Graduate visa to Skilled Worker: 2026 playbook with Venky (Venkatesh Dasari)

14-page PDF for anyone on a Student or Graduate visa who wants to be sponsored before the clock runs out. Built on the rules as published on GOV.UK and UKCISA on 20 September 2026: RQF 6 skill level since 22 July 2025, £41,700 standard salary, the £33,400 / 70% new entrant rule and its 4-year cap, English B2, in-country fees (£943 / £1,865 plus £1,035 a year surcharge), Graduate visa 2 years now and 18 months from 1 January 2027, and what is law versus proposal on settlement. Chapters: 1 The clock: Student straight to Skilled Worker vs via Graduate visa. 2 The rules on one page. 3 Your job code: going rates and the real new-entrant salary floor for 18 graduate roles (software developer £38,290, IT tester £33,400, accountant £34,440) plus the medium-skilled traps like 'data analyst'. 4 What sponsorship costs the employer (licence £611 / £1,682, CoS £525, skills charge) and the Student-switch card that saves them thousands. 5 The 24-month plan, month by month (18-month version in brackets). 6 Finding sponsors: register, Sponsor Watch, and companies that have never sponsored. 7 The conversation: how to answer 'do you need sponsorship?', the HR email that gets a yes, the message to a newly licensed company. 8 Offer to visa: CoS checklist, fee maths, working while pending. 9 After the visa: job changes, the 4-year cap, absences, ILR and what is changing. 10 The ten mistakes that end the route. Written by a Telugu guy who did exactly this: student, part-time jobs, sponsored software engineer at a company nobody had heard of. Not immigration advice; official links in every chapter. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Priced for graduates, not consultancies.