Over the years there opportunities have been decreasing for overseas students to gain work experience in the UK — whether they studied here or not. It was for this reason that the government’s announcement of a visa route for “high potential individuals” from across the world was, at first sight, something to welcome. From yesterday, Monday 30 May, students who have studied at one of fifty eligible universities can apply for a two or three-year work visa, without having secured a job, and even switch to other long-term employment visas.
Those in support of this visa route, colloquially known as a visa for top talent, thought it provided an excellent opportunity for students, especially from the Global South, to acquire the skills needed to meet today’s challenges in science and technology, including in climate change and food security. Those who were worried about the scheme were concerned that the Global South was about to enter a new era of the brain drain that stymied many countries’ development in the mid-20th century.
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