BEFORE YOU LEAVE

High Potential Individual (HPI) Visa

The Global Business Mobility visa is a combined new category of sponsored routes for overseas businesses to send workers to the UK for a temporary work assignment with a linked UK business that cannot be done by a settled worker. These routes was opened to applicants from 11 April 2022.
There are five separate Global Business Mobility routes that correspond to different temporary work assignment types, including:

• Applicant is aged 18 or over on the date of application;
• The degree must have been awarded by an institution which appears on the Global Universities List;
• Applicant have sufficient funds to maintain themselves or any dependants in the UK; and
• Applicant meets the English language requirement.

Global Universities List Overseas & Eligible Degree Requirement

In order to qualify for a High Potential Individual Visa applicant will need to have been awarded an overseas degree level academic qualification.

The qualification must be equivalent to a UK bachelor’s or postgraduate degree. The degree should have been awarded no more than 5 years from the date of the application and the institution which awarded the degree must appear on the Global Universities List in respect of the date when the degree was awarded. .

The Global Universities List is a list of universities published by the Home Office, which is compiled on an annual basis and consists of all institutions that are ranked in the top 50 of at least two of the following ranking systems: .

• Times Higher Education World University Rankings;
• Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings;
• The Academic Ranking of World Universities.

High Potential Individual Visa Financial Requirement

Visa Entitlements

FAQ

• Am I eligible to apply for settlement or ILR? v

  • The High Potential Individual Visa route does not lead to a settlement or Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK.
    
    The High Potential Individual Visa allows switching into any work permitted category leading to settlement, such as skilled worker, innovator, exceptional talent etc. Applicatnts are allowed to switch, i.e. apply for a variation of the visa, at any time before its expiry date.
    
    

• Rights of Dependantsv

  • Dependants of a High Potential Individual Visa applicant (including children under 18 years of age) or (husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried partner or same-sex partner) will be eligible to live and stay in the UK with the main applicant. They can live and work in the UK without any restrictions.
    
    Dependants of a High Potential Individual Visa applicant will be granted leave in line with the expiry date of the main applicant's leave.
    
    Dependants of a High Potential Individual Visa applicant will have the following conditions attached to their leave:

    • No recourse to public funds;
    • Registration with the police, if applicable;

• Conditions of Stayv

  • Applicants under the High Potential Individual Visa will have the following conditions attached to their leave:

    • No recourse to public funds;
    • Registration with the police, if applicable;
    • Not be allowed to start up or run a business;
    • Applicant cannot take employment, except:
      • working for the sponsor in the job recorded on your Certificate of Sponsorship; and
      • for an extra job in the same sector and at the same level or in a job on the shortage occupation list, provided that you do not work more than 20 hours per week in that job; and
      • voluntary work.
• Biometric Requirementv

  • Non-EEA nationals applying under High Potential Individual Visa have to apply for a biometric residence permit.
    
    The biometric residence permit is a residence permit which holds a migrant's biographic details (name, date and place of birth) and biometric information (facial image and fingerprints), and shows their immigration status and entitlements while they remain in the UK. This also means that a UK visa will no longer be stamped in the applicant's passport and all applicants will be issued one of the new Biometric visa cards instead. These cards look very similar to a (pink) UK driving license, except they have a microchip in the back.
    
    Once the application for High Potential Individual Visa is submitted online, applicants are required to attend their biometric appointment at one of the Visa Application Centers to provide their fingerprints, photo and signature.
    
    Successful offshore applicants will receive a 30-day' vignette sticker' in their passport instead of a vignette with the full grant of leave. This 30-day visa will be the date they indicated as their intended travel date in their visa application. Applicants under High Potential Individual Visa will be required to collect their BRP from the Post Office branch detailed in their decision letter within ten days of arrival in the UK. The Post Office branch is linked to the postcode that they submitted in their visa application. The BRP card can then be used as proof of right to work, study and access public services in the UK.
    
    

• Digital Statusv

  • EEA nationals making an application under the High Potential Individual Visa using the UK Immigration: ID Check app will be given digital status if their application is successful.
    
    EEA applicants as a part of the High Potential Individual Visa application process can use the UK Immigration: ID Check app to complete the identity stage of their visa application. Using the app, they should confirm their identity, verify their documents and take a picture.
    
    

• Immigration Health Surchargev

  • The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) was introduced by the Home Office on 6 April 2015. People coming to the UK for more than six months have to pay this health surcharge as a part of their immigration application towards the National Health Service (healthcare in the UK). Offshore applicants will have to pay the health surcharge if they are applying for a visa for a period of longer than six months, and onshore applicant will have to pay the health charge for any length of visa.
    
    Applicants will have to pay £470 per year as a student, or as a Youth Mobility Scheme or applicant who is under 18 years. For all other visa and immigration applications, they have to pay 624 per year. Dependants will usually need to pay the same amount as the main applicant. The exact amount they have to pay depends on how much leave they are granted. They can calculate how much they will have to pay before you apply. If the period of grant applied for is less than 6 months, then half of the yearly amount to be paid and if the period of grant applied for is more than 6 months, then whole year amount is to be paid.
    
    Visa application will not be granted if applicants do not pay the healthcare surcharge or application will be delayed if the right amount is not paid.
    
    Following persons are exempted from paying the IHS:
    

    • diplomats or a members of a visiting armed forces and not subject to immigration control
    • dependants of a member of the UK's armed forces
    • dependants of a member of another country's armed forces who is exempt from immigration control
    • applicants for a visa for the Isle of Man or Channel Islands
    • British Overseas Territory citizens resident in the Falkland Islands
    • asylum seekers and applicants for humanitarian protection, and their dependants
    • domestic workers who have been identified as victims of slavery or human trafficking
    • those applying for discretionary leave to remain in the UK as someone who has been identified as a victim of slavery or human trafficking, and their dependants
    • those applying for permission to remain as the victim of domestic abuse, and their dependants
    • those claiming that being made to leave the UK would be against their rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and their dependants
    • Applicants and their dependants applying for Health and Care Worker visa

• Processing Timesv

  • In line with the Home Office service standards for processing UK visa applications for the High Potential Individual Visa, they decide within 3 weeks if applying from the outside UK and within 8 weeks, if applying within the UK.