This High Potential Individual visa route is for recent graduates of top global universities, who want to work, or look for work in the UK, following the successful completion of an eligible course of study equivalent to UK bachelor’s degree level or above. The study must have been with an institution listed on the Global Universities List. The High Potential Individual route is an unsponsored route (i.e. a job offer from a licensed employer is not required).
The High Potential Individual route is NOT a route to settlement.
The applicant must not have been previously granted permission under the Student Doctorate Extension Scheme, as a Graduate or as a High Potential Individual.
A dependent partner and dependent children under 18 can apply on this route. There must be a genuine and subsisting relationship and the Partner must intend to live together with the Main Applicant throughout the visa validity.
The applicant must be awarded a total of 70 points based on the table below.
| Requirement | Relevant rules | Points available |
| Global Universities List degree requirement | HPI 5.1 to 5.4 | 50 |
| English Language requirement at level B1 | HPI 6.1 to 6.3 | 10 |
| Financial requirement | HPI 7.1 to 7.4 | 10 |
The applicant must, in the 5 years immediately before the date of the application, have been awarded an overseas degree level academic qualification which Ecctis confirms meets, or exceeds, the recognised standard of a UK bachelor’s or UK postgraduate degree.
The institution at which the applicant was awarded the degree must appear on the Global Universities List in respect of the date the applicant was awarded the degree.
The date the applicant was awarded the degree will be the date as confirmed by Ecctis.
Unless an exemption applies, the applicant must show English language ability on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in all 4 components (reading, writing, speaking and listening) of at least level B1
If the applicant is applying for permission to stay and has been in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer on the date of application, they will meet the financial requirement and do not need to show funds.
An applicant who is applying for entry clearance, or who is applying for permission to stay and has been in the UK for less than 12 months at the date of application, must have funds of at least £1,270.
The applicant will be granted entry clearance or permission to stay for the period as set out in the table below based on the qualification relied on to meet the Global Universities List degree requirement.
| Type of Degree Qualification | Period granted from date of decision | |
| PhD or other doctoral level qualification | 3 years | |
| All other degree qualifications | 2 years |
The grant will be subject to all the following conditions:
(a) no access to public funds; and
(b) work (including self-employment and voluntary work) is permitted, apart from work as a professional sportsperson (including as a sports coach); and
(c) study is permitted, except study with an education provider which is a Student sponsor, and which would meet the approved qualification and level of study requirements of the Student route which are set out in Appendix Student; and
(d) study is subject to the ATAS condition in Appendix ATAS; and
(e) if Part 10 of these rules applies the person will be required to register with the police.
There are separate lists of Universities published for each year from 2016 to 2020 and those can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=533dd054-b354-44d7-ac1c-93c5b9c1ef59&utm_content=daily
We copy below the list of universities relevant for qualifications awarded between 1 November 2021 and 31 October 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list-2021
| Alphabetical Rankings Lists 2021 (establishments from Top 50 rankings which 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 |
