Permanent Residence After Study: Why a Degree Is Not the Application
A degree does not file a permanent-residence application, and a post-study work permission does not either. The usual sequence, where it exists at all, is study, then a separate work permission, then qualifying employment or another eligibility test, then a settlement application that can still be refused. No country in this article is a shortcut. Rules change. The notes were checked on 25 September 2026.
The first work permission is not settlement
How a student status becomes a work permission is in from a student visa to a work visa. What to weigh before you choose a country is in post-study work options. This article starts after that permission exists and asks what would still have to happen.
United Kingdom
Indefinite leave to remain on a Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, T2, or Tier 2 visa is a settlement application. GOV.UK says you must have lived and worked in the UK for five years, meet the salary requirements, and still be needed for the job. Your sponsor confirms that. If you are 18 to 64 you book and pass the Life in the UK Test. The earliest you can apply is 28 days before you complete five years on a qualifying visa. Applying earlier can mean a refusal. On 25 September 2026 the fee was £3,226 for each person. You usually should not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man until you get a decision, or the application is withdrawn.
The same page says there are rules for what counts toward the five years, and it tells you to check which visas count. The page that should list those visas did not open as a separate list on 25 September 2026. This article does not say that time on a Student visa or a Graduate visa counts, and it does not say that it does not. Read that list on GOV.UK before you add student years to a five-year plan. The salary figure for settlement is also on the settlement rules, not in the £41,700 test for a new Skilled Worker application.
Canada
A post-graduation work permit can be a period of authorized skilled work. The Canadian Experience Class is a different thing: a permanent-residence program inside Express Entry for people who already have that kind of Canadian experience. You still need a profile that meets the program, then an invitation, then an approved application. How the Express Entry pool works is the ranking step. Quebec selects its own skilled workers and is outside that federal pool. Work experience gained in Quebec can be counted only if you can show you do not plan to settle there.
Germany
A residence permit to look for work after study, and a later settlement permit, are different titles. The federal portal that describes settlement after study did not open on a repeat check. No month count, pension rule, or language level for that settlement permit is stated here. Confirm it with the foreigners authority or the page that is live on the day you apply. Do not treat the EU Blue Card, or a job-search permit, as settlement.
