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Dear lord, the irony is not lost on that one.
Essentially, a person who completes his grad or post grad from UK will only be able to apply for graduate visa program of UK.
Ministers hope the “high potential individual” route, which launches on Monday, will attract the “brightest and best” at the beginning of their careers to work in the UK.
Successful applicants with a bachelor’s or master’s degree will be given a two-year work visa, while PhD-holders can apply for a three-year visa.
Government guidance states that beneficiaries can then “switch to other long-term employment visas, if you meet the eligibility requirements”.
The route is open to graduates from the top 50 non-UK universities, who hold a degree, equivalent to a UK bachelor’s or postgraduate degree, awarded no more than five years before the date of application.
Although the Home Office would not comment on the number, the Telegraph reported that the visa scheme would be uncapped, meaning the number would depend on demand.
Eligible universities must appear in the top 50 rankings of at least two of the following: Times Higher Education world university rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds world university rankings, or the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
The most recent list of eligible universities from 2021, published online by the UK government, comprises 20 US institutions, plus universities from Canada, Japan, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, France, Sweden and Switzerland.
The government also stipulated that candidates must pass a security and criminality check, and be able to speak, read, listen and write English to at least the B1 intermediate level.
The British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, defines B1 intermediate level as “those who have the necessary fluency to communicate without effort with native speakers”.
The visa will allow eligible individuals to come to the UK without a prior job offer, and dependants will be allowed to accompany them.
The visa will cost £715 and is subject to the immigration health surcharge, a fee successful visa or immigration applicants pay that allows use of the NHS.
Anyone applying for the visa must have maintenance funds of at least £1,270.
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, said: “This new visa offer means that the UK can continue to attract the best and brightest from across the globe. The route means that the UK will grow as a leading international hub for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
“We want the businesses of tomorrow to be built here today, which is why I call on students to take advantage of this incredible opportunity to forge their careers here.”
Priti Patel, the home secretary, said: “I am proud to be launching this new and exciting route as part of our points-based immigration system which puts ability and talent first, not where someone comes from.”
The government’s points-based immigration system means people coming to the UK for work must meet specific requirements for which they will score points, with visas awarded to those with enough points.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/30/visa-scheme-graduates-top-50-non-uk-universities-high-potential-individual
Also, one needs to be in the the top 50 BOTH in QS and Times Higher Education. Thus, only 6 UK universities qualify at present: Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, KCL, UCL and Edinburgh. But as pointed out LSE only barely makes the top 50 in QS and could slip out.
Along with these universities, around 20-30 other universities make it to the top 50 of both lists, given below. The list of foreign universities is given below. Mostly from the US, but a few from Europe, China, Canada, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong.
It is hard for the IITs to compete with Chinese, Japanese, Singapore and Hong Kong universities. There are rich countries with massive education budgets.
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
Columbia University
Cornell University
Duke University
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL Switzerland)
ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Karolinska Institute
Kyoto University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
McGill University
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
National University of Singapore
New York University (NYU)
Northwestern University
Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University
Peking University
Princeton University
Stanford University
Tsinghua University
University of British Columbia
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
University of California, San Diego
University of Chicago US
University of Hong Kong
University of Melbourne
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Munich (LMU Munich)
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas at Austin
University of Tokyo
University of Toronto
University of Washington
Yale University
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list-2021
By this I do not mean to impose any Jindal Superiority or to say that Jindal deserves the rank it is placed on. Obviously Jindal has a specific office focused on rankings and NLUs don’t. My point is not to prove any superiority but to say that rankings do matter and instead of criticising Jindal for getting into “rankings that do not matter”, law schools in India like NLS must create an environment in their universities to compel them to content for these global rankings. This might further help grab international opportunities for a lot of students who are often more diligent than those at JGLSz
The HPI basically creates this really focused system based on a list of "top universities" (you can question the implicit bias as others have). The latest list is available here (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list-2021).
As you will see, the list is focused towards 'science, engineering and research'. Lawyers, to my mind, won't fall into that list as such and could face other issues under the HPI. In sum, its framed with tech and medical fields in mind, not for lawyers (even though its unclear how the HPI regime can stall their entry).(https://www.gov.uk/government/news/points-based-system-welcomes-high-skilled-graduates-to-uk).
The natural corollary of all this useful information is that the universities you have mentioned (NLS, Jindal and so on) will not qualify for these lists even if they break into top 50 of more than one of those ranking lists because of the HPI's explicit bias for high-skilled workers in specific fields. As a lawyer, you will continue to face other issues such as qualifications or recognition of your degree (which are much less integratable as compared to say a degree in medicine from NUS or a one in tech from Melbourne). The idea is that there are no accredition or affiliation or qualification (practice-oriented regulations) required in tech and medicine; that's in contrast with law or accounting which are heavily regulated.
So, lets not get ahead of ourselves. As a lawyer, lets try to understand the reasons behind policies. Boris may be idiotic, but UK policymakers are not as daft as you are suggesting.
Relaxing visa norms is one of the techniques used in such a crisis. But it's too little, too late. You'd be better off working for other foreign firms in the long run.
https://www.wionews.com/world/new-uk-visa-option-for-graduates-including-indians-from-worlds-best-universities-483589
As for the likely implications for Indian lawyers:
- There will now be a flood of Indian LLM applicants to the UK (Oxbridge, KCL, UCL) + Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, Queensland) + Singapore (NUS), where the fees is much less than a US LLM. If the QS ranking to be considered is the overall ranking and not the subject-wise ranking, then LSE is currently ranked at 49 and is often outside the top 50, as LSE has no science department. So KCL, UCL, Melbourne, UNSW etc will be preferred over LSE. But if the law ranking is to be considered then LSE is easily within the top 20.
- Jindal has dual degrees with a few of the QS top 50 colleges and NLSIU is also in talks. They will now be increased demand for these dual degrees. However, an NLSIU BALLB + a QS top 50 LLM should set one back by about 40 lakhs, which is still cheaper than a Jindal BALLB.
- Meanwhile, if the subject-wise QS rankings are considered, then Jindal is currently ranked 75 and NLSIU is at 150. Both will make efforts to break into the top 50.