Starting July 1 this year, the United Kingdom's new Graduate route will be open for applications. The new route will be open to international students, including those from India, who have successfully completed a course of study in the country at the bachelor’s degree-level or above.
"Students on the Graduate route will be able to work or look for work after their studies for a maximum period of two years, or three years for doctoral students," the UK government said in a press release.
This route will be unsponsored, meaning that students need not have a job offer to apply. Graduates will be allowed to switch jobs and work flexibly, with no minimum salary requirements or caps on numbers.
However students who commenced their studies in Autumn 2020 will have until June 21, 2021, to enter the UK to be eligible for this new route. Applicants who began in January or February this year, will have till September 27, 2021, to be in the country.
The Graduate route will be applicable for all of the UK -- including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. "The new route will help the government to achieve the ambition set out in the International Education Strategy to increase the number of international students in higher education in the UK to 600,000 by 2030," the release read.
Kevin Foster, the Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, said, "The changes announced today (March 4) will ensure once students have received a gold standard qualification from one of our world leading education institutions they can easily secure the status they need to continue living, working and fulfilling their dreams in the UK."