The UK Global Talent visa is an immigration route for talented, skilled, and promising professionals in sectors such as Science, Medicine, Humanities, Engineering, Arts, and Technology, who are planning to work in the UK.

The Global Talent visa leads to settlement in the UK after 3 years if the applicant has been considered a talented candidate, or 5 years if you have been considered a promising candidate.

Upon completing the settlement application, and the required stay duration in the UK, the applicant then gets eligible to apply for British citizenship.

• All applicants are required to obtain an endorsement from one of six UK Home Office-approved endorsing bodies.
• If the applicant is applying for endorsement in the field of Science, Engineering, Medicine, Social Science, Humanities, or other job roles and research, then the Home Office will forward the application to the Royal Society, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Royal Academy of Engineering, or the British Academy.
• One of these endorsing bodies will then make an endorsement decision based on the applicant’s profile and the evidence provided.
• If the applicant is applying for endorsement in the non-academic fields like Arts and Culture, Digital Technology, then the application will be forwarded to Arts Council England or Tech Nation.

The endorsing bodies have two sets of criteria when assessing an application:

• Exceptional Talent criteria for applicants who have already demonstrated that they have made a significant contribution as a leader to their field; and
• Exceptional Promise criteria for applicants who may be at an early stage in their careers and have already shown the potential to make significant contributions as a future leader in their field.

• Applicants can work for an employer, the director of a company, or be self-employed in the field that they were endorsed.
• A company does not have to possess a UK Sponsor Licence to employ such candidates, so no requirement for a ‘Certificate of Sponsorship’.
• Applicants can apply for settlement after 5 years if they enter the UK on the Exceptional Promise route, or 3 years if they gain a Global Talent visa.
• Applicants are free to change jobs without having to update the Home Office.