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UK Graduate visa: 18 months from 1 January 2027, fee, eligibility

By Umair Tahir · Updated 3 November 2026

The Graduate visa is the two-year permission to work in the UK after a degree. For applications made on or after 1 January 2027 it becomes 18 months. The change was written into Appendix Graduate by Statement of Changes HC 1333 on 14 October 2025, and GOV.UK now states both lengths side by side. Because the application date, not the course end date or the decision date, decides which length you get, students finishing in late 2026 have a real choice about when to apply. This page gives the rule as written, the costs, and the eligibility checks that trip people up.

What decides whether you get 2 years or 18 months

Appendix Graduate GR 8.1, “Period granted from date of decision”
Your situationLength granted
Application made before 1 January 2027 (on or before 31 December 2026)2 years
Application made on or after 1 January 202718 months
PhD or other doctoral qualification, any application date3 years

GOV.UK puts it plainly: “2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026”, “18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027”, and “if you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification, it will last for 3 years”. The explanatory memorandum to HC 1333 confirms that “the change to 18 months will apply to applications submitted on or after 1 January 2027”. The period runs from the date of the decision, so an application submitted on 30 December 2026 and decided in February 2027 still gets two years.

Fee and health surcharge

GOV.UK, “How much it costs”, read 2 November 2026
ItemAmount
Application fee£937
Immigration Health Surcharge£1,035 for each year of the visa
Total for an 18-month visa£1,552.50 surcharge + £937 fee
Total for a 2-year visa£2,070 surcharge + £937 fee
Total for a 3-year (PhD) visa£3,105 surcharge + £937 fee

Who can apply

  • You must be in the UK when you apply, on a Student (or Tier 4 General) visa that is still valid.
  • Your university must have told the Home Office that you successfully completed the course; you do not have to wait for the graduation ceremony.
  • The university must be a higher education provider with a track record of compliance on the date you apply (GR 4.1).
  • You must have studied in the UK for the whole course if it was 12 months or less, or for at least 12 months of a longer course (GR 6.1).
  • You cannot have held a Graduate visa or the old Doctorate Extension Scheme before (GR 1.4).
  • Decisions usually come within 8 weeks, and you cannot travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man while the application is pending.

Finishing in late 2026: apply before or after New Year?

If your results are confirmed and the university has reported completion by December, applying on or before 31 December 2026 secures two years instead of eighteen months, for the same fee. The surcharge is higher for the longer visa (£2,070 against £1,552.50), which is the only cost of applying early. If the university cannot report completion until January, the 18-month length applies and no appeal changes it; what you can still do is make sure the Student visa does not expire before the application is submitted.

A change announced but not yet law

The Budget published on 28 October 2026 said the government “will also increase the duration of the Graduate visa to two years” for graduates “from high compliance universities where there are strong labour market outcomes”. No Statement of Changes, criteria or start date had been published by 2 November 2026, so the rule in force remains 18 months from 1 January 2027. This page will be updated when the rules change.

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