UK Government Extends Entry Deadline For Graduate Route

• The previous deadline of April 6, 2022 for entry to the country through the Graduate route is now extended to June 30, 2022
• Students do not need to take any COVID-19 travel tests before they travel to the country or after they arrive if they qualify as fully vaccinated
• The UK government is mulling initiatives for Indian students such as the eligibility to live and work in the country for up to three years and a reduction in visa costs 

The UK Home Office announced that the previous deadline of April 6, 2022 for entry to the country is now extended to June 30, 2022. This means that students who qualify to apply under the Graduate route and are not currently in the UK must enter the country by June 30 at the latest (or by the date their permission expires if this is before June 30).

Distance learning outside the UK will end and students must travel to the UK by June 30 at the latest to continue their studies. However, this applies to those who have or will have student immigration approvals. Blended learning in the UK will also end by the same date. 

Suggested Read: Rise in International Student Enrolment in UK: What it Means for Indian Students?

Before students travel to the UK, they must complete a passenger locator form three days before arrival. Students do not need to take any COVID-19 travel tests before they travel to the country or after they arrive if they qualify as fully vaccinated. They do not need to quarantine when they arrive in the UK. Students must have had a complete course of one of the approved vaccines at least 14 days before they arrive. 

Those who started their program of one year or less in 2020 or Spring 2021 through distance learning, and who did not earlier enter the UK to pursue that course will be able to make a Graduate route application, depending on certain conditions.

Students are normally required to pursue their higher education in the UK to qualify for the Graduate route. But many of them have not been able to do so due to COVID-19 curbs and have had to study through the distance mode. Such students are also eligible to switch into the Graduate route if they meet the other requirements.

The UK government has been focusing on bringing back international students to its campuses. Alex Burghart, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Skills in the UK government, said its borders are open for both returning and new international students wishing to study in the UK. 

International students going to the UK are eligible for a free COVID-19 vaccine including the booster vaccine. This applies if a student has had a partial vaccination elsewhere in the world. For international students that have been vaccinated outside of the UK, if their vaccination proof is accepted at the UK border, this will also be accepted for entry into places where the NHS COVID Pass is required. 

Some members of the UK government are mulling easing immigration restrictions to make the process of working and living in the UK easier for Indian students. 

If the discussions between representatives of the two countries materialise, Indian students can get to live and work in the UK for up to three years and also expect a reduction in visa costs. Notably, UK universities received 9,930 applications from Indians last year which was a 30% increase from the 7,640 applications received in 2020.