How to get UK visa sponsorship after your Graduate visa
You apply for a Graduate visa yourself, with no sponsor. An employer sponsors you when you switch to a Skilled Worker visa: a job offer from a Home Office-approved employer, in an eligible occupation, paid at least £41,700 or the job's going rate, whichever is higher. On a Student or Graduate visa now, or in the last 2 years, you may qualify for 70% of the going rate, at least £33,400, even from outside the UK.
There is no Graduate visa sponsorship
You apply for the Graduate visa yourself. The GOV.UK Graduate visa guide lists no job offer and no sponsor among its requirements. The conditions include being in the UK on a Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa, completing an eligible course, and your university or college telling the Home Office you've successfully completed it. You must apply before your Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa expires.
You cannot extend a Graduate visa. GOV.UK says you may be able to switch to a different visa, "for example a Skilled Worker visa". An employer sponsors you at that later switch.
If a job advert or job board mentions "Graduate visa sponsorship", the phrase mixes up two visas. On a Graduate visa you can work in most jobs without a sponsor. The most the phrase can mean is an employer that holds a sponsor licence and might sponsor you for a Skilled Worker visa later.
Treat an advert that mentions Graduate visa sponsorship as a lead to check. At most, it suggests the employer can sponsor. You then need to confirm that your job, at the advertised salary, passes the Skilled Worker checks.
How long you have: 2 years, 18 months or 3 years
Your Graduate visa lasts:
- 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026
- 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027
- 3 years if you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification
Your visa starts on the day your application is approved. You'll usually get a decision within 8 weeks, and you can stay in the UK while you wait. You pay a £937 application fee plus the immigration health surcharge, usually £1,035 for each year.
That is the time you have to find a job an employer can sponsor for a Skilled Worker visa. The Graduate visa cut to 18 months covers the date rule in detail. If you're still on a Student visa and add your details to JLocate, the dashboard counts down the days left to apply for 2 years.
What you can do on a Graduate visa
On a Graduate visa you can work in most jobs, look for work, be self-employed, do voluntary work, and travel abroad and return to the UK. You cannot work as a professional sportsperson, and you cannot apply for most benefits (public funds) or the State Pension. You can continue living in the UK with your partner and children, if they're eligible.
An employer can sponsor you for a Skilled Worker visa later if your job passes the checks in the next section. Before you accept a job on a Graduate visa, ask if the role could qualify, so you know how long you can stay in it.
What a sponsored Skilled Worker job needs
To get a Skilled Worker visa after a Graduate visa, you and your job need to pass five main checks. Passing one check does not make up for failing another.
- A licensed employer. GOV.UK says: "You must have a job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply for a Skilled Worker visa." Approved employers are listed on the Register of licensed sponsors: workers, with the category of workers each sponsor is licensed to sponsor and its sponsorship rating. When we checked, the register was last updated on 14 September 2026.
- A certificate of sponsorship. Your employer gives you this as an electronic record with a reference number, which you need for your visa application. You must apply for your visa within 3 months of getting it.
- An eligible occupation code. The occupation code is the 4-digit code for the type of job. If GOV.UK lists your code as "higher skilled", you can apply. A "medium skilled" code needs an extra condition, for example a job on the immigration salary list, a job on the temporary shortage list with a certificate issued before 31 December 2026, or an extension where you got your first certificate of sponsorship before 22 July 2025. GOV.UK: your job sets out the rules.
- A salary that clears the threshold. The general rule is £41,700 a year or the job's standard going rate, whichever is higher. GOV.UK publishes a going rate for each eligible occupation code. If you hold a Student or Graduate visa, or did in the last 2 years, you may be able to use the lower new-entrant rate in the next section.
- English at level B2. You need to read, write, speak and understand English to at least CEFR level B2. A degree-level qualification taught in English and awarded by a UK institution counts as proof. If you had a Skilled Worker visa before 8 January 2026 and you're extending or updating it, you need B1 instead.
JLocate's own reading of the rules: an employer on the register can offer you a job whose occupation code or salary fails check 3 or 4. The employer also decides for itself whether to give you a certificate of sponsorship. Why a sponsor licence is not a sponsored job goes into this.
The sponsor licence checker searches a copy of the GOV.UK register by employer name, taken when the site was last built, so confirm the current entry on GOV.UK before you rely on it. A vacancy you paste into JLocate has its employer looked up on the same copy. Only the demo vacancies use fictional employers.
The new-entrant rate: why graduates can be paid less
If you're a new entrant, your employer can pay you 70% of your job's standard going rate, as long as your salary is at least £33,400 a year. You count as a new entrant if one of these applies (GOV.UK's wording):
- you're under 26 on the date you apply
- you're currently in the UK on a Student visa studying at bachelor's degree level or above (or you have been in the last 2 years, and a Student or visit visa was your most recent visa)
- you're currently in the UK on a Graduate visa (or you have been in the last 2 years, and a Graduate or visit visa was your most recent visa)
- you'll be working towards a recognised qualification in a UK regulated profession
- you'll be working towards full registration or chartered status in the job you're being sponsored for
If you're 26 or over, the age condition does not apply to you, so check the Student, Graduate and professional training conditions. For someone in the UK on a Student visa now, the Student condition needs study at bachelor's degree level or above.
GOV.UK sets a limit: "Your total stay in the UK cannot be more than 4 years if you apply for one of these reasons. This includes any time you've already spent in the UK on a Graduate visa."
A relevant PhD has its own lower rates. With a relevant STEM PhD your employer can pay you 80% of the going rate, at least £33,400. For a relevant non-STEM PhD the figure is 90%, at least £37,500. GOV.UK: when you can be paid less sets out each of these rules.
| Occupation code | Standard going rate | General threshold | New-entrant threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2134 Programmers and software development professionals | £54,700 | £54,700 (higher than £41,700) | £38,300 (70% of £54,700, as the Rules print it) |
| 2136 IT quality and testing professionals | £41,200 | £41,700 (higher than the going rate) | £33,400 (70% is £28,840, below the floor) |
Find the going rate for your own job in the table of every eligible occupation code, which prints the standard, new-entrant and PhD figures side by side, or in the GOV.UK going rates table behind it, then work out your salary threshold. How the new-entrant salary rate works covers the full rule. The sources page shows every rule we use, with dates.
If you have left the UK
You can count as a new entrant after you leave the UK. The Student and Graduate visa conditions above both reach back 2 years: you can qualify if you have been in the UK on that visa in the last 2 years and it, or a visit visa, was your most recent visa. Under that wording, a visit visa since then does not break the condition.
The 4-year cap applies here too, including any time you spent on a Graduate visa.
You apply from outside the UK. GOV.UK says you cannot switch to a Skilled Worker visa while you're in the UK on a visit visa, so you cannot come over on a visit and change visa from inside the country. From abroad, you can apply up to 3 months before the day you're due to start work in the UK, and you'll usually get a decision within 3 weeks. The application fee is lower than for switching inside the UK, as the cost table below shows.
Keep a note of the start and end dates of your last Student or Graduate visa, and the date you left. If you add your last UK visa and the day it expired, the JLocate dashboard counts down to the last day you can apply, which is the day before the 2-year anniversary of that expiry. Applying from abroad after a UK degree covers the full returner route.
This guide gives general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure which conditions you meet, speak to an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority or a solicitor before you apply.
Switching inside the UK and what it costs
On a Graduate visa, you may be able to switch to a Skilled Worker visa without leaving the UK. On a Student visa, you can only switch if one of these applies: you have completed the course you were sponsored to study, your job start date is after your course has finished, or you're studying for a PhD full time and have been for at least 24 months. You'll usually get a decision within 8 weeks of your application date.
| Cost | Up to 3 years | More than 3 years |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee, switching inside the UK | £943 | £1,865 |
| Application fee, applying from outside the UK | £819 | £1,618 |
| Application fee, job on the immigration salary list | £628 | £1,235 |
| Immigration health surcharge | Usually £1,035 a year | Usually £1,035 a year |
You also need at least £1,270 in your bank account for at least 28 days in a row. You don't need to show this if you've been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months, or if your employer will cover your costs during your first month, up to £1,270, and confirms this on your certificate of sponsorship. GOV.UK: how much it costs has the fees and funds rules. Every Skilled Worker fee in one place, with who pays each one, is on the calculator.
When to start: working back from the day your visa ends
Three of these dates are rules and the rest are arithmetic. You must apply before your current permission expires; you must apply within 3 months of the date your certificate of sponsorship was assigned; and the money, if you have to show it, must sit in the account for 28 days in a row with day 28 inside 31 days of applying. Everything else is how long each step usually takes, so give it room.
| Time before your visa ends | What needs to have happened | Why that long |
|---|---|---|
| The day it ends | Your application is submitted, and submitted before this date rather than on it | Apply in time and you keep your current conditions while the Home Office decides, so a decision after your expiry date is not a problem. Applying late is. |
| 2 to 4 weeks | The certificate of sponsorship is assigned and you have the reference number | You apply using it, and the application has to come within 3 months of the date it was assigned. Too early is also wrong. |
| 4 to 6 weeks | £1,270 is in an account you can evidence, and stays there | 28 days in a row, with day 28 inside 31 days of applying. You can skip this if you have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months, or if your sponsor certifies maintenance on the certificate. |
| 2 to 3 months | A written offer, with the occupation code and the salary you checked | The employer has internal steps before it assigns a certificate. This is the point to confirm the code rather than assume it. |
| 5 to 6 months | If the employer has no licence yet, it has applied for one | GOV.UK decides most licence applications in under 8 weeks, and £750 more buys 10 working days. Add the time the company takes to decide it wants to. |
| 6 to 9 months | You are applying, and filtering for roles that can actually be sponsored | Sponsored roles are a smaller pool than the job market, and one round of interviews runs to weeks. Starting here is what makes the rest of this table possible. |
If you are already inside these windows, the order still holds: get the offer, confirm the code and salary, then the certificate, then apply. What you lose by starting late is choice, not eligibility, until the last date passes.
Two things quietly shorten the window. A job whose occupation code is on the Temporary Shortage List needs its certificate of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026, so those roles stop being a route in well before your visa does. And the new-entrant rate, which is what makes many graduate salaries clear the bar at all, runs out 2 years after your Student or Graduate visa ends. Check both dates against your own, on the calculator.
How to find a job with visa sponsorship in the UK after graduation
You gain little from a list of companies that hire Graduate visa holders in the UK, since you can work in most jobs on a Graduate visa. You need an employer that will sponsor your next visa and a job that passes the checks. Where you look for vacancies matters less than what you check once you find one, though the UK sponsorship job boards compared covers what each board costs and what it actually verifies. For each vacancy, work in this order:
- Check the licence. Search the employer's name on the GOV.UK register. Without a licence, the employer cannot give you a certificate of sponsorship.
- Find the likely occupation code. Ask the employer, or match the job's duties to a code, then check the code is eligible and note its going rate.
- Work out your threshold. Use £41,700 or the going rate, whichever is higher, or the new-entrant figure if you qualify. If the advertised salary falls below your threshold, the employer cannot sponsor you at that pay.
- Ask about sponsorship at the first screening call. Raise it then, so neither you nor the employer spends weeks on a job that cannot go ahead. How to ask an employer about sponsorship covers how to raise it.
Sponsorship costs an employer money: £525 for a certificate of sponsorship, plus the Immigration Skills Charge unless an exemption applies, from £480 for the first 12 months for a small or charitable sponsor to £1,320 for a medium or large one. What sponsorship costs the employer has the full figures and the exemption for some people switching from a visa that allows them to study.
If your Graduate visa ends soon, read if your Graduate visa is running out. The sample vacancies inside JLocate are fictional demo data. For an advert you want to apply to, paste a real vacancy and check it, and confirm the employer's licence on the GOV.UK register yourself.
Questions people ask
Can I work any job on a Graduate visa in the UK?
You can work in most jobs, look for work, be self-employed and do voluntary work. You cannot work as a professional sportsperson. For an employer to sponsor you later, the job has to pass the Skilled Worker checks.
Do companies sponsor Graduate visas?
No. You apply for the Graduate visa yourself and it has no sponsor. Sponsorship comes in if you switch to a Skilled Worker visa, when a licensed employer gives you a certificate of sponsorship.
Can I switch from a Graduate visa to a Skilled Worker visa?
You may be able to switch from inside the UK. You need a job offer from a licensed employer, in an eligible occupation, paid at least £41,700 or the going rate, whichever is higher, or the new-entrant rate if you qualify. You'll usually get a decision within 8 weeks.
What is the minimum salary for a Skilled Worker visa after a Graduate visa?
The general rule is £41,700 or the job's standard going rate, whichever is higher. If you meet one of the new-entrant conditions, your employer can pay you 70% of the going rate, at least £33,400, as long as your total stay in the UK is no more than 4 years, including time on a Graduate visa.
Can I still get the new-entrant rate after leaving the UK?
You can, if you were in the UK on a Student or Graduate visa in the last 2 years and that visa, or a visit visa, was your most recent visa. The Student visa condition needs study at bachelor's degree level or above, and the 4-year cap applies too.
Add your visa dates, then check a specific UK job. JLocate works through the occupation code, salary threshold and new-entrant rate for your situation. Confirm the employer's licence on the GOV.UK register.
Check a job against your situation →Related
Sources
Checked against these pages on . Immigration rules change; the official page wins if it disagrees with this guide.
- Graduate visa
- Skilled Worker visa
- Skilled Worker visa: your job
- Skilled Worker visa: when you can be paid less
- Skilled Worker visa: knowledge of English
- Skilled Worker visa: switch to this visa
- Skilled Worker visa: how much it costs
- Skilled Worker visa: going rates for eligible occupation codes
- Skilled Worker visa: eligible occupations and codes
- Register of licensed sponsors: workers
- UK visa sponsorship for employers: Immigration Skills Charge