The UK’s High Potential Individual (HPI) visa is a two or three-year unsponsored work route designed to attract recent graduates from top global universities to live, work, or look for work in the UK. It allows applicants to come to the UK without a job offer or employer sponsorship, offering full work rights and flexibility to switch into longer-term immigration categories later.

 

The latest update

 

The government has now implemented significant changes to the HPI visa route, first outlined in the Statement of Changes on 14 October 2025 and brought into force on 4 November 2025.

These adjustments mark the most substantial expansion of the HPI category since its launch in 2022.

 

What’s changed

• Expansion of the Global Universities List: The list of eligible overseas universities whose graduates can apply has grown to 80 institutions.
• Retroactive eligibility: The revised lists now apply to the past five academic years, meaning graduates from newly added universities during that period may now qualify.
• New annual cap: A cap of 8,000 applications per year has been introduced, though with only around 2,000 applications last year, this is unlikely to be restrictive in the near term.

The new US universities added

 

While the full global list is available on the government website, a number of US institutions have been newly added under the latest update.

These include:

• Brown University
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Purdue University
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Santa Barbara
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of Southern California
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Vanderbilt University
• Washington University in St Louis

These join the existing roster of leading US institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and UC Berkeley. You can view the full and official list here: High Potential Individual visa: global universities list 2025 – GOV.UK

 

Key points for applicants

• You must have graduated within the last five years from an eligible institution listed for your award year.
• Your qualification must be equivalent to a UK bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree.
• The route does not lead directly to settlement, but visa holders can switch into longer-term categories (e.g., Skilled Worker).
• English-language and maintenance fund requirements still apply.

How Muldoon Britton can help

 

At Muldoon Britton, our UK immigration lawyers in Manchester and New York advise individuals and employers on all aspects of UK immigration law, including the High Potential Individual (HPI) visa route.

Whether you’re a graduate assessing your eligibility, or an employer exploring how this route fits within your recruitment strategy, our team can provide tailored advice and end-to-end support with your application.

 

Contact us today to discuss your circumstances and find out how we can help make the most of the HPI Visa opportunity.