The UK will start receiving applications for a new visa type
— high potential individual visa (HPI) – beginning from May 30.
This will allow up to two-year visa for people with
bachelor’s and master’s degrees and up to three years for PhD holders.
The HPI visa will allow people to live and work in the UK
without the need for a sponsor or a prior job offer.
However, graduates of Nigerian universities do not
immediately qualify because of the global ranking criterion.
According to a statement by Kevin Foster, the UK minister of
safe and legal migration, the visa route is targeted at attracting high-skilled
foreign university graduates.
He said applicants will be required to show the equivalent
of at least £1,270 in their bank account for a continuous 28-day period no
later than 31 days prior to making the HPI visa application.
“The new High Potential Individual route will make it as
simple as possible for internationally mobile individuals who demonstrate high
potential to come to the UK. It will enable those who have already demonstrated
their potential through academic achievement to come to the UK without a prior
job offer,” the statement reads.
“If you’ve been resident in the UK for more than 12 months,
you might not need to meet this requirement. Graduates with a bachelor’s or a
master’s degree will be given a two-year visa. PhD or another doctoral level
graduates will get visas valid for three years. This visa can only be granted
once and will not be available to those who have already had Graduate visa.”
The UK government said in order to qualify for the high
potential individual visa, applicants need to have been awarded a degree from
an overseas university. The university has to be one of the top global
universities as published in the global universities list by the Home Office.
The government said the list will be compiled annually and
will comprise institutions included in the list of the top 50 universities in
at least two of the following ranking systems: Times Higher Education World
University rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings and
the Academic Ranking of the World Universities.
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