How to get a Global Talent Visa to work in the UK: application guide

The Global Talent visa is for top-tier professionals and rising stars in fields like tech, arts, and academia, letting you live and work in the UK while contributing your expertise. It’s ideal for those with proven talent or great potential. Formerly known as the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visa, it now has no annual cap and simpler requirements, making it easier for exceptional individuals to move to the UK. By the way, the UK is one of the best countries with talent visas worldwide.

The process can take you anything from two to six months. The Global Talent Visa is issued for either 3 or 5 years, and you receive a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) card. It is extendable and you can apply for a permanent residence permit after it (ILR – Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year on the ILR, you can apply for the British citizenship.

When considering a work permit abroad, most people think of a standard work visa. In the UK, this is the Skilled Worker visa.

Generally, getting a Skilled Worker visa can be easier since the employer handles most of the paperwork. You can apply for jobs from overseas, interview, and secure a position with a UK company.

However, there are some key differences:

– Eligibility: not all companies or professions qualify. The UK government maintains a list of approved employers with visa sponsorship licence.
– Employer preferences: even if a company has a visa sponsorship licence, they might not hire foreign workers due to higher costs or internal policies.
– Job flexibility: the Skilled Worker visa ties you to a specific employer, you are generally not allowed to do consulting work or set up your own company while being on a Skilled Worker visa. Changing jobs means you’ll need to find a new employer who can sponsor you again. This visa also offers limited or no social security, which can be a drawback if you have a family.
– Requirements: you must pass an English test, provide proof of income, and maintain a certain amount of money in your bank account.

In contrast, the Global Talent visa only requires proof of your exceptional talent. It offers much more flexibility—you can work, freelance, switch jobs, or start your own business without needing to prove English proficiency or meet specific income levels.

The Global Talent visa has just two restrictions: you can’t work as a doctor or a professional sportsman, and you can’t claim public funds like benefits or pensions. Otherwise, you have the freedom to live and work as you wish.

You are eligible for applying if you have been actively building your career and sharing knowledge in one of the three areas: 

• arts and culture
• digital technology
• academia or research 

You should be able to explain why your presence in the UK would be beneficial to the local economy, and how you wish to make the most out of your potential and grow in your chosen field.

It would be quite hard to list every single profession that is eligible for the Global Talent visa – there are many examples of this visa obtained by marketers, HRs and other related job titles rather than specifically arts and tech specialists and scientists. To give you a rough idea of who can apply under this visa route, here are some of the occupations:

The visa is divided into two categories: “Exceptional Promise” and “Exceptional Talent”.

Promise is suitable for those who are at the beginning of their professional or creative journey and have under 5 years of experience. In simple terms, there is no need to be the world’s biggest star in your field, and overall our stats indicate that Promise is indeed easier to get than Talent. However don’t let the requirements fool you: you still need to show quite a few achievements to be endorsed under this visa category. We’ll get to that in a second.

Talent is a category where demonstrating outstanding professional achievements is vital. Generally those who apply under this category need to have worked in their professional field for over 5 years. The benefit of this category is that you only get granted a visa for 3 years, after which you can apply to ILR. That’s one of the quickest ways of getting a permanent residency and citizenship in the UK! Whilst in the case of Promise, you will need to wait for 2 years longer before applying for your ILR, and only get your citizenship after living in the country for a total of 6 years. 

Another thing to note is that even if you applied for an endorsement under Promise but the endorsing body believes that you have achieved enough to be a Talent, you’ll be granted a Talent. So overall applying under Promise is a somewhat safer option if your experience in the field doesn’t massively exceed 5 years in total so far. Here’s a quote by our client to help you get a better understanding of it.

Of course, every story is unique, and Global Talent is a relatively new UK visa category, so the rules change from time to time.

Let’s start with the good news: for the Global Talent Visa, knowledge of English is optional, and you don’t need to go through any interviews or exams. In fact, we’ve seen cases where arts professionals have been granted the visa with just an A2/B1 level of English! Additionally, no proof of income is required.

The Global Talent Visa is obtained in two stages:

Stage 1: Endorsement
This stage involves applying for an endorsement from a recognized body, such as Tech Nation for digital technology or the Arts Council for the arts. Importantly, Stage 1 is not an immigration stage, meaning it does not affect your immigration history or status. During this stage, the focus is solely on assessing your skills and expertise in your chosen field. You will receive a Unique Application Number (UAN) after submitting the endorsement application, which you’ll need when applying to the endorsing body.

Stage 2: Visa Application
After receiving your endorsement, you can apply for the actual visa in Stage 2. This is when your immigration status is assessed, and if successful, you’ll be granted the Global Talent Visa, allowing you to live and work in the UK without restrictions.

In summary, Stage 1 focuses on endorsement based on your talent, without affecting your immigration status, and Stage 2 is where the immigration process begins.

When applying for the Stage 1 endorsement of the Global Talent Visa, it’s essential to first complete the Stage 1 application on the UK government website. This process will provide you with a Unique Application Number (UAN), which is mandatory for submitting your application to the endorsing body (like Tech Nation for digital technology applicants).

Without this unique number, you won’t be able to proceed with the endorsement process on the endorsing body’s platform. The endorsing body requires this number to identify and link your application to their evaluation process.

Here’s the correct link to apply for Stage 1 and get your unique application number: Global Talent Endorsement Application.

Once you receive the UAN, you can use it to submit your endorsement request via the relevant endorsing body. There are six endorsing bodies currently in the UK assessing your talent. Read our full guide on how to get an endorsement for the UK Global Talent visa. 

• Tech Nation
• Arts Council England
• British Academy
• Royal Academy of Engineering
• Royal Society
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

After receiving the endorsement, you can proceed with applying for the visa itself (Stage 2). You’ll use the endorsement and your UAN to complete this stage, and if successful, you will be granted the Global Talent Visa, allowing you to work in the UK without restrictions. The main purpose of Stage 2 is for the immigration officers to run the entry clearance checks on you (to ensure you’re not a criminal!), stamp the visa in your passport and issue a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) which you will pick up upon moving to the UK (this will change from December 2024 when all permits will be electronic and not physical).

We at EP Advisory get tens of enquiries from tech applicants every day. As you can see above, the Global Talent visa is open not only for technical professionals but also for those working in this sector with non-technical backgrounds. For instance, if your role is in growth marketing, sales, or product management at a tech company, you might be eligible to apply!

Specifically, some “Venture Capital partners and Senior analysts” have successfully gained endorsements through us. This reference indicates that individuals working in venture capital, including partners and senior analysts, can be considered for the Global Talent Visa in the UK under certain conditions, likely related to their contributions to the tech sector or their specific expertise in digital business environments.

If you are an employee or an entrepreneur, the rules towards the company are the following:

• Importance of working for a product-led digital business.
• Examples of eligible companies: Amazon, Spotify, smaller tech start-ups.
• Exception for niche technical expertise, like AI in heavy industries.

When applying for Tech Nation endorsement, you would normally need to upload 15 documents: 3 Letters of Recommendation (LORs), 1 CV, 1 Personal Statement, and 10 Evidence pieces (3 A4 pages each). 

When it comes to selecting your referees, try choosing those who:

• are or were your direct bosses who can confirm your; achievements/experience written in your CV;
• have strong experience working for tech companies (avoid people who have background of working for consulting, outsourcing companies, agencies and other non-tech businesses, e.g. PepsiCo, Bosch, etc.);
• have a good LinkedIn profile (all sections filled, recent activity, etc.);
• have a Global Talent visa already;
• are based outside your country of origin or not the same nationality as you.

We recommend for you to include here as many potential referees as possible.

10 Evidence pieces go towards Mandatory criteria and Optional criteria. Each evidence piece should be no longer than 3 x A4 pages. There are 4 optional criteria, and you need to satisfy at least 2 of them to get the endorsement.

4 optional criteria for Talent applicants:

4 optional criteria for Promise applicants:

Optional Criteria 1 (OC1): a proven 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; 

• In our experience at EP Advisory, this criteria is quite commonly used. As an applicant, you need to show innovation (e.g. new product feature, new product development, new market, new marketing strategy, etc). You can, for instance, attach press releases about those innovations.
• Example: Yuri, Front-End Developer, created a price match feature for a booking platform; this innovation received some media attention.

Optional Criteria 2 (OC2): proof of recognition beyond the applicant’s occupation that contributes to the advancement of the field;

• This is hard to prove but still possible. As an applicant, you need lots of evidence of speaking at conferences, media recognition, courses developed by you, or your participation in official mentorship programmes. We would recommend at least 5-7 articles in the media, podcasts, YouTube videos (not your own channel, but elsewhere), conference speaking, panel discussions, judge appointments, etc. 

Optional Criteria 3 (OC3): significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field made as a founder, senior executive or employee of a product-led digital technology company; 

• This is also quite common. You need to show quantifying achievements related to your field (revenue generated, app downloads, fundraising, team growth, increase in website visitors, etc.)

Optional Criteria 4 (OC4): exceptional ability in the field demonstrated by academic contributions, through research published or endorsed by an expert.

• We at EP Advisory only had a couple of people applying with OC4. Those were people with patents, trademarkers, IP property, and scientific articles published. Your application really has to have some weight to satisfy this criteria. 

Recent research commissioned by the UK Home Office, conducted by Ipsos, looked into the effectiveness of the Global Talent Visa program. It included an online survey completed by 4,025 successful visa holders, 10 case study interviews, and 25 in-depth interviews

Global Talent Visa Application and Endorsement Satisfaction

The high level of satisfaction with the overall process was reflected in visa holders’ views about the 2 main stages of the application process: endorsement (91% satisfied) and main visa application (87% satisfied). Overall visa application success rate exceeds 90%. Here are some key findings on applicant satisfaction:

• Over 90% of applicants successfully obtain the visa.
• Direct endorsement success is also over 90%.
• The overall visa application process has an 85% success rate.
• Around 90% of applicants found the visa application form easy to complete.

Global Talent Visa Success Rate Overview

In 2023, the success rate for the UK Global Talent Visa rose to around 75%, though exact approval rates are not fully disclosed by the UK Home Office and can vary based on several key factors:

1. Field Expertise and Achievements: High-impact contributions, such as published work, awards, or peer recognition, strongly influence approval chances.

2. Endorsements from Esteemed Bodies: Endorsements from reputable UK organisations, like Arts Council England, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society, and the British Academy, play a crucial role in visa success.

3. Immigration History: A positive immigration record and no previous issues with UK authorities can enhance approval likelihood.

4. Commitment to the UK: Demonstrating how the applicant’s continued work will benefit the UK economically and culturally is essential.

Kathrin, Gaming professional: Despite her young age, Kathrin has accomplished a lot in the gaming industry in Germany. She founded and successfully grew her gaming start-up. She fundraised for it and received multiple awards and grants for the games she’s developed. Kathrin also became a judge and was featured on national TV.

Alex, Entrepreneur: In addition to successfully setting up and exiting multiple start-ups in the USA, Alex has been doing a lot of thought leadership in his field (fintech). From setting up fintech communities to acting as a start-up mentor for world-famous accelerators. 

Emil, Product manager: With only 4 years of relevant product management experience, Emil has managed to increase his income by 300% in the past 3 years. He had developed innovative product features that had an impact on the industry and won multiple hackathons in his home country.

For science and engineering, there are 4 endorsing bodies that have similar criteria: The Royal Society, The Royal Academy of Engineering, UK Research and Innovation, and The British Academy.

In simple terms, there are 4 different routes to apply for an endorsement with one of these endorsing bodes – from an official academic or research appointment (if you were offered a position at one of UK research organisations) to receiving an individual fellowship or a research grant. All of our clients here at EP Advisory have gone for Route 4 – Peer review.

• Route 4 with The Royal Society
• Route 4 with The Royal Academy of Engineering
• Route 4 with The British Academy

Mandatory Criteria for Route 4 – Peer review

All boxes should be ticked:

• The applicant must be an active researcher in a relevant field, typically within a university, research institute or within industry.
• The applicant must have a PhD or equivalent research experience (including industrial or clinical research).
• The applicant must provide a letter of personal recommendation from an eminent person resident in the UK supporting the Global Talent application.
• Be a member of their professional society/body/association in the field of their research (have an active membership, ideally in EU or the UK).

The applicant must meet 1 or more of the following Qualifying criteria.

Qualifying criteria:

• Scientific publications (does the person have Google Scholar and/or ResearchGate account – can Google it). The good minimum of English publications is around 10. Ideally, those 10 publications will be in the past 5 years, but if they are older, it is okay too.
• Patents.
• Prizes or awards.
• Funding/grants (have they secured significant funding for their work in the past 10 years? If so, do they have a proof (usually, its a publicly available information; they need to have their name mentioned (sometimes, the grant went to someone else and they were just supporting the research -> this wouldn’t work).
• Media recognition (conference speeches, articles (non-scientific) about their research or themselves/their career/their stories).
• Innovation (we had clients from academia who also work in the industry (oil & gas) and they have created innovative solutions based on their research for large corporations or start-ups).

Adela, Biopolymer specialist: She was based in Russia and specialised in biopolymers. She demonstrated the diverse range of eligible fields and backgrounds, including a PhD (from Russia), an active research position, scientific publications, the Biopolymer Society membership, and media recognition.

Igor, Heart surgeon: In addition to PhD and research, he had industry innovative experience – he developed non-invasive heart treatment methods, showcasing the application of innovation in medical fields.

Alex, Oil & gas scientist and software engineer: Alex is an active researcher in the oil&gas field and has done some significant research in Australia. He is also a holder of a PhD in his field as well as industry experience (software engineering) in the oil & gas field in the UK.

Before diving in, let’s get one thing straight: applying for this visa is a smart move only if you tick all the boxes for your field and have the documents outlined in the guidelines.

Below is some additional information on the disciplines within science, tech and arts that are ineligible for the Global Talent visa.

Science applicants, make sure to consult the full list of eligible disciplines. If your job isn’t there, unfortunately, it’s better to explore another immigration route, like the Skilled Worker visa or a Student visa for a funded PhD programme.

Tech and digital applicants can refer to these guidelines:

Eligible: Technical applicants (e.g., programmers) from non-technical organizations.
Eligible: Non-technical applicants (e.g., business roles) from technical organizations.
Ineligible: Non-technical applicants from non-technical organizations.

Tech Nation’s examples of off-limits fields include:

• Service Delivery, Outsourcing, Consultancy (technical or management), ERP Consultancy, Systems Admin, and related fields.
• Corporate roles or experience of managing large corporate teams.
• Junior investors/analysts. These roles need a solid investment track record at a senior level and aren’t fit for Global Promise.
• Business skills apply to in-house work within product-led digital technology companies, not tech-enabled or service companies like agencies, outsourcers, marketing firms, etc.

For arts & culture applicants, Arts Council provides a comprehensive list of the no-go jobs. Take a look:

How to get a Global Talent visa? At the first stage of application, you are required to put together a pack of documents that you submit to the endorsing body in your field. Scroll down if you want to see some notes specifically for your field: technology, arts or academia. 

In most cases, 3 references and 10 supporting documents are required. The academia and research application pack slightly differs: science applicants are normally required to provide a CV and 1 letter signed by a member of the science community. 

More about the documents required for the Tier 1 Global Talent Visa:

1. A CV that shows you have been active in your professional field for the last 5 years.

• Start by searching your name in Google. Endorsing bodies do Google search on all potential visa applicants.
• Update your Linkedin profile and make your other social media pages look a bit more professional just in case.
• It is not necessary that your education is relevant to your chosen field. It will be enough if you are working and growing within the profession.
• You don’t have to hold a senior position in the company. What matters is your contribution to the business.

2. Personal statement. This is your chance to explain in detail how you qualify for the eligibility criteria and how you would benefit the UK’s economy if you get the Global Talent visa.

3. Three letters of recommendation. Each of the three fields has slightly different requirements. Let’s look at recommendation letters required for arts and culture as an example:

• The first letter is from an organisation that fits your professional field and is UK-based. This is something that many candidates who have not yet lived in the UK struggle with. Our legal partners at “Sterling Law” can help with this.
• The second letter is from an organisation that may be based outside the UK. In this letter, we advise that you write about how the recommending expert met you and what it was exactly that you did at that company.
• The third letter is from an organisation or an individual who has a solid reputation and track record in your professional field.

The endorsing bodies may contact you to clarify some details, so make sure to include all your valid contact information.

4. Additional pieces of evidence (normally up to 10 files) – anything that demonstrates your exceptional talent or a promise to become a leader in your field. Feel free to show achievements outside your main professional activity.

• Awards or nominations
• Additional recommendation letters
• Lectures or articles hosted or written by you
• Interviews with you or any publications about you (Some blogs might not be accepted – for instance, Medium or VC.ru are not generally accepted as evidence)
• Exhibitions and portfolios. Mention any exhibitions or publications with your name on them
• Employment contracts or financial statements
• Mentoring experience and speaking engagements (especially for digital technology applicants)

Basically, any documents that show you are an expert in your field and that your potential will be useful to the UK.

In some cases (e.g. for science applicants) you may need to send hard copies of the documents at a later stage. For digital technology applicants, e-copies of all documents will suffice. 

Stage 1. Submission of application to the UK endorsing bodies: £524 (2024). Please note that this amount will not be refunded if the application is unsuccessful.

Stage 2. Submission of the approved application for visa obtainment purposes: £192 (2024).

Health surcharge (IHS): £1035 (2024) for each year of basic health insurance, which you have to pay this, when you apply for Stage 2.

It is possible to postpone a part of this sum: you can choose to apply for a shorter period than your endorsement. For instance, if your endorsement is valid for 5 years but you only want to stay for 3 years to begin with, then you only pay for 3 years of health surcharge and submit another Stage 2 application a few years later. 

For instance, if you are applying for a 3-year visa, £524 + £192 + £1035*3 = £3,821.

If you’re applying based on an eligible award, you’ll pay the full £716 when you apply for the visa.

If you’re including your partner or children in your application, they’ll each need to pay £716 plus the health surchange (per dependant per year).

The Global Talent visa fees are one of the key reasons for doubts when considering applying for this immigration route. You can end up paying nearly £4,000 in one go, that’s over four thousand Euros! However, the vast majority of rejections so far have happened at the first stage of the application process. So even if you are not granted an endorsement, it’s just the £524 you may be losing, and not the entire visa fee with the healthcare surcharge.

Healthcare surcharge changes in 2024

• The UK Parliament approved a law increasing the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) fees, which will go into effect on February 6, 2024.
• The annual IHS fees for adult applicants will increase to £1,035 per person – a 66% increase from the current £624.

There are a few typical reasons the Global Talent visa may be rejected:

• Incomplete set of documents. If the endorsing body does not see the required minimum of the documents, they may refuse without any explanation.
• Inaccuracies in the documents or incorrect document identification.
• Not enough information is provided.
• Not enough evidence of your talent or contribution (Significant Contribution).
• There is not a strong enough link to the UK. It may seem to the experts that your plans can be implemented in any country and you do not need to be in the UK at all.

You can apply for a visa refusal review. You can re-apply for the Global Talent visa within 28 days of getting a decision.

• Surprisingly, the most time-consuming part of the process is usually the prep work. Even though it might seem like a couple of weeks’ task, writing all the recommendation letters and the personal statement tends to take around 2–3 months based on our clients’ and friends’ experience. 
• Stage 1 (with an endorsement body) takes up to 8 weeks.  
• Take into account the expiry date of your approval from the endorsing bodies. If you are successful at the first stage, you will receive a letter with a deadline of 3 months. During this period you will have to apply for the next stage of the UK Talent visa. 
• Stage 2 (with the Home Office) usually takes 3 weeks if you apply from outside the country or 8 weeks if you switch to this visa route within the country. However, the UK government recently announced that the period of consideration of outside-the-country applications had been temporarily extended from 3 to 6 weeks. 

In total, your application might take anything from under 2 month in an absolutely perfect scenario to as long as half a year if the circumstances aren’t that ideal. Plan your application in advance – this will save you a lot of effort and last-minute stress!

We work closely with our legal partners at Sterling Law to maintain the excellent success rate for our clients (93%). We take over document writing whilst Sterling Law check everything from the legal perspective, put their stamp of approval and submit the application for you. 

There are three types of services depending on how much support you need:

60-min consultation: Get personalised guidance with a 60-minute consultation from our expert career consultant. We’ll assess your case, offer feedback on your chances, and help you plan evidence collection. We’ll dive into your CV, LinkedIn, and more to uncover ways to enhance your application. Expect advice on awards, mentorship, and outside achievements too.

PRO package: Experience a range of services in one package – an assessment of your case, consultation, and hands-on document support. We’ll craft your CV, LinkedIn, and an outstanding personal statement. Our expert letters of support (3-5, as needed) will be signed by your referees. We guide you through evidence preparation and offer a document review before submission. Count on us for a draft of your Stage 1 application too.

FULL SUPPORT package: Dive into comprehensive assistance – from start to finish. Begin with our assessment and consultation. Let us create your CV, LinkedIn, personal statement, and reference letters. We’ll handcraft all evidence pieces, assemble your documents, and submit your applications for both stages. In case of a refusal, our legal team’s expertise will guide you toward turning it around.

Read more about our services here. If you’re interested in the Global Talent visa, try our short test and find out if you are eligible.