The Global Talent Visa is valid for up to 5 years, enabling you:

• To work for one or multiple companies, switch employers or change positions;
• Be self-employed or operate a new or your own existing business in the UK;
• Enroll to full-time studies;
• Combine all the above with no authorisation whatsoever.

The visa can also be extended to your immediate family members. After the initial visa period (5 years for Exceptional Promise and 3 years for Exceptional Talent), you can either apply for an extension or permanent settlement in the UK. There is no English language, work or maintenance requirements compared to other visa routes.

Yes, the UK Global Talent visa enables you to take with you:

• Immediate family members such as your spouse;
• Children under 18;
• Your child over 18 if they are currently in the UK as a dependent.

The Global Talent Visa is granted for up to 5 year. The visa can be extended as many times as you need!

Yes, successful applicants of Global Talent Visa can live and work in the UK for up to 5 years and then they can apply for ILR and later for British Citizenship. The qualifying period depends on which criteria your visa is granted under – either Exceptional Talent (3 years) or Exceptional Promise (5 years).

Global Talent Visa is available for talented and promising individuals in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, humanities, digital technology (including all tech sub-sectors like fintech, AI, cyber, and games), and arts and culture (including film and television, fashion design and architecture) wishing to work in the UK.

The Tech Nation Visa is granted to founders and employees with both technical or business backgrounds.

When you apply for a Global Talent visa, you can choose between Exceptional Talent
and Exceptional Promise applications depending on your level of experience:

Exceptional Talent
If you are already a recognised leader and have made a significant contribution / significant contributions to your respective field;

Exceptional Promise
If you are an emerging leader, in other words, you have the potential of becoming
a recognised leader and contributing to your respective field.

Applying for endorsement via Exceptional Talent does not preclude you from endorsement under Exceptional Promise should you meet the necessary criteria; likewise, applying under the Exceptional Promise route does not preclude you from endorsement for Exceptional Talent.

For Exceptional Talent there is one mandatory and two optional criteria.

Mandatory criteria

Show that you have been recognised as a leading talent in the digital technology sector, which can be evidenced by the following facts and relevant documentation:

• a reference letter from an industry leader, proving that your work led to the expansion of a digital technology company;
• a reference letter from senior global commercial executives, proving that your projects have brought major commercial success to a product-led digital technology company;
• a compilation of code commit summaries or repo stars, which proves that you have made significant contributions to a substantial open source project;
• media articles, demonstrating that you have been a speaker at high-profile digital technology events.

Optional criteria

Show that you:

• Have a track record for innovation as a founder or senior executive of a product-led digital technology company or as an employee working on a new digital field or concept;
• Have been recognised for work beyond your occupation that contributes to the development of the field;
• Have made significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field;
• Have made academic contributions, research published or endorsed by an expert.

We will help you choose and correctly submit required documentation. For more details on the criteria and the documentation you need to provide please read our blog post.

For Exceptional Promise there is one mandatory and two optional criteria.

Mandatory criteria

Show that you have been recognised as having potential to be a leading talent in the digital technology field, which can be evidenced by the following facts and relevant documentation:

• a reference letter from an industry leader, proving that your work led to the growth of a product inside a digital technology company;
• a reference letter from senior global commercial executives, proving that your projects have enabled substantial revenue and/or customer growth at a product-led digital technology company;
• a compilation of code commit summaries or repo stars, which proves that you have made significant contributions to a substantial open source project;
• media articles, demonstrating that you have been a speaker at high-profile digital technology events.

Optional criteria

Show that you:

• Have made at least 2 innovations as a founder of a product-led digital technology company or as an employee working on a new digital field or concept;
• Have been recognised for work beyond your occupation that contributes to the development of the field;
• Have made significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field;
• Have exceptional ability in the field by academic contributions (at least 2 examples).

We will help you choose and correctly submit required documentation. For more details on the criteria and the documentation you need to provide please read our blog post.

For your Tech Nation application you will need:

• A completed Tech Nation Visa application form, which includes a Personal Statement;
• A CV, containing your experience, contributions to the relevant field, publications, etc.;
• Three letters of recommendation from recognised leaders in the tech industry;
• Up to 10 pieces of evidence in relation to the relevant Eligibility Criteria.

We will assist you in drafting and submitting all the necessary documentation for your application.

A Personal Statement must explain the contribution that you will make to the UK digital technology sector. It should contain answers to the following questions and any other information that proves your eligibility for a Global Talent Visa:

• Why do you want to come to the UK?
• What do you plan to do in the UK?
• Which region or city of the UK are you planning to live in?
• How will the UK digital technology sector benefit from your work?

• Immigram team will draft your Personal Statement after a series of interviews.

The Tech Nation requires at least 3 of these letters.

Each letter should:

• Be from a senior member of their organisation familiar with your contributions to the digital technology field;
• Be written especially for your Global Talent application;
• Reveal how the person knows you, show your achievements in the digital technology sector, and include your plans for the future;
• Reveal how you would benefit from living in the UK and how you could contribute to the digital technology field in the UK;
• Be typed, dated and signed by the author, or by someone on behalf of the organisation recommending you;
• Be up to 3 single sides of A4 paper, excluding the author’s credentials and contact details;
• Include a telephone number and email address, and the organisation’s logo and registered address, if applicable;
• Come with the author’s CV (or other proof of their credentials that the endorsing body will accept).

Immigram team will draft all the reference letters for your application after a series
of interviews.

You should provide:

• Reference letters from leading industry experts;
• Financial documentation and proof of earnings (business ownership);
• Commercial contracts, employment contracts including any bonus and equity options and history of earnings, revenue history, product/market traction;
• Financing history in the case of investments or funds;
• News clippings;
• Links to your publications;
• Compilation of code commit summaries;
• Repo stars or similar metrics such as download statistics;
• Evidence containing such details as number of page views, downloads or other quantifiable metrics;
• For work within a startup, the company’s capital that has been raised and revenues.

All currencies contained within evidence should be converted to GBP where possible, or a summary of appropriate conversion rates provided.

We will help you choose and correctly submit the necessary evidence of your achievements.

To apply for the Global Talent Visa, you have to submit:

• An endorsement letter;
• A current passport or other travel documents;
• Your tuberculosis test results if you come from a country where you are required to take the test.

There are two applications stages:

Stage 1 - Application for Endorsement

You apply for Endorsement on the official Global Talent visa website and complete a Tech Nation Visa application form for assessment. An endorsing body assesses your skills, abilities and achievements, and advises the Home Office whether you can be endorsed. This stage takes up to 8 weeks to be processed. Although we usually get a decision much faster - in just 2-3 weeks.

You must submit your Tech Nation application form no more than 15 working days after you submitted your Home Office application. However, if you miss the deadline Tech Nation will first provide you with another one and then simply refund the Application fee, allowing you to resubmit your application.

Stage 2 - Application for Visa

You must apply on the official Global Talent website within 3 months of receiving your endorsement from Tech Nation. The Home Office reviews your application, considering various immigration aspects. This stage usually takes up to 3 weeks if you're outside the UK, and up to 8 weeks if you're inside the UK.

One person’s application fee is £623.

This includes:

• Stage 1 – Endorsement Application: £456;
• Stage 2 – Visa application: £167*.

The fee for all dependents (Stage 2 only) is £623*.

*Please note this does not include additional Stage 2 costs such as your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) enrolment fee and healthcare surcharge.

Your application fee will be automatically reduced by £55 if you’re from one of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden or Turkey.

This reduction only applies to your visa application. Your dependents will still need to pay the full application fee.

If your application for endorsement gets rejected, you can apply for an Endorsement Review from the relevant endorsement body. If such a case occurs, we will assist you in applying for
a Review and appealing the decision.

You can also submit a new application or make an application under a different immigration route. Both of these options will require you to pay a new application fee.

Application data received by Tech Nation will remain strictly private and confidential, and is stored and processed on Tech Nation’s secure application system. Data will only be accessible to the Home Office, Tech Nation and the independent assessment panel.

In accordance with Home Office instructions, Tech Nation will store your data for up to 6 years, after which it will be permanently deleted. You should only share data if you have permission to do so, Tech Nation cannot advise regarding NDA's or whether you should share any particular data.