Stay in Studnet Visa or Change to PSW?

Hello everyone,

I am currently in the second year of my student visa with 2 more years remaining. I was supposed to do a 4 years undergraduate because of a foundation year the university thought was necessary for me to be able to undertake the course. But after I showed all my qualifications directly at the university, they thought I could directly do that course and so I was able to do a the course directly which meant I will be finishing my degree a year earlier.

Now my dilemma is do I need to directly apply for PSW after I get my degree in a year or should I apply about 8-10 months after I get my degree as I would have a year on the visa still?

I would be grateful if someone has the time to provide me some information. Thank you.

6pandn21 wrote:Hello everyone,

I am currently in the second year of my student visa with 2 more years remaining. I was supposed to do a 4 years undergraduate because of a foundation year the university thought was necessary for me to be able to undertake the course. But after I showed all my qualifications directly at the university, they thought I could directly do that course and so I was able to do a the course directly which meant I will be finishing my degree a year earlier.

Now my dilemma is do I need to directly apply for PSW after I get my degree in a year or should I apply about 8-10 months after I get my degree as I would have a year on the visa still?

I would be grateful if someone has the time to provide me some information. Thank you.

Well technically, you must go back or extend or switch your visa to other category, after you finish your studies. If you want to wait and apply for PSW 8-10 months after your studies, the HO may ask you what you were doing in this gap period as you were expected by HO to leave this country after you finish you studies. Another thing is if you start working full time during that period, which i am sure you will be willing to do as you are interested in PSW, you cant do that as well because you will not be studying at that time and you wont be on holidays as well and ur student visa does not allow you to work full time. This might create some other problem for you.

So I would say its better to switch as soon as you get your degree and please read the entire requirements carefully on UKBA website from time to time and maintain enough money in your bank account at least 3 months before your intended application date.

Good luck.

tuhadda_fuffar wrote:
Well technically, you must go back or extend or switch your visa to other category, after you finish your studies. If you want to wait and apply for PSW 8-10 months after your studies, the HO may ask you what you were doing in this gap period as you were expected by HO to leave this country after you finish you studies. Another thing is if you start working full time during that period, which i am sure you will be willing to do as you are interested in PSW, you cant do that as well because you will not be studying at that time and you wont be on holidays as well and ur student visa does not allow you to work full time. This might create some other problem for you.

So I would say its better to switch as soon as you get your degree and please read the entire requirements carefully on UKBA website from time to time and maintain enough money in your bank account at least 3 months before your intended application date.

Good luck.

Hello tuhadda and everyone,

Thank you for your reply. You have cleared a big amount of confusion but I still have some more questions in my mind.

So if I apply for PSW, would I have to do it in July (when my results come out) or 3 months before july (when I would still be studying) or within 3 months of July?

I was thinking of HSMP visa but it looks as if I need an sponsor for me to be able to gather enough points for that as my degree doesn't fall under the shortage occupation list (its a business IT degree). I intend to work for about 2 years and complete my masters and phd. So if I get a PSW, will I be able to apply for student visa after that or not? Or is there some better option?

Even if there are no direct answers, could anyone please provide some locations where I can find more information. Thank you.

6pandn21

Applying within 3 months of when you graduate is alright as it gives you time to get your certificate issued and also meet the financial requirement as well. You can always switch back to student visa but you can get the psw only once. I hope that helps.

Diokpa wrote:Applying within 3 months of when you graduate is alright as it gives you time to get your certificate issued and also meet the financial requirement as well. You can always switch back to student visa but you can get the psw only once. I hope that helps.

Thank you Diokpa. It definitely helps a lot. I still got time to think but this discussion definitely has cleared a lot of confusion.

Once again thank you guys for the reply.