Graduate Visa | University of Chester

To be eligible for the Graduate visa (often referred to as the PSW), the UK government rules say you must meet all the following criteria;

have conducted your studies inside the UK and,
have received a full degree award, not a certificate or diploma (exception: PGCE is eligible) and,
apply whilst you still have a valid Student Visa (extending your stay in the UK by applying for another immigration category does not count) and
apply after your university has reported your successful completion of studies to the Home Office and,
never have received a Graduate Visa before.

If a Postgraduate Taught (PGT) student’s final date of award is delayed beyond their Student visa expiry date due to deferring or failing assignments, their official date of award would happen after their student visa expires. They would not be eligible for the Graduate Visa.

PGT students at Chester cannot extend their student visa. You cannot apply for the Graduate visa if you have switched or are applying to switch to a different visa category (Skilled Worker, ILR, fee waiver, etc.) and you cannot apply for the Graduate visa from overseas.

Reassessments and the Graduate Visa

Taught Masters students can generally have two submission attempts/opportunities at their earlier “taught” module assessments, and their date of award would not be delayed. But the University can only guarantee one submission attempt/opportunity at the final dissertation/research project without delaying the date of award.

Any of the following three situations can cause a PGT student to be ineligible for the Graduate visa;

resubmission required for the final dissertation/research project, or
deferral of the dissertation/research project, or
3^rd submission opportunity for a taught module assessment.

In these three situations the date of award would be delayed and would fall after their Student visa expiry date so the student would be ineligible for the Graduate visa.

Dates of awards boards are set well in advance and must accommodate time for the tutors to mark the assessments, for results to be processed, and for any award outcome to be calculated and published.

Student Visa Extensions and the Graduate Visa

Masters (PGT) students at Chester do not have the option to resubmit or defer assessments “with attendance”. A Masters student who is required to resubmit an assessment has no required contact with the University after their student visa expiry date, so we are not permitted to issue a CAS.

No Student visa extension is possible for Masters (PGT) students at Chester.

Term Time Travel

If the Graduate visa is important to you, we strongly advise you to remain in the UK during term time. If you wish to travel overseas please do so during the official vacation periods which we share with the Home Office.

We understand that some student visa holders want to make use of the official vacation dates to work full-time in the UK. That is fine, but we strongly discourage any attempt to work full-time throughout the official vacation dates and then leave the UK for a social visit after term-time restarts. If you do this, you may find your Student visa may be cancelled and you may not be able to get back into the UK. Or the Home Office may refuse your Graduate Visa application.

It is fine to travel overseas after the course end date that was stated on your CAS. This time is treated as vacation period for visa compliance purposes. You would just need to return to the UK at some point before your Student Visa expiry date to be able to apply for the Graduate visa inside the UK whilst your Student Visa is still valid.

When to apply for the Graduate visa

After the Awards Assessment Board the Student Visa Compliance team will inform the Home Office about any individual who has been awarded a full degree and still has a valid Student visa. We will then email those students from studyvisa@chester.ac.uk to their University of Chester (“...@chester.ac.uk”) account to confirm.

We always try to submit the Home Office reports and email the students on the same day as the awards board. Students usually get the email between 16:00 and 22:00 that day. But if there are any unforeseen complications (e.g. if an IT system is down) the emails may go out the next working day. If you are expecting a Graduate visa email but you have not received one, please email us.

We advise students to wait until they have received their email from studyvisa@chester.ac.uk before they apply for the graduate visa. If you are not sure of the date of your awards board, please go to this results process site and click on the assessment schedule for your faculty. The study visa team do not receive advance details about which students will go to which board. If you have further questions about your submission deadlines or board dates please contact your faculty’s Quality and Records Team.

Further information on the Graduate Visa including fees/costs and a link to the application form.

FAQ

I haven’t had my email from studyvisa@chester.ac.uk, what is wrong?

Please go to eVision to check that your degree award has been confirmed at an Awards Board. If it is not there, please contact your Faculty Quality and Records Team to confirm the date of your Awards board.

We try to send the Graduate Visa emails out by 5pm on the date of the awards board. If you do not receive that email, please contact us on studyvisa@chester.ac.uk or call the next day on 01244 513585.

Do I need a new CAS to apply for the Graduate Visa?

No new CAS is issued for the Graduate Visa. You will be asked to put your old CAS reference in the visa application form. Studyvisa@chester.ac.uk will remind you of your old CAS reference in the email that we send to you after your awards board.

My Student Visa is expiring just before my date of award. Can I apply for the Graduate Visa before my Student Visa expires?

We do not recommend this. It is possible the Home Office will process the Graduate Visa application before the date of award, and will reject the application, meaning you would lose your application fee and lose your permission to be in the UK.
Also, in recent months we have noted the Home Office is specifically checking the date of award to ensure that it was before the Student Visa expiry date. They can refuse the Graduate Visa if the date of award is after the Student Visa expiry date, even if the date of award happens before the decision is made on the Graduate Visa application.

Can I apply from my home country?

No, Graduate Visa applications must be submitted inside the UK.

Can my reassessment results be published earlier before my Student Visa expires?

No, Awards Board dates are set well in advance. The date of the board must accommodate time for the tutors to mark the assessments, for results to be processed, and for any award outcome to be calculated and published. It is not possible to move results to an earlier board.

Why can’t I have a Student Visa extension?

Where a Masters/PGT student needs to resubmit or defers one or more assessments, there are no timetabled classes or required contact with the University after the Student Visa expiry date. This means the University is not permitted to issue a fresh CAS because we are unable to meet the sponsor duties required by the UK government.

Can I switch to a different visa?

Yes, there may be other visa options available to you if you are not eligible for the Graduate Visa. One option may be the Skilled Worker visa. For details on that and other visas to work in the UK after studies, please see https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/information--advice/working/working-after-studies#layer-6655.