Coming for your graduation ceremony

International students may need to apply for a visa to attend their own graduation or their family members may need to apply for visas to visit UK as their guests at the ceremony.

If you are a visa national and your current Tier 4 student visa expires before your graduation date, you will need to leave the UK and apply for a Standard Visitor visa to come back to attend your graduation ceremony.

You can apply for a Standard Visitor visa if you want to visit the UK for your graduation ceremony –

• The earliest you can apply is 3 months before you travel.
• You must meet the eligibility requirements.
• It is helpful if you can provide evidence of the date of your ceremony (invitations to attend the Graduation Ceremony are emailed to graduating students by their university or college approximately 6 weeks before the date of each ceremony). You must provide all necessary documents in order to obtain visa.
• If you apply from outside the UK, you must apply online. As part of your online application, you need to book an appointment at a visa application centre. You’ll have your fingerprints and photograph (known as ‘biometric information’) taken at your appointment.
• If you apply from inside the UK, you might be able to extend your visa if you’re already in the UK.