Visas
The UK Graduate Route is dropping to 18 months
In short
The Graduate visa lasts two years for applications submitted on or before 31 December 2026, and 18 months for applications submitted on or after 1 January 2027. Doctoral graduates keep three years either way. The visa cannot be extended, so the date you apply for the Graduate visa, not the date you started the course, is what fixes the length you get.
This is the single most consequential change to UK study plans in two years, and it turns on an application date rather than a course date. Most of the coverage has blurred the two.
Nothing here is advice about whether to rush. It is what the rule currently says, where it says it, and which decisions it actually touches.
What the rule says
The Home Office page on how long you can stay gives two figures for a bachelor's, master's or other eligible course: two years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027. A PhD or other doctoral qualification is three years, with no application-date condition attached.
The cut was set out in the statement of changes to the Immigration Rules laid on 14 October 2025, whose explanatory memorandum says the 18-month length applies to applications submitted on or after 1 January 2027, with doctoral graduates continuing to receive three years.
The Graduate visa cannot be extended. Whatever length you are granted is the whole of it, and the route is a one-time permission after your studies.
- Bachelor's or master's, applied for on or before 31 December 2026: 2 years
- Bachelor's or master's, applied for on or after 1 January 2027: 18 months
- PhD or other doctorate: 3 years
The date that counts is your application date
You can only apply for the Graduate visa from inside the UK, after your university has told the Home Office that you have successfully completed the course. That report is the gate, and it is why the application date is not something you can simply choose.
A January 2026 master's that finishes in late 2026 and is reported quickly may allow an application before the end of December. The same course reported in January leaves you in the 18-month group. Neither outcome is within your control once the course has started, which is the honest reason not to treat this as a thing to game.
What it does affect is the comparison you make now, before you accept an offer. If your plan depends on a specific number of months of post-study work, the number to plan with for a 2027 application is 18, not 24.
What it costs
The Graduate visa application fee is £937, and the Immigration Health Surcharge is charged at £1,035 for each year you will be in the UK. The gov.uk page sets out the totals that follow: £1,552.50 for 18 months, £2,070 for two years and £3,105 for three.
The surcharge is paid up front for the whole period, not annually, so the shorter route is also a smaller single payment. That is the only sense in which 18 months is cheaper than two years.
| Graduate visa length | Health surcharge | Plus application fee |
|---|---|---|
| 18 months | £1,552.50 | £937 |
| 2 years | £2,070 | £937 |
| 3 years (doctoral) | £3,105 | £937 |
What this does and does not change about your application
It does not change what a UK application has to argue. A personal statement for a UK master's is still assessed on whether the course follows from what you have already done, and the Graduate route is not something admissions tutors weigh.
It does change a sentence many applicants write badly. If your statement says you intend to use two years of post-study work, and you will be applying in 2027, that sentence is now wrong on the facts. Vague ambition is safer than a specific figure that a reader can check.
It also sharpens a question worth asking before you commit: whether the course is one you would still choose if the post-study period were shorter. If the answer is no, the issue was never the visa length. Our note on choosing a course you can defend is the longer version of that argument.
Related questions
Does the 18-month rule apply to courses starting in 2026?
It applies to Graduate visa applications submitted on or after 1 January 2027, whatever the course start date. A course that starts in 2026 but finishes and is reported to the Home Office in 2027 falls under 18 months.
Can I extend a Graduate visa to make up the difference?
No. The gov.uk page states plainly that you cannot extend a Graduate visa. The usual next step is switching into a work route such as the Skilled Worker visa, which has its own salary and sponsorship requirements.
Do PhD graduates lose anything in this change?
No. The explanatory memorandum describes doctoral graduates as continuing to receive three years, and the gov.uk page attaches no application-date condition to the doctoral figure.