UK Graduate Trainee Visa

How to Get a UK Graduate Trainee Visa?

One of the five Global Business Mobility visas (GBM) offered by the UK is the Graduate Trainee visa. If you want to work in the UK on a graduate training course, this visa is for you.

However, you must meet a broad set of requirements to be eligible for this type of visa. The most important requirement among these is the link between your overseas employer and your UK sponsor. Both entities must be linked for you to be eligible for a Graduate Trainee visa UK.

You can’t use a Graduate Trainee visa UK to seek a settled status or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). You do have the option to switch to another visa once you are in the UK, granted you meet specific requirements.

Adam Bernard is a leading UK visa consultant firm in Pakistan. Our Graduate Visa consultants help you apply for Graduate visa to UK. We also offer guidance on other UK visas and immigration options. You can contact us for a free consultation.

What is a UK Sponsor?

You can’t apply for graduate visa to UK without the help of a UK sponsor. A sponsor is a business or organisation based in the UK with the authority to invite an oversea worker. Any UK business or organisation must first get a Sponsor License to gain his privilege.

In addition to a license, a sponsor must also meet certain other requirements. These include the following:

• It must be an A-rated Licensed Sponsor.
• It must have a valid link with an overseas employer. This link can be in the form of a joint project, or common ownership or control.
• It must have permission from the Home Office to invite overseas workers in a specific category.
• In the case of Graduate Trainee visa, the sponsor must have a proper graduate training program in place. This program must be linked to an existing and eligible UK-based occupation.

Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

A CoS is a document issued by a UK business or organisation. The issuing entity must have a valid Sponsor License from the Home Office and have the permission to issue a CoS in a relevant job category.

The CoS is a key document that plays an important role when you apply for Graduate visa to UK. It includes relevant details such as:

• Your name, job title, and annual salary. The annual salary must meet the minimum threshold limit.
• The occupation code for your intended job. This must be an eligible code and on the list of eligible occupations maintained by the Home Office.
• The issuing date of the CoS. You must submit your visa application no later than 3 months from this date.
• The nature of linkage between your UK sponsor and overseas employer. A valid link must exist between the two for the UK sponsor to issue your CoS.
• Your relevant employment details. These confirm that you meet the employment duration requirements.

If your employer or UK sponsor is not sure how to obtain a valid Sponsor License or how to issue a CoS, our graduate visa consultants can help. You will need a CoS for several other UK visas and immigration options as well.

Being a leading UK visa consultant in Pakistan, we offer comprehensive guidance for the Graduate Trainee visa process from start to finish.

Overseas Work Requirements for Graduate Trainee Visa

An important requirement for this type of visa is that you must have a minimum work history with your overseas employer. This proves that you have been with the employer for some time and have not been employed simply to apply for a GBM visa UK.

You must specifically prove that you have with your overseas company or employer for at least three months. This duration of employment must be shown in the period immediately preceding the application for visa. You must also show that the three-month employment history has no notable breaks in it.

Our Graduate visa consultants can help you meet this requirement when you apply for graduate visa to UK. Being a reputable UK visa consultant firm in Pakistan, we work with you to ensure that you meet all the requirements before you actually submit the application. We also help you meet the requirements for other UK visas and immigration routes.

What is Job Skill Level Requirement?

All GBM visa UK jobs are designated a specific skill level. This level indicates the kind and level of skills you need to be a good fit for the job.

When you apply for a Graduate Trainee Visa UK, the job you are being offered must be at a skill level of RQF Level 6 at least. This is equivalent to graduate-level skills which means that typically, a person whose minimum qualification is graduation is expected to do well at the job.

However, the skill level applies only to your intended job and not to your own qualifications. You are not required to have a graduate degree to be eligible for the visa.

Your intended role in the UK must also meet the ‘Genuine Job’ requirement. As per this requirement, the job you intend to do must be a genuine position which matches your qualifications and skills, and is a part of a structured graduate training program.

Being a leading UK visa consultant firm, we can advise you and your UK sponsor on how to choose the right occupation code when you apply for graduate visa to UK. You will also need to carefully decide your occupation when applying for several other UK visas and immigration routes.

Minimum Salary Requirements

The Home Office requires you to be offered an annual salary which is at or above a minimum threshold amount. Your visa application will be considered only if this offered salary meets the minimum threshold requirement.

For a Graduate Trainee visa, this minimum amount is calculated in two ways:

• A standard sum of £23,100 per year
• 70% of the average going rate for your intended job

Of these two calculations, the higher amount will be considered to determine the threshold. A minor exception to this occurs if you are applying for a health or education occupation. In this case, you must be offered an annual salary that is 100% of the going rate for your job.

The Home Office maintains a list of pro-rates for various occupation codes. You can check this list here.

If you are not sure about the annual salary requirements for your particular occupation, our graduate visa consultants can help you. You can consult us to understand how to apply for Graduate visa to UK. We also offer advice on other UK visas and immigration routes.

What Are the Financial Requirements for Graduate Trainee Visa?

You must meet certain financial obligations as a part of your Graduate visa UK application. These include the ability to show that you have enough cash funds to support yourself after you arrive in the UK.

When you apply on a GBM visa, it is expected that your employer will pay your first salary at the end of your first month in the UK. So you must show that you will have cash funds enough for this first month, until the receipt of your salary.

For a Graduate Trainee visa, you must show the availability of at least £1,270. These funds must have been in your possession for at least 28 consecutive days out of the 31 days before your visa application.

You can get an exemption from this requirement if your UK sponsor agrees to shoulder this responsibility. In this case, the sponsor will be required to show the availability of the same amount of cash funds.

If you are not sure how to meet the financial requirements when you apply for Graduate visa to UK, you can seek guidance from our experts. You can also consult us for other UK visas and immigration options.

Duration of the Visa

The maximum duration of a Graduate Trainee visa UK is 1 year. However, if the job end date on your CoS arrives before the 1-year period, this date will be considered as an expiry date for the visa. In this case, you visa will expire 14 days after the job end date. Unlike some other GBM visas, you can’t have your Graduate Trainee visa extended.

You can switch to another visa route as you near the end of your Graduate Trainee visa. You can explore a Skilled Worker visa, for instance, or see if you meet the requirements for a Startup Visa. These visa routes are immigration routes so that you can later use them to apply for ILR or settled status.

If you have already received a Graduate Trainee visa UK and want to know about your options towards the end of the visa, we can help you. Being a leading UK visa consultant firm in Pakistan, our graduate visa consultants can offer you tailored advice by considering the specific facts of your case.

Why Adam Bernard?

You must meet a broad set of requirements when seeking a GBM visa UK. Here at Adam Bernard, we help you identify and fulfil these requirements when you apply for a Graduate visa to UK. This ensures that your visa application is complete, accurate, and optimised for success when you submit it.

With the help of our graduate visa consultants, you can speed up the visa application process. If your application has errors or unverified details, the Home Office may take longer than usual to process it. We help you avoid this by ensuring that the application is free from any errors or omissions in the first place. This saves you from any unnecessary delays.

We also offer detailed advice and guidance for other UK visas and immigration routes.

Consult a free session with us today by calling at +92-3041112026.