Figures in force

Changes since

The handbook

Figures in force

Routes 4

Is your university on the HPI list?

Your university must be on the list for the year your degree was awarded, and the award must be within the last 5 years.

The High Potential Individual (HPI) visa depends on where and when your degree was awarded, with one GOV.UK list per award period.

Find your university and award year

Every result: the award must be within the last 5 years; UK universities are not eligible; an HPI visa can be granted only once.

The list for awards from to , published (gov.uk).

Australia

  • Australian National University (ANU)
  • Monash University
  • The University of Melbourne
  • The University of New South Wales (UNSW)
  • The University of Queensland
  • University of Sydney

Belgium

  • KU Leuven

Canada

  • McGill University
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of Toronto

China

  • Fudan University
  • Nanjing University
  • Peking University
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  • Tsinghua University
  • University of Science and Technology of China
  • Zhejiang University

Denmark

  • University of Copenhagen

France

  • Institut Polytechnique de Paris
  • PSL University
  • Sorbonne University
  • Université Paris-Saclay

Germany

  • Heidelberg University
  • Technical University of Munich
  • University of Bonn
  • University of Munich (LMU Munich)

Hong Kong

  • City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK)
  • The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
  • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
  • The University of Hong Kong

Japan

  • Kyoto University
  • The University of Tokyo

Netherlands

  • Delft University of Technology
  • University of Amsterdam
  • University of Groningen

Singapore

  • Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore)
  • National University of Singapore (NUS)

South Korea

  • Seoul National University
  • Yonsei University

Sweden

  • Karolinska Institute
  • KTH Royal Institute of Technology
  • Lund University
  • Uppsala University

Switzerland

  • EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
  • ETH Zurich
  • University of Zurich

United States

  • Boston University
  • Brown University
  • California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Columbia University
  • Cornell University
  • Duke University
  • Harvard University
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  • New York University (NYU)
  • Northwestern University
  • Princeton University
  • Purdue University - West Lafayette
  • Stanford University
  • The University of Texas at Austin
  • University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
  • University of California, Irvine
  • University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
  • University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
  • University of California, Santa Barbara
  • University of Chicago
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • University of Southern California
  • University of Washington
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Vanderbilt University
  • Washington University in St Louis
  • Yale University
Paragraph 1

The newest list here covers awards from to , published on . Older lists still matter if your award is recent enough. All are on the global universities list page (gov.uk).

The rules that apply whatever the list says

Rules that apply whatever the list says
RuleWhat it says
Once onlyYou can apply for an HPI visa only once.

Authority GOV.UK guidance, High Potential Individual (HPI) visa: Eligibility (gov.uk).

The passage relied on
You can only apply for an HPI visa once.
UK degreesA degree from a UK university does not qualify.

Authority GOV.UK guidance, High Potential Individual (HPI) visa: Eligibility (gov.uk).

The passage relied on
UK universities are not eligible. If you’re already in the UK on a student visa you may be able to apply for a Graduate visa.
After a Graduate visaYou cannot be granted one after a Graduate visa.

Authority Appendix High Potential Individual, HPI 1.6 (gov.uk).

The passage relied on
HPI 1.6. The applicant must not have been previously granted permission under the Student Doctorate Extension Scheme, as a Graduate or as a High Potential Individual.
The central aisle of Duke Humfrey's Library in Oxford, between rows of bookcases
Plate 18. Duke Humfrey's Library, the oldest reading room of the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Photo: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Adapted (greyscale, cropped).
Paragraph 2

Being on the list is one condition. English, the yearly cap and the rest are on the HPI entry. If you are in the UK on a Student visa, compare the Graduate visa, and the English rules on the English requirement.

History

  1. . Entry updated.
  2. . Entry first published.
  3. 4 November 2025. In force. HPI list widened and a yearly cap set, HC 1333.

Common questions

Which HPI list applies to my degree?

The list for the year your degree was awarded, not the year you apply. The award must also be within the last 5 years.

Is the HPI list for this year out yet?

The newest list held here is named below the finder, with the award period it covers and its publication date. Every list is on GOV.UK's global universities list page, linked in the same paragraph.

Are there universities in the United States on the HPI list?

Use the country filter in the finder, or the typeset list below it, which groups universities by country in alphabetical order.

Is a UK university on the HPI list?

No. UK universities are not eligible for the HPI visa.

Sources

  1. High Potential Individual visa: Eligibility (gov.uk). Checked .
    The passage relied on
    You must have been awarded your qualification in the last 5 years.
    UK universities are not eligible. If you’re already in the UK on a student visa you may be able to apply for a Graduate visa.
    You can only apply for an HPI visa once.
  2. Immigration Rules: Appendix High Potential Individual (gov.uk). Checked .
    The passage relied on
    HPI 1.6. The applicant must not have been previously granted permission under the Student Doctorate Extension Scheme, as a Graduate or as a High Potential Individual.
  3. High Potential Individual visa: Switch to this visa (gov.uk). Checked .
    The passage relied on
    You cannot switch to this visa if you’re on a Graduate visa.
  4. Statement of Changes HC 1333: explanatory memorandum (gov.uk). Checked .
    The passage relied on
    6.4 For the changes that introduce a visa requirement on Botswana, those changes will come into effect at 1500 BST on 14 October 2025. The changes regarding appendix HPI, will come into effect on 4 November 2025, the changes relating to Students transitioning to the Innovator Founder route come into effect on 25 November 2025 and the changes to English language requirements for economic migration routes will come into effect on 8 January 2026. All other changes will come into effect on 11 November 2025 and are detailed in the implementation section of the Statement of Changes.

How each figure is checked: Sources and method.

This is general information about the rules, not legal advice. For advice on your own situation, use a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (gov.uk).