After your studies - working in the UK
If you wish to stay in the UK to work when you have finished your studies, unless you are an EEA or Swiss national you will need to apply for visa permission to do so. There are different routes which you should check to see if you qualify and which is most appropriate for you.
- Recent and future changes to work visas
- For DPhil students approaching completion: Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme
- Tier 1 visa categories
- Tier 2 (General) - you have a job offer from an employer able to sponsor you
- Information on other routes for working in the UK
Recent and future changes to work visas
Working after studies - DPhil and MBA students
From 6 April 2013 students completing a PhD in the UK will be allowed to remain for one year to find work or set up a business. See below for further information.
There will also be the opportunity for MBA graduates to start up businesses.
Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur)
For details of this scheme, how to apply for an endorsement from Oxford and additional links to the application form and Policy Guidance please read the section below on Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur).
Provision under Tier 2 for graduates to remain in the UK to work
A provision under Tier 2 is in place, specifically designed for recent graduates. This will make it easier for some degree students with a job offer to apply under Tier 2. Information is available from the UK Council for International Student Affairs and the UK Border Agency.
Tier 1 (Post Study Work) has closed
Tier 1 (Post Study Work) has now closed to new applicants. Details of the new provision for graduates under Tier 2 are above. Dependants of those who already hold a Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa, are still eligible to apply from outside or inside the UK.
For DPhil students approaching completion: Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme
From 6 April 2013 the Doctorate Extension Scheme is open for applications from students who are close to finishing their DPhil. The Scheme is part of Tier 4 which means applicants need sponsorship in the form of a CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) from their Department, School or Faculty so that they can apply for a visa extension. The visa will be granted for 12 months from the expected completion date on the CAS and allows holders to seek and take work in the UK without needing advance sponsorship from an employer, or set up in business. You could use the year simply for work experience or, if you found qualifying work with a licensed employer, you may be able to progress to Tier 2. If you are setting up a business you may be able to go on to apply under the Entrepreneur or Graduate Entrepreneur categories. During the year you will need to keep in contact with the University as your sponsor for the scheme. As it is not possible to apply once you have completed your DPhil, if you are interested you should tell the Graduate Studies Assistant for your Department and request a CAS shortly before your viva to allow time for this to be issued and for you to make the visa application before completion of your DPhil is marked by the grant of 'leave to supplicate'. Some funded students may need their financial sponsor's permission to apply.
This document is a guide to the Scheme at Oxford and contains a CAS request form: Tier 4 Doctorate Extension scheme notes for students 
(64kb)
For the UK Border Agency's information on the scheme and the visa application procedure, see the UKBA website.
Tier 1 visa categories
You can see full details of any new and current Tier 1 visa categories on the UK Border Agency website:
Graduate Entrepreneur: a new category for graduates who have developed world class innovative ideas or entrepreneurial skills. Applicants must be invited to make an application by the education institution from which they have received their award and the application endorsed by that insitution. Only 1,000 places available each year, limited to a maximum of 10 per institution. More information about obtaining an endorsement from Oxford is available on the Student Gateway. The visa application form and Policy Guidance for this scheme are available on the UKBA website.
Entrepreneurs: for applicants or pairs of applicants proposing to set up, or take over, and actively run a business in the UK and who either have access to funding of £200,000, or access to funding of £50,000 from particular specified sources. Further information about Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) is available from the UKBA website.
Exceptional talent: for detail, see UKBA's information on Tier 1 (Exceptional talent). Only 1,000 visas will be granted in this category in its first year of operation, to 'exceptionally talented migrants in the fields of science, arts and humanities', as endorsed by a 'designated Competent Body'.
Investors: for applicants with £1million to invest in the UK.
Tier 1 (General): This category has now permanently closed to new applications. There is information about the arrangements for those who already hold a visa in this category on the UKBA website.
Tier 2 (General) - you have a job offer from an employer able to sponsor you
This category is for applicants who have been offered a graduate level job by an employer who holds a Tier 2 license and has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship to the applicant. The route aims to enable employers to offer jobs to nationals from outside the EEA which cannot be filled by applicants from 'the resident workforce'.
The UK Council for International Student Affairs provides useful information on how to apply under Tier 2 from 6 April 2012 with particular reference to the new provision for recent graduates. For full requirements see the UK Border Agency's information.
You can check whether an employer is a Tier 2 licensed sponsor by looking at UKBA's register. You would need to discuss with a prospective employer about whether they are willing and able to sponsor you so that you can apply under Tier 2.
For a Tier 2 application, the job you have been offered must be graduate level, which means it must either appear on UKBA's Graduate Occupation List or Shortage Occupation List. The salary offered must be appropriate to the type of work and at least £20,000. If the job offer is not in a 'shortage occupation', it must usually pass the Resident Labour Market Test, requiring the employer to have advisertised it appropriately and demonstrated that no one settled in the UK or a national of the EEA could be found to fill it.
In order to apply for Tier 2 from within the UK, if your last visa granted was as a student or a Tier 4 student, you will have to show that you have completed, during the period of that visa, a course of at least one academic year. If you have finished your course at Oxford you can include a Degree Confirmation Letter to prove that that you meet this requirement.
You will also need to meet maintenance and English language requirements as set out in UKBA's Tier 2 Policy Guidance.
The number of Tier 2 (General) applications made outside the UK is limited by a quota system which may slow down your application or make it more difficult for you to apply. For this reason it is usually better to apply under Tier 2 from within the UK if you are eligible to do so.
If you already have a Tier 1 Post Study Work visa and have been working for at least six months for an employer who wishes to keep you on in the same graduate level job under Tier 2, it does not have to meet the Resident Labour Market Test and you do not have to meet the maintenance requirement. You must apply in the UK to benefit from this provision.
Information on other routes for working in the UK
If you are in the UK as the dependant of an EEA or Swiss national you may have the right to work in the UK. For further information, look at the UK Border Agency's website.
Nationals of Australia, Canada, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Taiwan or South Korea might be eligible to apply under the Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme). This scheme is for young people from participating countries who would like to experience life in the UK, including taking employment. There are specific requirements to be met, visas are issued under a quota system and you have to apply from your home country. You can also apply if you are a British Overseas citizen, a British Overseas Territories citizen or a British National Overseas (there is no limit on these visas).
If you are a Commonwealth citizen with a grandparent born in the UK, you may be able to apply from outside the UK for a visa to come to the UK for five years to look for a job and work, on the basis of UK ancestry.
If you are a Turkish citizen you may benefit from a European agreement with Turkey if you want to set up in business in the UK, or to obtain the right to stay longer to work if you have already been legally working in the UK.
See UKBA information for all other work categories.