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Please note:

We are currently receiving a high volume of endorsement applications, therefore all decisions will be returned to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) within 8 weeks. Please keep this turn around time in mind before applying. If you have applied and have not received a decision within 8 weeks please contact UKVI

What is the Global Talent Visa?

The Global Talent visa is available for talented and promising individuals from the fields of science, engineering, medicine and humanities, digital technology and arts and culture, who wish to continue their professional career in the UK.
The visa allows you to live and work in the UK for up to five years, and you can extend the visa after this period, or apply for settlement. 

There are two routes available, for people with different levels of experience. You must choose which of these routes is most appropriate for your current stage of career when you apply:
 

  • Exceptional Talent is for people who have a substantial track record of working regularly as a professional in the last five years, and who are widely recognised as being current leaders or experts in their field
  • Exceptional Promise is for people who have a developing track record of working as a professional in the last five years, and who are recognised as being future leaders or experts in their field

As part of the visa application, you must receive an endorsement of your talent or promise from an ‘endorsing body’. 

You must be able to satisfy the endorsing body that you are currently at an appropriate stage of your professional career to be recognised as a leader, or future leader, otherwise your endorsement application may be refused.  
The Arts Council is the chosen endorsing body for arts and culture applications. 

There are five other organisations designated as endorsing bodies by the Home Office to assess applications from people working in other specialist areas:

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Who can apply?

We assess applications from professional artists and arts practitioners who work in the following areas of practice:
 

  • Combined Arts
  • Dance
  • Literature
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Visual Arts 

Please see our Guide for Global Talent visa applicants for more details on the above areas of practice. 

Those who work in the film, television, animation, post production and visual effects industries can also apply, and so can Fashion designers and architects. However, the Arts Council is not an expert organisation in these areas, so we ask the following organisations to assess these applications for us:

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How to apply

All applications are submitted to the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) service via the GOV.UK website, and they send your application to us to assess. 

Following the assessment, our decision is sent back to UKVI, who will tell you whether your application was successful or not. 

At all times you will communicate with UKVI about your application, so you do not need to send anything directly to us or contact us for your decision.

If you have won one of the Prestigious Prizes listed here at any time in your career, you do not need to receive an endorsement. UKVI will verify that you have won one of these prizes before they can issue the visa. 

For further details on Prestigious Prizes, please see GOV.UK guidance.

Important notice: 

From 12 April, if you are applying for endorsement to work in Combined Arts, Dance, Literature, Music, Theatre or Visual Arts, you will need to provide a CV with your application, in addition to the standard 3 letters of support and 10 pieces of supporting evidence.

To be eligible for endorsement you must be at an appropriate stage of a professional artistic career, in which you are recognised as a leader or future leader and have a sufficient track record of working professionally since education. By adding a CV requirement, this will help us better understand what stage of career you are at, and whether this is appropriate for the Global Talent visa. 

If the CV is not provided or is found to be insufficient, then the endorsement application will be unsuccessful even if your supporting letters and evidence meet criteria.

The CV must show details of your full professional artistic career and education (if applicable). A CV should not be submitted in place of the 10 pieces of physical evidence, as those are still required. 

The CV does not have a size limit but please try to condense the document as much as possible, to save on file sizes.

This is applicable to any arts and culture applicants submitting applications from 12 April 2023. The CV requirement is not applicable to Film and Television, Fashion or Architecture applicants. 

Please see the latest version of the Immigration Rules on the GOV.UK website for more details. 

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Eligibility and conditions

To be eligible you must work in one of our supported areas of practice. Our Guide for Global Talent visa applicants has more details on most areas we do and do not support. If we receive applications from people working in areas that we do not support, we may return these applications as ineligible without being assessed, so that UKVI can refund your application fee. 

If you are not sure whether the area you work in is eligible, you can contact our Customer Service team for advice via telephone on 0161 934 4317, or via email or web chat – here

You must be able to meet the following track record requirements:

  • You have been professionally engaged in producing work of outstanding quality in the last five years, that has been published (other than in newspapers or magazines), performed, presented, distributed or exhibited internationally; and
  • You can show recent (within the last five years) and regular activity of being engaged professionally in your field; and 
  • You have a substantial professional track record and demand for your work in more than one country if applying under Exceptional Talent criteria, or be at an early stage in your career and have a developing professional track record and demand for your work in at least one country, if applying under Exceptional Promise criteria. 

The visa is for exceptionally talented and exceptionally promising people, who are considered as leaders or future leaders in their field. As part of our assessment, we will use our expertise to decide whether you are a leader or future leader. If we are not satisfied that you are at an appropriate stage of your professional career, your application may be refused.  

To support your endorsement application, you will need to provide 3 letters of support, 10 pieces of physical evidence of your work and recognition of your talent or promise, and an artistic CV or résumé. Our Guide for Global Talent visa applicants has more details about the letters, supporting evidence and CV you must provide with your application. 
 

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Timings and cost

The application process is in 2 stages:

  • Stage 1 is the application for endorsement – it will take no more than 8 weeks from us receiving an application from the Home Office for you to receive a decision. The Stage 1 application fee is currently £524
  • Stage 2 is the visa application, which can either be submitted after an endorsement decision is received, or at the same time as the Stage 1 application - for further details please see GOV.UK guidance. It can take up to 8 weeks to get a Stage 2 decision, depending on whether you are applying from inside or outside of the UK. The Stage 2 application fee is currently £192

All fees are payable at the time of application. The application fees do not include other charges such as the healthcare surcharge.

If you receive a visa you will be required to support yourself, in accordance with GOV.UK regulations, as you will not be able to access public funds.

Although you cannot apply for public funds you can apply for grants such as National Lottery Project Grants or Developing your Creative Practice, as the funding for these grants comes from the National Lottery, not public funds.

Dependants are allowed, subject to GOV.UK regulations and payment of required additional fees.

Unsuccessful applications

If we do not endorse your application, you have 3 options:

  • Option 1: You can submit an Endorsement Review via UKVI if you think that an error has been made in making the decision. This service is free. We will return our decision to UKVI within 28 calendar days, and the outcome of the review will be final. More information on Endorsement Reviews can be found on the GOV.UK website.
  • Option 2: You can re-apply via UKVI. You will have to pay the application fee again
  • Option 3: You can apply for entry via another route
  • Further details about the latest fees, the conditions of the visa, legal requirements, Endorsement Reviews and the application process can be found on the GOV.UK website.
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