Global Talent visa

The Global Talent visa is a non-sponsored visa route. This means that you do not have to have a job before you can apply for the visa. 

You can apply for a Global Talent visa if you're a leader or potential leader in one of the following fields:

• academia or research
• arts and culture
• digital technology

You must also be at least 18 years old.

What you can do with a Global Talent visa

• choose how long your visa is for (up to 5 years)
• be an employee, self-employed, and a director of a company
• change or stop doing your job without telling the Home Office, and without having to apply for another visa
• bring your partner and children as your dependants

There are no language or minimum salary requirements.

If you want to stay longer in the UK, you:

• can renew your visa as many times as you like (providing you meet the criteria)
• may be apply to settle permanently in the UK after 3 years or 5 years, depending on which field your work in and how you apply

You cannot:

• access public funds or the State Pension
• work as a sportsperson.

Unless you have an eligible award, you will normally need to apply for an endorsement to prove you are a leader or potential leader in your field.

The UKVI will send your application to be reviewed by a UK organisation ('endorsing body') with expertise in your field.

List of eligible awards

Academia and Research

You must be a leader or potential leader in one of the following fields:

• science
• medicine
• engineering
• humanities
• social science

You may be eligible to apply for endorsement if you have any of the following:

• an eligible job offer as an academic or researcher
• an individual fellowship
• a research grant that is approved by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

If you do not, you can apply by having your application peer reviewed, but your application will take longer.

An endorsement application will take around 2 weeks, and a peer review endorsement application will take around 5 weeks.

Find out more details about getting endorsed for academia and research

Arts and Culture

You must be a leader or potential leader in one of the following fields:

• combined arts, dance, literature, music, theatre or visual arts
• architecture
• fashion design
• film and television, including animation, post-production and visual effects

Check the full list of eligible arts and culture fields

An endorsement application will take around 8 weeks.

Find out more details about getting endorsed for arts and culture

Digital Technology

You must be a leader or potential leader in one of the following fields:

• financial technology ('fintech')
• gaming
• cyber security
• artificial intelligence

Your background can be either:

• technical, for example, you're a developer, engineer, or data scientist
• business, for example, you have commercial, investment, or digital product expertise in a technology company that creates software, hardware, or that processes data

​Check the full list of digital technology roles

The UKVI will send your endorsement application to Tech Nation. You will usually get a decision about your endorsement within 5 to 8 weeks (or 3 weeks if your application is 'fast track').

Find out more about getting endorsed for digital technology

Before you apply, you will need to have either:

• won an eligible award, or
• successfully applied for an endorsement to prove that you are a leader or potential leader in your field

You must make your application within 3 months of when your endorsement is approved.

Student visa holders switching to a Global Talent visa from inside the UK must meet the validity visa requirement. If you’re currently in the UK on a Student visa and want to apply for a Global Talent visa, you must also have either:

• completed the course you were sponsored to study, OR
• studied for a PhD programme for at least 24 months

The UKVI caseworker will normally determine whether you have already completed your course by checking whether your student visa CAS course end date has passed. If you choose to apply before your CAS course end date, you need to provide your results transcript as evidence of 'course completion'. 

PhD students may apply once they have completed 24 months or more of their course on a Student visa. This duration is counted from the student visa CAS start date up until the  Global Talent visa application date. 

Apply for the Global Talent visa : Switch to this visa