High Potential Individual Visa

The High Potential Individual visa route is a short-term work visa for individuals at an early career stage, who have shown they have potential to benefit the UK workforce and a promising career.

Applicants do not need to have a job offer to apply for the High Potential Individual visa.

If successful you will be given a 2 year work visa, or a 3 year work visa for those with a PhD.

Applicants will also be able to switch to other long-term employment visas, if they meet the eligibility requirements.

Applicants can apply for the High Potential Individual visa route if you have graduated from an eligible university or international university in the 5 years immediately before your application.

As this scheme is so new, information on the application process is limited.

It is believed that the process will mirror most other visa applications such as the Senior or Specialist Worker visa or the Scale-Up visa, with applicants being required to provide identity documents, proof of qualifications and finances, and give biometric data.

To be eligible for the High Potential Individual visa, applicants will need:

• A degree level qualification or a recognised equivalent from a top university, which must have been verified by Ecctis, and awarded in the last 5 years (the university must appear in the Home Office Global Universities List)
• A valid passport or recognised identity document
• Applicants must be able to understand and communicate in English to a certain level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale (in short, being able to read, write, speak and listen to at least an intermediate Level B1)
• Prove financial stability by being able to show cash funds of at least £1,270 at the date of application (they must have held those funds in their account for 28 days or more, ending no more than 31 days before the date of their application).

The high potential individual visa application cost is currently £880.

You will also have to pay the annual healthcare surcharge.

As this scheme is new, the finalised amount for varying costs has not yet been calculated. For updated information, keep checking back on our Immigration blog page or our newsletter.

Alternatively, the GOV.UK website will be updating costs as they are announced.

Although the High Potential Individual visa provides a wealth of opportunity and promise to potential candidates, its requirements are not always achievable and most people will not qualify.

There are a few other UK visa route options that have a similar deal for applicants, whereby they are talented, in demand, hardworking, and overseas.

Listed are alternative routes to the High Potential Individual visa:

The Scale-Up visa

The Scale-Up visa allows skilled workers the opportunity to live and work in the UK for a Scale-Up business.

A Scale-Up business is defined as a company with an annual average revenue of 20% over a 3 year period, plus a minimum of 10 employees at the start of this 3 year period.

This visa will allow individuals to switch jobs or employers entirely after a minimum buffer period, and also allows for visa extension providing all immigration and eligibility rules have been met.

Skilled worker visa

The Skilled worker visa enables an individual to live and work in the UK for up to 5 years, at which stage they can apply for ILR settlement.

The person needs to have a Home Office approved role in the list of eligible jobs, as well as a licensed sponsor.

Global Talent visa

The Global Talent visa enables skilled individuals in the following categories:

• Digital Technology and advancement
• Academic research
• Arts and culture

This visa grants talented workers to live and work in the UK for 5 years, after which they will be eligible for ILR settlement.

It also furthers the applicants career through allowing for diversity in culture, access to the UK’s leading education in world university rankings, accessible opportunities, and more.

The applicant will need endorsement from a Home Office approved organisation, or win a prestigious award such as a Golden Globe, BAFTA, Academy Award, Brit, or Nobel Prize in Sciences.

The UK government is seeking to widen the list of awards necessary to bypass endorsement to make the visa more accessible to applicants regardless of class or financial status.

Those who possess a High Potential Individual visa may:

• Perform most jobs
• Seek employment
• Work for yourself
• If your partner and children are eligible, you must reside in the UK with them.
• Volunteer your time
• Travel and then come back to the UK

Although you cannot:

• Apply for the State Pension or the majority of benefits (public funds).
• Working as a professional athlete
• Obtain an extension for your H-1B visa
• Request a permanent residence in the UK

You must apply for a specific Sportsperson visa if you want to work as a sportsperson in the UK.

If you wish to settle permanently in the UK, there may be another suitable immigration route available to you. Take a look at our guide for Indefinite Leave to Remain, contact one of our legal advisers on 0333 305 9375, or get in touch with us online.

For the High Potential Individual visa, you must apply online.

You’ll have to provide identification documentation as part of the application procedure. You will be required to:

Visit a visa application centre to get your fingerprints and photo taken in order to receive a biometric residency permit.

Use the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to scan your identity paper.

If an appointment is required:

• Your passport and other supporting documents might need to stay at the visa application centre while they process your application.
• Your nearest visa application centre can be abroad, therefore you might have to travel there.
• A employment offer from the UK is not necessary in order to submit an application for a High Potential Individual visa.

If you already have a visa for another type of entry into the UK, you might be able to change to a High Potential Individual visa. To apply, go online.

To change their visa, your spouse or kids will also need to submit a separate application. They can submit an application either at the same time as you or whenever their existing visa expires.

Note that if you are currently in the UK on any of the following visas, you cannot apply to transfer to a High Potential Individual visa:

• Visit permit
• A temporary student visa
• Student visa
• Student visa for a parent of a child
• Seasonally employed visa
• Visa for a domestic worker in a private home

Additionally, if you are in the UK, you cannot apply for a High Potential Individual visa:

• Bail for immigration
• Due to the fact that you were permitted to remain outside of the immigration laws, perhaps for compassionate reasons
• If any of the aforementioned conditions apply to you, you must depart the UK before making an application for a High Potential Individual visa abroad.

Usually, if you are applying from outside the UK, you will hear back in three weeks.

You will often receive a response within eight weeks if you submit your application from within the UK.

If you are contacted regarding your application, it can take longer than this because:

• Verification of your supporting documentation is required.
• You must appear at the interview.
• Pertaining to your individual circumstances, such as if you have a criminal record