UK High Potential Individual Visa (HPI) 2022: How to Apply

The High Potential Individual route is a new immigration route which aims to deliver the UK Government’s commitment in the Plan for Growth to “introduce an elite points-based route to attract the brightest and best to the UK to maintain our status as a leading international hub for emerging technologies”. Opening on 30 May 2022, the High Potential Individual route will be available to recent graduates of leading overseas universities who wish to work, or look for work, in the UK. Unlike the existing Skilled Worker route and the forthcoming Scale-up route, opening on 22 August 2022, the High Potential Individual route is not a sponsored route. This means that graduates do not need a job offer for an eligible skilled job in the UK from a Home Office-approved sponsor. While the route will be open to overseas graduates with a UK job offer, it will also be available to graduates who have no current job offer in the UK and who simply wish to look for work (any type of work) in the UK. Although applicants for a High Potential Individual Visa must be at least 18 years old to apply, unlike the Youth Mobility Scheme there is no upper age limit for a High Potential Individual visa and the route is also open to all nationalities. The High Potential Individual route will not lead directly to settlement in the UK. However, graduates in the UK with a High Potential Individual Visa will be able to apply from within the UK to switch into another immigration route which may subsequently lead to settlement. High Potential Individuals may also be joined or accompanied by a partner and dependent children.