This allows you to come to or to stay in the UK to work for your employer in their UK branch. This job must be eligible and part of a graduate training programme for a managerial or specialist role.

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REQUIREMENTS:

To qualify for a Graduate Trainee visa, you must:

• Be an existing employee of an organisation that’s been approved by the Home Office as a sponsor

• Have worked for your sponsor outside the UK for at least 3 months immediately before you apply.

• Have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from an employer with information about the work you will do in the UK.

• Do a job that is on the list of eligible occupations (which you can find on the government website).

• Have a salary of at least £23,100 per annum or 70% of the ‘going rate’ – whichever is higher.

 

You cannot apply to change (‘switch’) to a Graduate Trainee visa from inside the UK. But you can apply for another Graduate Trainee visa from outside the UK.

 

You can only stay in the UK for a maximum of 5 years in any 6-year period.

 

HOW TO APPLY:  you have to fill out an online application at gov.co.uk

 

For a Graduate Trainee visa you will need to provide:

• Your certificate of sponsorship reference number – provided by your employer

• A valid passport or other document that shows their identity and nationality

• Job title and annual salary

• Job’s occupation code

• Name of your employer and their sponsor licence number – this will be on your certificate of sponsorship

• Evidence that you have enough personal savings to support yourself in the UK, for example in the form of bank statements

• Proof of your relationship with your partner or children if they are applying with you

• Your TB results.

 

However, if your certificate of sponsorship was issued between 11 February 2022 and 11 April 2022, you can use your intra-company Graduate Trainee visa certificate of sponsorship to apply for a Graduate Trainee visa. You do not need to get a new certificate of sponsorship or update your existing one.

 

Depending on circumstances, you might be asked to provide any evidence that you have worked for your employer outside the UK for 3 months immediately before you apply.

 

As well as details of your training programme and a valid ATAS certificate, if your job involves researching a sensitive subject at PhD level or higher.

 

After application, you might be asked for evidence to show that you have worked for your employer overseas for 3 months immediately after you apply.

 

You can provide:

• Printed payslips

• Online payslips supported with a letter from your sponsor signed by a senior staff member

• Bank or building society statements

• A building society pass book

 

HOW MUCH IT COSTS:

To apply for a Graduate Trainee visa, you will need to have enough money to pay:

• the £259 application fee

• pay the healthcare surcharge – this is usually £624 per year

• support yourself when you arrive in the UK – you will usually need to have at least £1,270 available for 28 consecutive days. You will need to show proof of this when you apply, unless your employer/sponsors have agreed to support and can cover your costs during your first month in the UK.
  
  Your certificate of sponsorship can confirm if your employer can support you instead.
  
  Your partner and children will also need to prove they can support themselves while they are in the UK.
  
  You will not need to show funds if you have been living in the UK for 12 months or more with permission on the date of application.

 

TIME FRAME:

Once you have applied online, proved your identity and provided the documents needed, you will get a decision within 3 weeks.

 

You will be contacted if your application will take longer due to reasons such as:

• your supporting documents need to be verified

• you need to attend an interview

• of your personal circumstances

 

After you apply and would like to change something in the application, you can contact UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).
You can ask to cancel your application, but your free will only be refunded if UKVI has not started processing your application.
You will get an email with the decision on your application.