Gov’t expands talent scheme to include more universities, extends visa validity

Nine Mainland unversities joined the scheme.

The government boosted its talent acquisition schemes to include more universities and extend visa validity for applicants.

The Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) now includes nine Mainland universities that ranked 11th to 20th in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Best Chinese Universities Ranking over the past five years, which were not previously on the eligible list.

In addition, four leading institutions in "Art & Design" on the QS World University Rankings have been added: Royal College of Art, University of the Arts London, Parsons School of Design, and Rhode Island School of Design.

Meanwhile, the government also extended the validity period of the first visas of Category A applications under the TTPS to three years.

It added more objective and clear scoring criteria for its migrant test scheme, wherein applicants must now meet at least six of 12 categories such as age, academic qualifications, language proficiency, work experience, annual income and business ownership, and submit supporting documents.