As of 3pm 17 July 2023, those with Student immigration permission have new restrictions on switching out of the Student route into certain work routes. Affected routes include Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility, Minister of Religion, Representative of Overseas Business, UK Ancestry, Global Talent, High Potential Individual, Scale-up, Innovator Founder, International Sportsperson, Creative Worker, Religious Worker, Charity Worker, International Agreement, and Government Authorised Exchange.
Those with Student immigration permission must now normally have completed their course of study before switching into any of the aforementioned routes. This will be confirmed by the course end date on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). PhD students will be able to switch into the aforementioned work routes after 24 months have passed from the course start date on your CAS.
It is important to note however that these changes have not affected the “new entrant†(Option E) route under the Skilled Worker route. You are still able to switch into the Skilled Worker route in the UK as long as you are eligible to apply under the new entrant option.
The requirements remain the same:
- Your most recent permission must have been as a Student
- That permission is current (or has expired less than 2 years before the date of application for entry clearance applications)
- You were sponsored for an eligible qualification
- You have completed your course, or are within 3 months of your completion date of your course (or you have completed 12 months of study on a PhD)
