, and the University does not act as your visa sponsor under the graduate route. We are therefore unable to influence the outcome of applications submitted or provide updates.

If you have any questions regarding the content above or would like to receive our Graduate Visa FAQs, please contact the Student Immigration Team at studentimmigration@stir.ac.uk quoting your student ID number.

Students with outstanding tuition fee debt will not be eligible for the Graduate Route Visa. All outstanding debt must be cleared prior to Student Immigration Services reporting your award and successful completion to the Home Office.

Scotland's Migration Service

Scotland’s Migration Service is here to help people settle in Scotland. It offers its services to international students in their final year at a Scottish university or college who would like to stay in Scotland after graduating. Go to Scotland's Migration Service website for more information.

If my student visa is about to expire, can I make a “Fee Waiver” application to extend my stay in the UK until my course completion?

We strongly advise you not to do this if you intend to apply for graduate permission. You may have been advised to apply for a fee waiver ahead of your application for graduate permission to buy more time, however, it is unlikely that either of your applications will be successful. This is because fee waivers are only available for specified human rights-based applications – not for the graduate route. A fee waiver application is likely to cause several issues in the future.

UKVI has said that in cases where fee waiver applications are made without merit, e.g. a fee waiver application based on destitution where the applicant knowingly does not fit the UKVI criteria for destitution, these applications could be deemed fraudulent. International students are required to be self-funded and show that they can support themselves whilst studying. This means you will be required to pay the Graduate Route application fee plus the immigration health surcharge fee and if you submit a fee waiver application claiming financial inability to apply, and subsequently apply for a graduate visa paying the required fees, the Home Office is likely to refuse your application based on the grounds of deception.

See also the advice from UKCISA on fee waiver applications. If your Fee Waiver request is rejected by the UKVI, you will be prevented from continuing your studies at the University with immediate effect until you either leave the UK or provide us with evidence of being granted leave to remain in a different immigration category that allows study.