In today’s Blog, we will be discussing the inclusion of 20 US universities, whose students are now eligible to apply for a UK visa without any job offers.
Latest graduates from 20 US universities can now apply for a visa to live and work in the UK for up to three years without a job offer. The visa is part of the UK immigration system updates focused on attracting highly skilled workers to the country.
Before moving to the UK, US citizens usually require a UK firm to provide an actual job offer and agree to sponsor their work visa. However, now under the new scheme of High Potential Individual visas, US citizens will be able to apply to move to the UK without a job offer and also bring their family along with them, as long as they have acquired a degree from a ‘top’ university within the past five years.
Qualified graduates must come from universities included in the UK government’s annual list of what it regards as the best 50 universities worldwide. To qualify for that list, each institution should appear on two of three global rankings which are:
- The Times Higher Education World University Rankings,
- Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings, or
- The Academy of Ranking World Universities.
Twenty US universities are listed on the UK government’s list for 2022. Other universities included in the list are mostly from Europe and Asia.
Graduates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree will qualify for a two-year visa, while those having a PhD can stay for three years. The visa cannot be prolonged, but a person can apply for a different visa once their High Potential Individual Visa expires.
There are other conditions as well. Candidates must be fluent in English. They must also demonstrate that they can financially support themselves and have available funds of a minimum of £1,270, or around $1,604. The cost of the visa is £715. Candidates must also contribute £1,872 to the UK’s National Health Service.
UK’s New Points-Based Immigration System
The visa is part of the British government’s restructuring of its immigration policy toward a “points-based system” after leaving the European Union in January 2021.
Under the system, visa candidates need to gather 70 points to obtain skilled-worker status. The points are calculated depending on factors such as a person’s eligibility, the type of job they’re applying for, their language skills, and the sum of money they’ll be paid.
It focuses to attract candidates it views to be highly skilled, in particular for tech, startup, and finance roles.
According to Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer, the meaning behind this new visa offer is that the UK can continue to entice the best and brightest from across the globe In 2019, the government made amendments to permit any foreign citizen who graduated from a British university to remain for two years after graduation, formerly they had to leave within four months after completion of their degree.
The plans have garnered some criticism. There are no African, South Asian, or Latin American institutions on the UK’s list, which is being seen as unjust.
According to a researcher from a South African University, if the UK wanted to tackle problems such as the climate crisis, energy access, and future pandemics, it should accept the specialist skills and knowledge held by graduates in developing countries.
The names of the 20 US universities Included in the UK government’s 2022 list are listed in the description box below:
- California Institute of Technology
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Duke University
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Princeton University
- Stanford University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of California, San Diego
- University of Chicago
- University of Michigan
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Washington
- Yale University
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