Plan your sponsor hunt back from your visa end date
Plan to start shortlisting 40 weeks before your visa ends and to finish checking the offer 8 weeks before. Set your end month below.
Your dated route
Press where you stand, then set the month your visa or course ends.
- Still studying: start at S1
- On the Graduate visa: start at S1
- Graduated, now abroad: start at S1
- Visa ending soon: start at S1
Destination and dates
- Shortlist line Find employers that hold a licence and actually use it
- Outreach line What to say to recruiters, alumni and careers fairs
- Application line Timing, the sponsorship question, salary and Plan B
- Offer line The offer, the Certificate of Sponsorship, scams and switching
The Shortlist line comes first
Press where you stand above and your route lists here, stop by stop.
- Shortlist line Shortlist sponsors in your field S1 . Build a shortlist where every name holds a licence.
- Shortlist line Read the advert S2 . Leave knowing what the sponsorship wording means.
- Shortlist line Check the scheme's policy S3 . Read each scheme's own words on sponsorship.
- Shortlist line Sector shortlists S4 . Pick employers that sponsor graduates in your sector.
- Shortlist line Myths checked S5 . Six things people say about sponsorship, checked.
- Outreach line Ask about sponsorship O1 . Ask once, early and in writing, with the role named.
- Outreach line Explain the Graduate visa O2 . Send one short message on what your visa lets you do.
- Outreach line Make the business case O3 . Show the employer what sponsoring you actually involves.
- Application line Time it against your visa A1 . Plan back from the month your visa or course ends.
- Application line Answer "Do you require sponsorship?" A2 . Pick the truthful answer for the form, from two versions.
- Application line Salary below the threshold A3 . Read your salary against the two fixed lines.
- Offer line Check the offer F1 . Flip seven switches before you sign.
- Offer line Visa cost clauses F2 . Read the repayment wording in your contract.
- Offer line From offer to visa F3 . Learn what you hold and who acts, step by step.
Do not know your end date? Work it out with Visavi's Graduate visa calculator (opens visavi.uk).
Start shortlisting 40 weeks before your visa ends
Each line gets a window counted back from the last day of your end month. The stops of a line on your route share that window evenly, in order. A stop whose date has passed shows Now: do it next.
The four windows
- Shortlist line: from 40 to 32 weeks before your end date.
- Outreach line: from 32 to 26 weeks before your end date.
- Application line: from 26 to 16 weeks before your end date.
- Offer line: from 16 to 8 weeks before your end date.
These are planning estimates, not rules. Reviewed by the desk; change them to suit your own deadlines.
The Graduate visa is getting shorter
Apply on or before 31 December 2026 and the visa lasts 2 years. Scheduled: from 1 January 2027, new applications get 18 months. After a doctorate it stays 3 years.
You apply in the UK before your Student visa expires, once your course is reported complete.
You may not need the Graduate visa at all
If an employer sponsors you before your course ends, you may be able to switch straight from your Student visa to Skilled Worker. A degree-level student with a valid application may start the job before the course ends, within the limits in Appendix Student.
The rules for that move are set out on switching before your course ends, on ukvisasponsorguide.com (opens ukvisasponsorguide.com). As a new entrant, time on Skilled Worker and Graduate visas together counts towards a cap of 4 years.
Checkpoint
Flip each switch when it is done. They stay set on this device only.
Before you ask
Which date should I enter?
The month your current permission ends: your Graduate visa end date, or your course end if you have not applied for it yet. The plan counts back from the last day of that month.
My first stop already says Now. Am I too late?
No. Now means start there today. Work through the stops in order; the later lines still have time.
Can I keep the plan?
Print the route card, or leave the page: the route is kept on this device and the strip on every station follows it.
Start with the shortlist worksheet, then the recruiter script. If your salary is close to the line, use the salary threshold check.
Sources
- Immigration Rules, Appendix Graduate, GR 8.1 (as substituted by HC 1333, APP GR3) (opens gov.uk)
"2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026"
Checked 7 October 2026 - Immigration Rules, Appendix Graduate, GR 8.1, substituted by Statement of Changes HC 1333 (APP GR3), in force 11 November 2025 (opens gov.uk)
"18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027"
Checked 7 October 2026 - Immigration Rules, Appendix Graduate, GR 8.1 (opens gov.uk)
"If you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification, it will last for 3 years."
Checked 7 October 2026 - gov.uk guidance, Graduate visa: Overview (opens gov.uk)
"You must apply before your Student visa or Tier 4 (General) student visa expires."
Checked 7 October 2026 - Immigration Rules, Appendix Skilled Worker, SW 1.5A (Conditions A, B and C) (opens gov.uk)
"If you’re currently in the UK on a Student visa, you must also meet one of the following requirements:"
Checked 7 October 2026 - Immigration Rules, Appendix Student, ST 26.6 (opens gov.uk)
"ST 26.6. A Student who makes a valid application for permission to stay under the Skilled Worker, or Graduate route, may start employment in a full-time permanent vacancy either up to 3 months prior to the course completion date (for the Skilled Worker route) or once they have successfully completed their course of study (for the Graduate route), provided all of the following apply:"
Checked 7 October 2026 - Immigration Rules, Appendix Skilled Worker, SW 12.3 (opens gov.uk)
"SW 12.3. Granting the application must not mean the applicant’s combined permission as a Skilled Worker, Graduate and/or Tier 2 Migrant would be more than 4 years in total, whether or not the permission is for a continuous period."
Checked 7 October 2026
Updated Checked against gov.uk on
What changed
- 7 October 2026: First published.
This is a playbook, not immigration advice. Before you act, check the rule on gov.uk or ask a regulated immigration adviser or a solicitor.