United Kingdom Global Talent Visa

Overview Benefits & Eligibility The Process Additional Notes Let's Get Started

Overview

United Kingdom Entry Clearance for Global Talent Visa

The Global Talent visa is a UK immigration route for talented leader or potential promising leader in specific sectors such as sciences, the humanities, engineering, the arts, and technology who wish to work and live in the UK in their specific industry. It replaced the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa category in 2020. The Global Talent visa is eventually a permanent settlement Visa which allows 3 initial years if you have been identified and endorsed as a Talented candidate or 5 years if you have been identified and endorsed as a Potential candidate. On obtaining your Global Talent work visa and completing the required 3- or 5-years residency period in the UK you may be able to apply for Indefinite leave to Remain (ILR) which eventually leads to British Citizenship.

GAN Visa UK Immigration consultants have decades of experience and a proven track record in successfully delivering expert legal advice and consultation on UK Global Talent Immigration Route, guiding you through the entire immigration process. We will prepare your application for submission to the Home Office and assist you through the whole process. Our dedicated Immigration Consultants have an established reputation in providing expert, effective and friendly legal support for a full range of services to fit your individual needs, including visa/entry clearance and extension applications, indefinite leave to remain (ILR) and most importantly intervening Refused UK Immigration applications.

Benefits & Eligibility

What are the advantages of UK Global Talent Immigration Route?

Immigration Rules for this route found in the Global Talent Appendix page on the UK government immigration website are relatively easy to follow and understand
The overall work requirements are broadly stated, you can work for an employer, be the director of a company, or be self-employed in the field you were endorsed, hence the possibility of setting up your own business provides a lot of scope and flexibility.
Many applicants are able to obtain indefinite leave to remain after only 3 years through Global Talent route or in 5 years through exceptional promise route without need any extension or further endorsements.
Free to change jobs without having to tell the Home Office. Not being tied to an employer makes it far more flexible and convenient for your career development.
The employer do not have to hold a UK sponsor license to recruit you. This makes the Global talent immigration route far more attractive than other skilled immigration route.

Who can Apply?

The scheme is open to anyone aged 18 or over who has exceptional talent or exceptional promise in the fields of; science, research, engineering, humanities, social science, medicine, architecture, digital technology, arts and culture, fashion, film and television
“Talent” applicants will already be leaders in their specific field, whereas those with “promise” will have the potential to become leaders.
Whilst certain roles are clearly standard fits under the route, many experts in the technology domain have opinioned that other more technical and less high-profile roles can also meet the requirements. For example, in the context of scientific research, some other technical specialty which doesn’t come under the skilled immigration and work permit route, can use this route as well as the lead scientists.

The Process

UK Global Talent Entry Clearance Process

The whole Global talent immigration application is divided into two steps. The visa application can take up to three weeks if you are applying from outside the UK and up to eight weeks if you are applying from within the UK. However, digital technology applicants may apply to have their endorsement application fast-tracked under certain prescribed circumstances.
In some cases, priority applications may be possible for visa applications, and do note that the applicant does not have to wait for the endorsement to be granted before they apply for the visa – although they run a risk because if the endorsement application is refused then of course the visa application will be refused as well.

Step 1: Obtaining the Endorsement

Unquestionably the most complex part of the process is the first step: obtaining endorsement from a Home Office approved endorsing body. These third-party endorsing bodies must approve Global Talent applicants before they can apply for a visa.
The approved endorsing bodies for the Global Talent route are:

Arts Council England – for arts, culture, architecture, fashion, film and television
The British Academy – for humanities and social science
The Royal Academy of Engineering – for engineering
The Royal Society – for natural sciences and medical science research
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – for science and research
Tech Nation – for Digital Technology

Each endorsing body have a completely different set of criterias and some offer fast-tracking in certain situations. It’s really very important that anyone thinking of making an endorsement application reads the guidance from the specific endorsing body in detail and ensures that they include all the information needed. The application for endorsement usually takes up to 28 to be processed and the current fee to make an application to an endorsing body is £456.

Step 2: Home Office Visa application

Once endorsed, the actual visa application process for Global Talent is somewhat straightforward and clear step.
Most applicants simply need:

Confirmation that they’ve been endorsed;
A valid passport;
A tuberculosis test result if from certain countries
Immigration health surcharge of £624 per year per adult and the application fee of £152 or £97 for certain nationals like Turkish, Austrian, etc.

Once the application form is completed, it can be submitted online and the relevant fees paid. It’s only then that any supporting evidence needs to be uploaded. Standard applications made from inside the UK should be normally processed within 8 weeks and made from outside the UK should be normally processed within 3 weeks

Additional Notes

There’s no English language requirement and no financial requirement nor even a job offer requirement for the UK global talent route application.
Anyone who has had an award or scholarship covering both fees and living costs for study in the UK in the 12 months before the date of application will also need a written permission from the agency or government that granted it.
If you are applying from within the UK, you can apply to switch to a Global Talent visa if you are already in the UK on one of the following visa types; Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 5, Tier 4, except Short Term Student Visa, Start Up or Innovator.
Partners and children of the main applicant, including children over 18 who are currently in the UK as a dependant, can apply under Global Talent as well. The fee for them is currently £608, plus the health surcharge.
Each period of stay can be up to five years. If someone only wants to come to the UK for a short period of time like a year to work on a specific project, they can apply for a visa for ony that much period. This reduces the health surcharge costs too.
It is important to bear in mind that if the migrant applies for either extension or settlement, they must show that they have earned money in the UK and that these earnings were linked to the expert field which led to their initial endorsement.
You will not be able to have access to public funds nor work as a doctor or dentist in training or Work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach.
In some cases, priority applications may be possible for visa applications, and do note that the applicant does not have to wait for the endorsement to be granted before they apply for the visa – although they run a risk because if the endorsement application is refused then of course the visa application will be refused as well thereby wasting the time and the money plus the flagging of being refused.
As the route is relatively cheaper the other immigration route, it is always enticing for anyone to quickly submit a basic application to see if the endorsing body might accept that. GAN Visa would highly caution against this approach. It is always best to spend time preparing the strongest possible application from the start. If the endorsing body refuses the first attempt, it’s almost always harder to try and persuade them to approve a second application.
The main risk of refusal under this route arises from the grounds of refusal contained in Part 9 of the Immigration Rules. Before putting a our client through the often intensive process of gathering evidence needed for the endorsement stage, we always recommend checking at a very early stage that there is nothing in the applicant’s past that may become problematic. A early workaround or well defined early solution is always our strategy.
Previous overstaying, criminal offences, alleged deception and even innocent mistakes may all be problematic. At the very least, they’ll likely need to be explained in some detail in the visa application.

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Kickstart your UK Global Talent Application Process

The Global Talent visa immigration route to UK is extremely competitive and includes a rigorous application process specifically the endorsement step. At GAN Visa, we have a robust track record of advising successful applicants looking to remain or enter the UK using the Global Talent visa route. We provide friendly, practical, effective, expert rule-based advice and will swiftly spot any weaknesses in your application and correct them.
We provide a helpful 15 minutes free no obligation consultation callback to understand and asses your situation. Kindly arrange your Free Callback today by providing your details on clicking the button below and one of our UK Immigration consultants will gladly come back to you. Speak to you soon.

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