A High Potential Individual visa (HPI) was launched by UK government recently, which enables some recent non-UK graduates who wish to work, or look for work to stay in UK for at least two years. Something that is even more remarkable is this visa can switch to other long-term employment visas, if applicants meet the eligibility requirements. However, despite this the visa has sparked controversies from many quarters.

　　According to the requirements, in order to qualify for an HPI visa, applicants must, in the last 5 years, have been awarded an overseas degree level academic qualification from an institution which appears on the Global Universities List. These universities were selected if they appeared in the top 50 in two out of three selected ranking tables – the UK-based QS, Times Higher Education rankings, and the Shanghai-based Academic Ranking of World Universities.

　　The three ranking tables to make the Top 50 list have been questioned. Critics have long argued that these university rankings are beneficial to countries such as the U.S., which concentrate most of their research funding on a few large comprehensive research-oriented universities that eventually dominate the top of the list. Universities with a strong specialty, such as Dutch Delft University of Technology and German RWTH Aachen University, don't dominate this ranking.

　　Critics also pointed out that the policy is highly discriminatory as it does not cover universities from all continents. The list is made up of about 20 universities in the U.S., four in China, both EU and Canada have three, while Singapore, Switzerland and Japan all boast two, and Australia one. It does not feature a single institution from south Asia, South America or Africa.

　　Christopher Trisos, Director and Senior Researcher at the University of Cape Town, told the BBC that it is a deeply inequitable approach. He stated if the UK wants to address issues such as the climate crisis, energy access and future pandemics, it should recognize the expertise and knowledge that graduates from developing countries possess.

　　Apart from the criticism of geographical choice, the way of deciding who is really talented is also being questioned. Home Secretary Priti Patel did say that the HPI visa aims to attract, "The brightest and best, not where someone comes from." But to evaluate students' ability to work after graduation by using this method seems inappropriate.

　　Let's take a look at the standard application for the HPI visa. The UK government wrote on its website that applicants must prove that they "can read, write, speak and understand English to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale." When compared to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), B1 is equivalent to IELTS 4.0, even lower than the minimum language requirements for applying to UK universities. Students who apply to a British university must score at least an average IELTS 5.5 for the undergraduate degree and 6.5 for the master's degree. So, does this signify that those non-UK students who graduated from UK universities are better in every aspect?

　　Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer of Times Higher Education, also noted that on Linkedin the rank was initially set up to evaluate the ability of the university in the field of research.

　　"This current use of the rankings to determine emigration visas will clearly exclude many highly talented individuals studying at great universities around the world, that just happen not to fit with the research-heavy (and resource-intensive) focus of the current global rankings," he wrote.

　　Actually, choosing graduates from specific countries'colleges with a lower standard of English level required, even without a UK job offer, it obviously serves what UK government wants — to win the contemporary global competition for talent.

　　The British right-wing faction are often heard to say that immigration has become Britain's "most important issue" since the 21st century, as UK is not a country of immigrants. The issue is also the main reason caused the UK's exit from EU. However, the statement is not entirely correct. In the global high-end talent market, many countries suddenly open boarder to immigrants in order to win competition for talent, whether it is UK or the U.S., where anti -immigrant sentiment has also got stronger in recent years.