KAMPALA: A new UK visa aimed at attracting the best graduates from across the world risks exclucan countries, scientists and policy-makers have warned.
In 2020, only 1,196,584 decisions were made, and 996,636 visas granted into the UK.
Of these, 193,272 applications were rejected, while 6,647 applications withdrawn, and twenty-nine applications lapsed. The UK visa approval and rejection rate in 2020 was 83.29% and 16.15%, respectively.
Coming to Uganda, It takes the embassy about 15 business days to process your application form and issue the UK Standard Visitor Visa. However, just to be on the safe side, we advise you to apply for it at least 8 weeks in advance of your departure.
According to New Scientist, the High Potential Individual visa, due to be launched by the UK Home Office on 30 May, is aimed at people who have graduated in the past five years from one of what are often regarded as the world’s top universities.
People with a recent undergraduate degree or PhD from one of these universities will be able to move to the UK for up to three years without needing to have a job lined up beforehand. Typical UK visas for foreign researchers require a pre-existing job offer, a fellowship, certain research grants or that the individual is a notable prize-winner.
The Home Office has produced a list of foreign universities it considers to be the best in the world by compiling institutions that appear in the top 50 at least twice across three specified global university league tables.
The resulting list includes no universities in African nations, effectively excluding anyone who has studied in Africa from the scheme.
