ECO client Marites Gaoiran and her family gives an emotional goodbye to a relative as they depart from the Philippines to the United Kingdom in 2019 (SCROLL BELOW TO SEE HOW THE GAOIRAN FAMILY IS DOING AT PRESENT IN THE UK) Manila, Philippines – A new immigration route called the GRADUATE ROUTE has been created by the UK government for aspiring graduate students who wants to stay longer in the country and which could eventually lead to settlement.
At present, most applicants from the Philippines who want to settle in the UK file for the settlement visa like the UK spouse visa, UK fiancée visa or child dependent visa among others.
Now, the graduate route is made available by the UK government to give an opportunity for the best and brightest from all parts of the world to stay and commence their career in the United Kingdom.
According to the UK website, “… the Graduate Route provides an opportunity for talented international graduates who have been awarded their degree from a UK university to stay in the UK and work, or look for work, at any skill level for at least 2 years.
“The new route, part of the points-based immigration system, will help attract the best talent from around the world and ensures that businesses can recruit the most highly qualified from across the globe to complement the skills already in the UK, helping drive the economy forwards as Britain builds back better from the pandemic.
“The Graduate route will work for all corners of the UK, ensuring that communities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can benefit from talented individuals who want to build their careers in the UK after their studies,” the UK government said.
ECO-Friendly stresses however, that as a general rule, the Graduate Route does not count towards settlement rights and the applicant therefore cannot apply for settlement after the expiration of their allowed stay, unlike the UK spouse visa, UK fiancée visa or other UK settlement visas where the applicants may file for an indefinite leave to remain (ILR) and eventually apply for citizenship after the required number of years stay in the UK.
Read until the end of this article to get information on how the Graduate Route may lead to settlement rights in the UK.
According to the rules, the applicant for the Graduate Route must first complete a course from a UK higher education provider. This means that the applicant must have been a UK student visa (Tier 4) holder and finished his or her course with the said university.
But unlike the Tier 4 requirements where the applicant for the student visa needs to show financial capacity, job offers in the UK, minimum salary requirement, the Graduate Route is unsponsored meaning the applicant for the Graduate Route shall be qualified regardless of whether or not they possess the requirement mentioned above.
Here are some of the policies and regulations in the implementation of the Graduate Route:
- The applicant can apply to the Graduate route once their university (where they studied on a Tier 4 visa) has sent them their final course results, but not before this.
- The university also needs to tell the applicant that they have successfully completed their course before they can consider the application (the applicant, in turn will forward this information to the UKVI).
- The applicant, however, does not have to wait until they have graduated to apply for the Graduate Route.
- The applicant is allowed to take up extra study, but they cannot study with a student sponsor on a course which would meet the requirements of a Student visa
- Applicants cannot study at a state school.
- Applicants are not allowed to bring new dependants, but dependants already in the UK as a Student dependant may apply as a dependant of a Graduate at the same time the Graduate applies to the route
- The Graduate route is non-extendable and does not count towards settlement.
- However, if they find suitable employment, they will be able to switch into various work routes from the Graduate route
From the Graduate route, applicants may be able to switch to the Skilled Worker route if they comply with the requirements which allow them to stay in the UK to do an eligible job with an approved employer for a maximum of five years.
And this five year period as a Skilled Worker contributes to SETTLEMENT RIGHTS which means they may apply to live permanently in the UK after five years.
For more information regarding the Graduate Route, please do not hesitate to contact our firm at these numbers:
+63 2 85465440 / + 63 9175273009
Or just click the contact box below to go directly to our contact page:
 NOVEMBER 2019: Gaoiran family headed by their padre de pamilya Mr. Jeffrey Gaoiran arrives at the UK airport |  PRESENT TIME: Years later, the happy Gaoiran family visits a castle at Arundel, West Sussex |
Click ECO-Friendly Contact Box for your queries
RSS Feed