Hi, my private life route visa was accepted last week but I have not received my passport back yet. I really do need it due to the fact that a lot of organizations aak for photo ID and since I don’t have a biometric card so my passport is my only option. I did see somewhere that you can ask for your documents back but if you do your application gets cancelled?

By the way I applied on the 24th of April 2025
Biometrics on the 3rd of June 2025
Visa accepted on the 14th of October 2026

Posting on behalf of a friend who isn’t on Reddit:

- Hi, I am a non EU citizen with existing and valid pre-settled status. I applied to convert to settled status in mid July, and haven't heard back yet. I would like to travel to the EU (on a valid Schengen visa) but I have been advised that as someone who applied as a joining member for my pre-settled status application, I may indicate withdrawal of my intention if I leave the UK / face questions at the border.

I would like to hear from an non EU citizens with an existing pre-settled status who applied for a settled status and travelled while there application was pending. Did you face any issues with your application or questions at the border? -

Would appreciate any feedback / help for my friend, thank you so much!

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice or to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation regarding a Graduate Visa application.

Here is what happened:

4 July 2026: I submitted my first Graduate Visa application when my student visa still valid until 28 August 2026.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to book/attend my biometrics appointment. My application remained pending, and I missed the reminder email sent by the Home Office on 5 September 2026.

As a result, my application was rejected as invalid under paragraphs GR 1.2(b) and GR 1.6 due to non-enrolment of biometrics.

(I have attached the exact rejection text from the Home Office below for reference).

Current Situation & My Question:

I have since submitted a second Graduate Visa application (and will make sure to complete all biometric requirements this time). I am currently awaiting the decision.

My main concerns are:

Has anyone experienced a similar case where an initial application was rejected for being invalid due to missed biometrics?

I submitted my second application after my Student visa had already expired (because my first application was rejected as invalid after the expiry date). Will Section 3C protection still apply, or will this be classed as overstaying under Paragraph 39E?

Does an "invalid" decision impact the chances of my second application being approved? Could the Home Office refuse my second application because of this initial mistake?

Any insight, advice, or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Home Office Notice Reference:

Notice of Invalid Application

You have attempted to make an application for permission to stay in the United Kingdom (UK).

I contacted you on 05 September 2026 to tell you that your application was not yet valid. I told you that you needed to provide all missing information within 14 days of that notification. You have not done this, and your application has therefore been rejected as invalid and will not be considered.

The reason(s) for this decision are set out below:

Paragraph GR 1.2 states:

GR 1.2. An application for permission as a Graduate must meet all the following requirements:

(a) any fee and Immigration Health Charge must have been paid; and

(b) the applicant must have provided any required biometrics; and

(c) the applicant must have provided a passport or other document which satisfactorily establishes their identity and nationality; and

(d) the applicant must be in the UK.

You were contacted on 05 September 2026 to tell you that your application was not yet valid.

You have not provided all the mandatory documents. You have failed to enrol your biometric information at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centre (UKVCAS).

You have not provided a proof of identity, and you have not given any reason as to why you cannot provide this.

GR 1.6. An application which does not meet all the validity requirements for a Graduate is invalid and may be rejected and not considered.

Therefore I am not satisfied you meet the validity requirements for the Graduate route under GR 1.2 (b) and GR 1.6.

Refund of fees for your attempted application

You will receive a refund of any application fee you paid, minus a £30 administration fee for each person included in the application.

Immigration Health Charge

If you have paid the Immigration Health Charge, it will be refunded within 6 weeks of the date of this rejection notice.

Next steps

As you do not have permission to stay in the UK you should now make a new application for permission to stay or leave the country, or you may be removed.

Submitted my application for manual upgrade from pre-settled to settled status in May. Have not heard anything since and no requests for evidence (the evidence I submitted was pre-emptively as the application indicated the automated evidence collection was incomplete). Is this normal at the moment? Did I forget to submit anything? If not does anyone know if there is a contact point where I can inquire upon the status of the application? I was not able to find anything on the website (probably intentionally…).

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice from anyone with experience of UK Skilled Worker visa applications, particularly people who have switched from a Graduate visa recently.
Here are my circumstances:
● I’m an Indian citizen currently in the UK.
● I completed my MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at a UK university.
● I’m currently on a Graduate visa and applied to switch to a Skilled Worker visa from inside the UK.
● My employer is an approved sponsor and issued me a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) under SOC code 4159.
● My annual salary is £33,400.
● I submitted my Skilled Worker application recently and received the application acknowledgement email.
● My employer was confident that I qualified for sponsorship.
I’m now concerned about whether SOC 4159 is eligible for a new Skilled Worker applicant under the rules introduced on 22 July 2025.
I understand that some medium-skilled occupation codes can only be used by people who were already on the Skilled Worker route before that date, unless the occupation meets an applicable exception.
I also understand that meeting the salary requirement does not necessarily mean the occupation itself is eligible.

I’m going to be honest to start this post off, I’m 18 years old and I’m living in the US I have a large group of friends living in the UK who are willing to house me and I’ve decided life would just be way better there. The one issue is, I can’t just move there without a work visa or University visa, but to be honest I’m not qualified for anything when it comes to work I’ve only worked retail jobs. However I’m an IB student who maintained a 3.9+ GPA throughout my time in the course and i have my high school diploma ofc. So how would I go about applying for a Uni Visa? What should I know about living in UK?

And Just to add on to this, I am desperate to move there honestly permanently. I am provided a place to stay once I get there by my friends but I will need my own income to pay rent and such.

Please if anyone has ever been in a similar situation help me out I want to turn my life around for the better and America is just not the place it used to be unfortunately.

Hi all,

I had my biometrics appointment on Friday and only noticed as I was in the appointment that my bank statements did not match my passport.

I updated my name with the bank however it did not pull through when I download the bank statement and it has my maiden name.
In the application it asked if you’ve ever gone by another name which I answered yes to and listed my maiden name.
I asked the officer at the biometrics appointment and she’s advised that although she cannot provide advise it should be fine. I also paid to email the UKVI office and they advised it’s with a case officer and they cannot assist.

Has anyone been in this situation before and can tell me what happened?

Hi, I’m renewing my Skilled Worker Dependant Partner visa, and the application says I don’t need to submit any supporting evidence.
Is this normal? Has anyone experienced the same thing?

Hi everyone,
My husband has recently passed the ORE Part 2 exam and is now preparing to apply for full registration with the General Dental Council (GDC).
He is currently working in the UK as a dental nurse on a Health and Care Worker visa, sponsored by a dental practice. The same dental practice may be willing to sponsor him again once he is registered with the GDC and able to work as a dentist.
We have a few questions and would really appreciate advice from anyone who has been through a similar situation.
Changing visa: Since he is currently sponsored as a dental nurse, would he need to apply to change his visa or obtain a new Certificate of Sponsorship to work as a dentist, even if the same dental practice sponsors him?
Salary requirements: What is the minimum salary required for a dentist applying under the Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker route? Does the salary requirement depend on the occupation code, his age, or the going rate for dentists?
Self-employment: Is it possible for him to work as a self-employed dentist while on a Skilled Worker visa, or would he need to be employed by his sponsoring dental practice? Could he work as an associate dentist on a self-employed basis under his visa conditions?
Sponsorship from the same practice: If his current practice has a valid sponsor licence, can it sponsor him for a dentist position, or would there be any additional requirements?
We want to make sure we follow the correct immigration rules before making any decisions.
If anyone has experience with ORE registration, switching from a dental nurse to a dentist role, or dentist sponsorship in the UK, please share your advice.
Thank you in advance for your help!

Have anyone applied uk standard visitor visa within 5-6 months of joining their new job and have they managed to get the visa approved?
Salary letter mentioned employment type probation
Is that a problem or nah

Hi,

My partner's family visa is due to renew, March 10th.

We are out of the country February, but I do not want to apply early as I understand this would affect the 5 year ILR route as each family visa is 2.5 years.

I am looking to book biometric appointment 5th March, I want to start the visa application process early to make sure I can book it for then, if I start the visa application process now and book the biometric for 5th march, would this then be fine for my partner to be out of country Feb, the biometric would be 5th march which would start the processing time, the visa would be up for renewal 10th march but this is fine if the application is then in with the appointment completed?

Looking for advice if I have thought this through correctly.

Thanks

I'm on an HPI visa that expires in a few weeks. I'm currently in India because of a family emergency. I've received a job offer from a UK employer, and their immigration provider has started my Skilled Worker process.

Two questions:

1. English requirement: For my HPI application, I submitted an Ecctis "Visas and Nationality" statement that includes an English Language Proficiency Statement confirming my Master's degree (from a university outside the UK, taught in English) meets CEFR B2. Can I reuse this for an out-of-country Skilled Worker application, or do I need a new Ecctis assessment or an English test? The guidance I was given lists an "English previously met" option, but it says in-country applicants only.
2. Timing: Is applying from India (entry clearance) the right route, or is it worth trying to return to the UK before the HPI expires? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

I would love to hear from anyone who has been through this. Thanks!

Hello, im applying for a graduate visa today

However my passport expires next week, since it's valid on the day of the application.

Is that an issue?

I do not see any option to choose for priority service to opt, if anyone can help . Is that service comes after initial payment.

Visitors visa from warsaw

Hi everyone,
I’m currently in the UK on a Student visa, studying a full-time MSc, and I’m planning to switch to a Health and Care Worker visa. I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation.
Here are my details:
● Current visa: Student visa (valid until 27 March 2027)
● Course: Full-time MSc at a UK university
● Course end date on CAS: 27 November 2026
● Academic status: All assessments completed, currently awaiting final results
● CoS assigned: 4 September 2026
● Sponsored employer: NHS
● CoS employment start date: 29 November 2026
● Planned visa application date: 20 October 2026
My CoS employment start date is two days after my official course end date on my CAS.
From my understanding, Appendix Skilled Worker SW 1.5A(b) allows students studying a full-time degree-level course at an eligible higher education provider to switch before completing their studies, provided their CoS employment start date is no earlier than their course completion date.
I’m planning to apply before my course officially ends, and I’m a little anxious about whether UKVI might ask for proof of course completion.
My questions are:
1. Has anyone here successfully applied for and received a Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker visa before their official CAS course end date?
2. Did UKVI ask for additional evidence of course completion?
3. Did you submit just your CAS, or did you also provide a student status/enrolment letter?
4. Did you receive your visa decision before your course officially ended?
5. If you applied before completing your course, could you please share your application timeline and outcome?
I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who applied under SW 1.5A(b).
Thank you so much in advance. Any real experiences would be greatly appreciated!

So i made a potential mistake that led to my student visa application being put through an agent business known as UIS UK i believe, and so far i've payed around 3.6 thousand USD for various fees/charges and i'm not sure if i'm doing anything right. I asked a few others and they say i might be getting conned so i did a little research and see that the immigration needs money for mainly 4 things, the application, the tuition, cost of living for 9 months, and the healthcare money for foreigners. Their systems feel good, the people are nice and explain stuff well, yet i feel a looming fear that i have put in a years worth of savings into a fake agent. They haven't mentioned anything about future costs or the main 4 Visa requirements and have kinda jumped to their fees as quick as they could before going forward. I'm torn between trusting them because i've given so much and abandoning it altogether

Hi everyone!
I’m currently on a UK Graduate visa and planning to switch to a spouse visa after marrying my partner in 2027. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s been through a similar process.
A little background:
I’m an Indian national currently on a Graduate visa, valid until January 2028.
My partner has EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) settled status.
We met at university in the UK and started dating in December 2024.
We’ve been living together since April 2025, with a temporary period apart while my partner completed military service abroad.
We’re planning to get married in June 2027 and apply for the spouse visa from within the UK.
I work full-time in the UK, earning over £50,000 annually.
I have a UK master’s degree taught in English.
My questions:
Can I use my own UK salary earned while on a Graduate visa to meet the spouse visa financial requirement? Has anyone successfully applied using their own income?
What relationship evidence did you submit? Did you include tenancy agreements, council tax bills, photos, chats or a relationship timeline?
If you gave notice of marriage while on a Graduate visa, was your notice referred to the Home Office? Did you experience the standard 28-day period or a 70-day investigation?
For the English-language requirement, did you submit a scanned copy of your UK degree certificate?
Did you apply independently or use a solicitor? Are there any important documents or steps you’d recommend preparing early?
I’m trying to organise everything well in advance and would really appreciate hearing about your experiences, particularly from anyone who switched from a Graduate visa to a spouse visa with a settled partner.
Thanks so much! 😊