The High Potential Individual Visa UK (HPI) route is a short-term work visa for individuals at an early career stage, who have shown they have the potential to benefit the UK workforce. You can apply for the HPI route if you have graduated from an eligible international university 5 years immediately before your application.
What is High Potential Individual Visa
The new High Potential Individual visa is an exciting route to be able to bring skilled migrants into the UK and make a positive impact. It offers highly skilled migrants, including innovators and entrepreneurs, the opportunity to achieve their goals, whether by starting up businesses or working as part of a team, while making valuable contributions to the UK economy and society.
UK High Potential Individual Visa Requirements
Under the new High Potential Individual visa, eligibility will be open to applicants who have graduated from a top global university. Further, to ensure that the UK benefits from a surge of high-skilled migration, there will be no job offer requirement, giving visa-holders the flexibility to work or to switch jobs or employers. As an unsponsored work route, this will make it much easier for overseas talent who demonstrate high potential to come to the UK without a job offer.
How to apply for the High Potential Individual visa
The application process for a High Potential Individual visa will be similar to other work routes. The applicant will need to submit an online application, pay the relevant fee and provide a number of supporting documents. Applicants will also need to attend an appointment to provide their biometric information, including a photo of their face and a scan of their fingerprints.
The visa will cost £715 and is subject to the immigration health surcharge (IHS). If successful you will be given a 2-year work visa (3-year for those with a Ph.D.) and can switch to other long-term employment visas if you meet the eligibility requirements.
High Potential Individual Visa UK Universities
This list of universities relates to qualifications awarded between 1 November 2021 and 31 October 2022.
| Alphabetical Rankings Lists 2021 (establishments from Top 50 rankings that appeared on 2 or more lists) | Country |
|---|---|
| California Institute of Technology (Caltech) | USA |
| Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) | Hong Kong |
| Columbia University | USA |
| Cornell University | USA |
| Duke University | USA |
| Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL Switzerland) | Switzerland |
| ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) | Switzerland |
| Harvard University | USA |
| Johns Hopkins University | USA |
| Karolinska Institute | Sweden |
| Kyoto University | Japan |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | USA |
| McGill University | Canada |
| Nanyang Technological University (NTU) | Singapore |
| National University of Singapore | Singapore |
| New York University (NYU) | USA |
| Northwestern University | USA |
| Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University | France |
| Peking University | China |
| Princeton University | USA |
| Stanford University | USA |
| Tsinghua University | China |
| University of British Columbia | Canada |
| University of California, Berkeley | USA |
| University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | USA |
| University of California, San Diego | USA |
| University of Chicago US | USA |
| University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| University of Melbourne | Australia |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | USA |
| University of Munich (LMU Munich) | Germany |
| University of Pennsylvania | USA |
| University of Texas at Austin | USA |
| University of Tokyo | Japan |
| University of Toronto | Canada |
| University of Washington | USA |
| Yale University | USA |
