UK’s graduate route visa to stay, offering major benefits to Indian students

Indian students planning to pursue their studies in the United Kingdom this year have received a positive development. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recommended maintaining the current form of the graduate route work visa, popularly known as the post-study work visa (PSW). This decision brings relief to thousands of students from India who aspire to study abroad, ensuring that they can continue to pursue their academic and career goals in the UK without any changes to the visa programme.

This visa allows foreign students to work in the UK for two years after completing their studies at a British university. These universities include prestigious institutions like those in the Russell Group such as Oxford, Cambridge, or LSE, as well as other universities like Sussex, SOAS, and the University of West London.

For those unfamiliar, Home Secretary James Cleverly assigned the committee the responsibility to assess the graduate route visa and present the report by May 14.

“Based on our analysis, the graduate route is broadly achieving its objectives and supporting the International Education Strategy. We recommend retaining the graduate route in its current form," the report read.

Is there any misuse of the graduate route visa?

The committee explicitly stated that there is no widespread evidence of misuse of this visa category, namely the graduate route. The potential for misuse is minimal due to the limited number of conditions imposed by this route. However, the report notes that exploitation may occur due to unethical practices by agents who may be improperly promoting UK higher education.

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It was noted that a total of 114,000 graduate route visas were issued in 2023, with an additional 30,000 given to dependents. The report highlighted that the usage of the graduate route was highest among four countries: India, China, Pakistan, and Nigeria, collectively comprising 70 per cent of all graduate visas. India alone accounted for 40 per cent of this, totalling 45,600 visas.

(With inputs from agencies)