UK launches new visa for world's top graduates No need a job offer
Graduates
from the world's top universities now have a new route into the United Kingdom.
The High Potential Individual (HPI) visa is
aimed at attracting high-skilled foreign university graduates - who will be
allowed to work and stay in the U.K. for two or three years, depending on their
degree level.
Applicants
won't need a job offer or sponsorship and holders of this visa will be free to
come to the UK to work, set up as self-employed and volunteer.
In a
joint announcement, UK Cabinet ministers Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel said the
new "exciting" category under the post-Brexit points-based system is
aimed at attracting the “best and brightest” talent from around the world,
regardless of nationality. Successful applicants will
be given a two-year work visa, with a three-year visa offered to those with a
PhD, without the need for a specific job offer in hand.
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,” Immigration Minister Kevin Foster said. “It will enable those who have
already demonstrated their potential through academic achievement to come to
the UK without a prior job offer.”
“The route means that the UK will grow as a
leading international hub for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.