News and updates from the world of staff immigration in 2026. Please let your colleagues know about this page if you think our updates would be useful to them.
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UK Visas and Immigration has recently updated its guidance on the High Potential Individual (HPI) visa route to bring it into scope for ATAS. This means that all new HPI applicants who otherwise meet the criteria for ATAS must be granted ATAS clearance. This does not apply to existing HPI visa holders.
The Immigration Rules have not yet been updated, so it is not clear whether an ATAS certificate will be required before applying for a visa (as with the Skilled Worker and GAE routes) or before a visit/employment can begin (as with Visitor visas). Until we know more, we would recommend the former to avoid the risk of a visa application being refused.
We have updated our ATAS guidance accordingly.
16 January 2026