Why UK’s visa scheme for graduates is being called ‘elitist,’ ‘discriminatory’

The United Kingdom’s new ‘High Potential Individual’ visa scheme, which promises two to three years of work visa to alumni of top 50 universities across the world, has not gone down well in the Indian academia with many calling it “elitist,” and “discriminatory.”

What the new visa rule entails

Under the new scheme, UK has said that it would allow graduates of 50 top international universities, who have graduated in the past five years, to work in the country with two to three-year visas. Those who hold a master’s degree would be given a two-year visa, while PhD holders would be given visa for three years.

UK’s home secretary Priti Patel said that the visa scheme prioritises a student’s ability and talent over their origin. The scheme has been put in place to fulfil the UK’s vision to create “a leading international hub for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.”

To choose eligible students, the UK would fall back on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and The Academic Rankings of World Universities. In other words, an aspirant must have attended a university which appeared in the top 50 rankings featured in one of the higher education league tables on the year he or she passed out.

Also read: UK to open high potential individual (HPI) visa for foreign graduates

The candidates will have to undergo a security check as well as the customary English proficiency test. The visa would cost an aspirant £715 excluding immigration health surcharges. The applicant should have a bank balance of at least £1270 (₹1,23,496) to qualify.

While the UK government has not capped the number of eligible candidates, those who qualify for the visa can shift to other long-term employment visas if they meet certain requirements.

Why the scheme has riled up Indians

Indian academics have accused the UK of introducing the scheme to smoothen the visa application process of Ivy League graduates and those with access to First World education, to work in Britain, while snubbing the rest of the world. The list of top 50 universities primarily covers universities in Europe, Australia, Canada and the US, and is devoid of any representations from South America, Africa, South Asia or India including its prestigious IITs and IIMs. Only eight universities from Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Japan make a poor representation of Asia.

“This means everyone from Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Amitav Ghosh would have been turned down if they had applied to this scheme after their bachelor’s degrees,” writes Princeton University scholar Aliya Ram in The Wire.

Indian students in the US call the rankings “illogical”.

“In the present day, India supplies the most foreign students to UK universities, so the fact that they are not part of this programme defies logic. Professors and R&D units value graduates from IIT or IIM. UK authorities need to stop Indian students like cash cows,” Amit Tiwari, the UK president of Indian National Students Association told Economic Times.

Sanam Arora, the chairperson of Indian student body NISAU in UK in an interview with ET, wonders why the IITs and IIMs do not find mention in the top university rankings even though India has given the world some of its best brains. She hopes that the Indian government takes the matter up with the UK.

Are world rankings legit?

Patel questions the ranking system, asking why the UK government did not examine any biases in the list of universities.

She says ranking systems often put research over teaching, enabling universities where academics have less teaching load and more time for research, to climb up the ranking ladder.

This puts lesser-known universities doing exceptional research much down in the ranking list.

“I have met brilliant academics from community colleges in the US, Indian universities, lesser-known Chinese universities, universities from South America, Africa, the Caribbean, and elsewhere. They conduct ground-breaking research across different disciplines. It seems absurd that they would not be welcome in the UK under this scheme,” she writes.

‘Indians do get representation’

Many disagree that the new visa rule is “discriminatory” toward Indian students, and argue that it does allow Indians studying in the top 50 universities, say like Harvard, MIT, Princeton or Yale, to avail the scheme.

“Every country wants to attract top talent and it befits the economy. The new visa route of the UK seems to be designed to do that…Ït will not benefit Indians studying in India as we do not have varsities in the top 50 ranks but hundreds of Indians who have studied in top 50 universities elsewhere can apply and avail the benefits,” said Manjula Rao, a former executive with the British Council in India told Money Control.

Rao says that universities in the UK and US already allow two to year years of post-study work opportunities to foreign students.