The UK government has come up with a new High Potential Individual (HPI) visa under which international graduates from the top 50 universities around the world will be able to work in Britain without the need for a job offer. However, no Indian universities are part of the list of institutes.
An HPI visa gives an individual permission to stay in the UK for at least two years. To apply, the person must have been qualified by an eligible university in the last five years.
Why no Indian university is on the list?
In the list released for the year 2020-2021, three Chinese universities had still managed to make it to the list, but no Indian university made it to the top list. This is amid the COVID-19 outbreak around the world. The number increased to four (two from China and Hong Kong each) in the 2021-2022 list, but Indian institutes were still out of the list of 37 universities.
According to Rahul Subramaniam, co-founder of Athena Education, the UK is highly pro-immigrant and is welcoming to scholars from different nations who will add immense value to its growing economy. “However, they’re using the top universities list as a filter which is why Indian university graduates are left behind. Indian universities are entering the top 100 league but are yet to reach the elite range,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Saurabh Arora, founder and CEO of University Living, said there could be several reasons for Indian universities not being on the list though one can only speculate. According to him, some of them could be:
Preference for native English speaking countries
Didn't want to choose from under-developed nations
Devaluation of social sciences and humanities subjects, emphasis on research over teaching
The United States of America (USA) has the most eligible universities on all lists. This goes to show that they want to pick from just first-world countries.So can Indians not apply for HPI visas at all?
Though there are no Indian universities on the list, it does not entirely close the door for Indian students. Those who have graduated from the top colleges/universities on the list will be eligible to apply for this visa category irrespective of their nationality, according to the experts cited above.
How long one can stay in the UK on HPI visa?
An HPI
visa usually lasts for two years but if a person has a PhD or other doctoral qualification, it will last for three years. One must apply within five years of being awarded a qualification from an eligible university.
Depending on the year the individual graduated in, they can check if the university they graduated from is on the list.
Can this visa ensure permanent residency?
The HPI visa cannot be extended and the candidate will have to apply for another visa if he/she wants to stay and work further in the UK. They also cannot use this visa to apply to settle permanently in the UK.
