The New High Potential Individual Immigration Route

The new high potential individual immigration route opens to applications on the 30 May 2022. If you are thinking of coming to the UK in the next few months it is best to understand all your visa options so you have the time to check out the right visa for you and to gather the paperwork you need. In this article our immigration solicitors look at the eligibility criteria for the high potential individual visa.

UK Online and London Immigration Solicitors 

For advice on the high potential individual visa or any aspect of immigration law call the expert London immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.

The high potential individual visa

Are you a ‘high potential individual’? The visa name sounds a bit elitist, rather like the global talent visa that aims to attract the ‘brightest and best’ to UK shores.

In fairness to the Home Office, the high potential individual immigration route is unashamedly elitist, targeting those with ‘high potential’ but limiting the definition of high potential to those who the Home Office believe have high potential qualifications.

If you are a high potential individual but you just don’t have the right sort of academic qualifications for the high potential individual visa then there are lots of alternative visa routes for you to consider, such as:

• The skilled worker visa
• The senior or specialist worker visa – this used to be called the intra company transfer visa
• The graduate visa – for international students in the UK who want to stay in the UK post-graduation
• The expansion worker visa – this used to be called the sole representative visa
• The start-up visa – for first time entrepreneurs
• The innovator visa – for more experience entrepreneurs wanting to start a business in the UK

The visa that is best for you will depend on a variety of factors, such as whether you are an existing employee of an overseas based company or if you are a young or an experienced entrepreneur with ambitions to start an innovative and scalable business in the UK.

If you want to discuss your best visa options or to explore if you can switch visa, call our immigration lawyers on 0203 959 9123.

The high potential individual visa eligibility criteria

Two key points about the high potential individual route, in comparison to the skilled worker visa, is that you DO NOT need:

• A job offer before you can apply for your high potential individual visa or
• Employment on arrival in the UK with a sponsoring employer – this means you are not restricted to taking up employment with a UK business that holds a Home Office sponsor licence and nor is your choice of employment restricted to jobs with a standardised occupation classification code.

Therefore, whilst you may be a high potential individual, your employment options are not limited to ‘high potential’ or graduate level or professional jobs. If you choose to do so, you can take up employment in a restaurant or the hospitality sector or any other industry that takes your fancy.

However, to qualify for the high potential individual route you do need to be a recent graduates of a leading overseas university. The detailed eligibility criteria are:

• You must be at least 18 years old but there is no upper age limit.
• You must have been awarded an overseas degree ( an international student studying in the UK will not qualify but the international student may meet the criteria for a graduate visa). The overseas degree must be at the same qualification level or exceed that of a UK bachelor degree or UK postgraduate degree.
• The overseas degree level qualification must have been awarded in the five years before the date of the visa application -so whilst there is no upper age limit for the high potential individual route this criteria will limit the number of older applicants.
• The educational institution that awarded the degree must have been included on the Global Universities List published by the Home Office when the degree was awarded. The Global Universities List is a list of universities published by the Home Office. The list is compiled annually and contains the educational institutions ranked in the top 50 of at least two out of three ranking systems, namely the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and The Academic Ranking of World Universities.
• Meet the English language requirement – this means you either need to sit and pass an English language test or prove that you are exempt from having to sit the test because you are a national of a country that is on a Home Office generated list of English speaking countries or you have a degree taught in English or a GCSE or A Level in English or have previously met the English language requirement in an earlier successful visa application.
• Meet the financial requirement – this means you currently need to have cash funds of at least £1,270 available. There are rules about how long you need to have held the £1,270 for.
• Produce a TB certificate – this is only required if you are applying from a country on a Home Office list that requires a TB certificate as part of the visa application process.

How long can you stay in the UK under the high potential individual route?

The visa length depends on your overseas qualification. The immigration rules say the visa length is:

• Two years - if your high potential individual application is based on a bachelor degree or a master qualification.
• Three years - if your high potential individual application is based on a PhD or doctoral level qualification.

The immigration rules say that you cannot apply to extend a high potential individual visa. In addition, the high potential individual does not lead to direct settlement in the UK . However, a high potential individual visa holder can apply to switch to a visa category that does lead to UK settlement, such as the skilled worker visa.

The benefits of the high potential individual route

Whilst the high potential individual route does not lead to direct UK settlement it does allow you to bring family members with you if the family member meets the eligibility criteria for a dependant visa.

In addition, the high potential individual route is a lot more flexible than the skilled worker visa route as you do not need a job offer or sponsoring employer to make your application. If you are an entrepreneur who wants to set up business in the UK then you can do so under the high potential individual route without having to obtain endorsement of your business from an endorsing body as you would need under the start-up visa or innovator visa routes. Therefore, the overseas qualification leading to the high potential individual application does create greater flexibility although immigration solicitors argue that focussing on a specific overseas qualification means a whole array of non-academic high potential individuals will miss out on this visa opportunity.

UK Online and London Immigration Solicitors 

For advice on any aspect of immigration law call the immigration team at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.