Global Talent Visa

August 20

Global Talents Visa: Arts and Culture

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OTB Legal

What is the Global Talent Visa?

The Global Talent visa is designed to provide promising and talented individuals from various fields, the opportunity to pursue careers in the United Kingdom, enabling them to ‘benefit from and contribute to UK life’.  

Anyone over the age of 18, who can display exceptional talent or exceptional promise, will find the Global Talent visa available to them. Participating sectors include Engineering, Humanities, Medicine, Digital Technology, Science, Arts and Culture. This article provides focus on the Arts and Culture sector.

There are two different levels of experience catered for amongst the Global Talent Visa. Exceptional talent, for individuals who 'are already established as leaders or recognised experts in their field’. And exceptional promise, for individuals who ‘have the potential to become leaders or recognised experts in their field’.

The visa can be used to apply for between 1 to 5 years of leave initially. But this can be extended or lead directly to a settlement application. Dependants are accepted here (at the cost of additional fees). But must support themselves, as the Global Talent visa does not provide you access to public funds. 

Who will be endorsing my application?

The Arts Council England (ACE) will assess applications for endorsement for people who have exceptional talent AND exceptional promise who work within: Combined Arts, Dance, Literature, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts.

Fashion designers can also apply for both, with applications being assessed by the British Fashion Council (BFC). As can Architects who are assessed by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and Digital technologists under Tech Nation (TN). 

However, if you work within the film, television, animation, production and visual effect industries; the applications will be assessed by Producers’ Alliance for Film and Television (PACT) and Exceptional promise will not be available.


The Application Process:

The application process will be split into two parts, stage one will be the application for endorsement.

Applicants looking to complete a stage one application can apply online (and must submit the supporting documents required by their chosen endorsement body. 

The Home Office has provided some guidance on endorsements which can be found here.

ACE applicants must provide: 
  • 3 letters of endorsement:
    - One must be from a UK based arts or cultural organisation, institution or company
    - One must be from an arts or cultural organisation, institution or company, which may or may not be UK based
    - One must be from either a third arts organisation (based either in the UK or overseas) or from an eminent individual with recognised expertise in the applicant’s specialist field
  • Up to 10 pieces of supporting documentation (which will be listed on the stage 1 application form)
PACT applicants must provide:
  • 3 letters of endorsement as described above for ACE applicants, from organisations or individuals in the film and television industry
  • Evidence of each award they were nominated for or won (Including full details of the production nomination or award, including category and year of nomination or award)
  • Evidence of the applicant’s involvement if the nomination or award was as part of a group
  • Evidence of the credit the applicant received for the nomination or award (If the applicant is claiming credit for an award where they made a significant and direct contribution, evidence of their significant and direct contribution to the win or nomination)
  • 3 letters of endorsement from established organisations, institutions or companies with a national or international reputation and recognised expertise in fashion (If applying under Exceptional Talent criteria, at least one of these letters must be from a UK organisation)
  • Up to 10 pieces of supporting documentation (which will be listed on the stage 1 application form)
RIBA applicants must provide: 
  • 3 letters of endorsement as described above for ACE applicants, from organisations or individuals in the architecture industry
  • Evidence of each award they were nominated for or won (Including full details of the nomination or award, including category and year of nomination or award)
  • Evidence of the applicant’s involvement if the nomination or award was as part of a group
  • Evidence of the credit the applicant received for the nomination or award Page 18 of 56 Published for Home Office staff on 05 May 2021 (If the applicant is claiming credit for an award where they made a significant and direct contribution, evidence of their significant and direct contribution to the win or nomination)
  • Up to 10 pieces of supporting documentation (which will be listed on the stage 1 application form)
TN applicants must provide: 
  • 3 letters of recommendation from 3 different, well-established organisations acknowledged as experts in the digital technology field
  • A CV
  • Up to 10 pieces of information to demonstrate that they meet the qualifying criteria:
  • If the applicant has had any active or dissolved digital technology businesses in the last 5 years, or evidence of share ownership through business in a digital technology sector company, their 10 documents must include evidence of this.

Applications cannot be shared between organisations. Applications may be returned if there is insufficient evidence for one organisation to assess.

As of May 5th 2021, exceptionally talented individuals who have been awarded a ‘prestigious prize’ can skip the endorsement stage of the application and head straight to stage two.

Stage one ‘usually takes up to 8 weeks’ from submitting an application to receive a decision. The current cost is £456.

Stage two consists of the actual visa application, and can be submitted either following the approval of an endorsement application, or together with an endorsement application. This is also to be completed online. They generally take ‘up to 8 weeks’ to get a decision if applying from within the UK, and ‘up to 3 weeks’ if applying from the outside of the UK. They currently cost £152. These application fees do not include other charges such as healthcare charges and our firm’s charges.

Extensions

If you currently hold a Global Talent visa you could be eligible to extend it or even apply for settlement. Extension applications are very similar to the initial applications and must be completed online. You can find online applications for within the UK here and outside the UK here.  

When applying for an extension, the applicant must provide proof to the Home Office that they have been in paid employment, in the specific area that the visa was provided in. The Home Office understands that individuals in this field can work across multiple sectors; but it must be proven that you have ‘mainly worked professionally in the area of practice that you were endorsed under’ in order to be granted an extension.

If you have had your endorsement withdrawn from your original endorsement body, an extension will not be possible.

Alternative Paths

The Global Talent visa is not the only way for creatives to be granted visas into the UK. You may also apply under the Skilled Worker Route and Tier 5 (Temporary Workers).

Information on these other routes can be found here.

For more information, contact our Business Immigration Team and book in for a FREE initial consultation using the button below.

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