UK Govt Gives Work Visa To Students Of Top 50 Universities: Any Indian University Eligible? (Check Full Details)

The United Kingdom has introduced a new High Potential Individual (HPI) visa path.

Applicants won’t need a job offer or sponsorship.

The High Potential Individual (HPI) visa is aimed at attracting high-skilled foreign university graduates.

How It Works

Graduates from the top 50 non-UK universities will be able to stay and work set up as self-employed and volunteer in the nation for a minimum of two years.

The work visa for a PhD or other doctoral qualification will be for at least three years.

This visa can only be granted once and will not be available to those who have already had a Graduate visa.

Under the new route, the world’s top graduates in subjects such as science, engineering and medical research will be encouraged to bring their skills to the UK after graduating from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Stanford and MIT.

Eligibility

To be eligible, applicants must hold a degree from a world renowned university, awarded within five years of application.

The degree can be in any discipline but has to be equivalent to not less than a UK bachelor’s degree.

An applicant needs to prove his/her identity and provide relevant documents. One gets a decision on their visa within:

• 3 weeks, if you’re outside the UK
• 8 weeks, if you’re inside the UK

Financial Requirements

This new route will cost roughly 715 pounds (Rs 70,071.48) and will allow students to bring along dependents or close family members.

Aside from this, applicants will need to show the equivalent of at least 1,270 pounds (Rs 1,24,462.63) in their bank account for a continuous 28-day period no later than 31 days prior to making the application.

University Rankings

The British government will be releasing the list of qualifying schools once a year on the Gov.uk website.

It will include schools that feature on the top 50 in at least two of three renowned rankings:

• Times Higher Education World University rankings
• Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings
• The Academic Ranking of the World Universities

No Indian Unis

There is no Indian university featured in the list

The UK government has been called out over the issue, as not one of the IITs made it to the Top 50 list.

However, Indian students studying at any of the eligible universities may be eligible for the HPI visa.