UK Global Talent Visa: One stop free guide

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In this article, as promised, I wanted to share a guide for the UK's Global Talent Visa. However, since Tech Nation's guideline is comprehensive itself, I will mostly note tips and additional context into the guide.

Disclaimer: I am not an immigration adviser or a solicitor and not associated in any way with Tech Nation. This article is just intended to share my personal experience. I have no responsibility regarding the content you see here and also would appreciate anyone who can help me enhance this or correct potential mistakes. I have no intention in running a business related to this and this is fairly a way to pay back the blessing.

What is UK's Global Talent Visa

The UK’s Global Talent Visa, provides an exceptional opportunity for tech professionals and entrepreneurs worldwide to work and contribute within the UK’s vibrant digital sector. This guide will walk you through each essential component of the application process, drawing insights from Tech Nation’s guidance and my journey as an applicant. To give you sense on the time frame you will be expecting, you can view below:

• The visa costs ￡716 in total. But you’ll pay the ￡716 in two parts: ￡524 when you apply for the endorsement and ￡192 when you apply for the visa itself. You must submit your application to on the Tech Nation portal but before you do that, you should create your profile for Stage 1 on UK Gov (click here if you want to apply from inside UK which means you already have a visa and you're based in the UK but want to switch to Global Talent or click here if your are outside the UK and want to apply for Global Talent) and pay the ￡524. After you pay this amount, you will receive reference number which you can use to submit your application on Tech Nation portal.

Quick Tip: When you are filling the form for Stage 1, there is a questions which regards your sector. If you're applying through Tech Nation, put in Digital Technology)

• I submitted my application on the Tech Nation portal on 31st May 2024.
• I received my endorsement decision letter which is simply an email from Home Office on 28th June 2024 similar to below. If you see this, congratulations.
• I applied to the Home Office for stage 2 after receiving the endorsement email

The Global Talent Visa attracts highly skilled digital professionals and entrepreneurs to the UK, enabling them to work in various tech areas like fintech, AI, gaming, and cybersecurity. This visa lets applicants work for a company, freelance, or even start a business, offering flexibility to contribute to the UK’s digital landscape.

Choosing the right path and understanding the general structure of how your application is reviewed

Should I choose Talent or Promise?

The first step is to decide between the Exceptional Talent and Exceptional Promise routes:

• Exceptional Talent is for established industry leaders with over five years of experience and widely recognized achievements.
• Exceptional Promise is for emerging leaders with fewer years of experience but notable accomplishments and innovation potential.

For my application, I selected Exceptional Talent, as I had led tech ventures and made industry contributions, though I was still establishing my global reputation. Applicants should choose the path that best reflects their experience and career goals. The difference comes down to one main thing. If you get endorsed as talent, you can apply for ILR after 3 years, and if you get endorsed as a promise, you can apply for ILR after 5. This also means that in the first case you have to pay 3*IHS cost (￡1035 for each member of family for 2024) and for the latter 5*IHS cost.

The general structure of the application review

This part is solely based on my understanding but it might help you strengthen your application. Let's assume I am the reviewer.

The way I see it, I would first read your SOP. This will give me an overview of who you are and if I was impressed, I would be motivated to see what others credible referees say about you. So, I will then take a look at your letters of recommendation. So far, I have read what you have to say about yourself, what others have to say about yourself and then I'd want to see some evidence to support these two.

The next step would be to review your mandatory evidence files. This will give me additional context. I expect it to include explanations that can help me understand and believe what you have claimed in your SOP and your referees have elaborated on a little. I don't have that much time, I have loads of applications to review, I would like your evidence file to be clean, self explanatory, with charts and images that show how impressive your journey has been. Each file might be interconnected to another, some connecting dots back to the letters of recommendation and your SOP. It's all interconnected. You have to demonstrate your journey to the reviewer. What happened you switched jobs or founded a company. However, only do this where it will simplify the logic and mind flow of the reviewer, not confuse them.

But wait, so far, all of this has been either self explanatory or simply images and charts that anyone can use. I know that you might think, your SOP, explanations and images, and letters of recommendations from credible high profile individuals might be enough, but I as a reviewer need external validation that assure me all this is genuine. As Tech Nation guide clearly states: "Letters of Reference alone are not sufficient and should be supported by other evidence.". If you fail to provide external validation (apart from letter), I'm afraid there is a chance of being rejected.

Examples of external validation

Using third-party validations enhances your application’s credibility, allowing Tech Nation reviewers to verify your claims through independently accessible sources. The list is endless but it can include, publicly available media coverage that clearly mentions your name and including link to news coverage, GitHub profiles, or other public profiles to provide external corroboration for your achievements except social media profiles that are not considered to be that credible, official company and financial audited documents, Published articles in high rank (impact factor) academic journals, client testimonials published on trusted platforms, award winnings with links to publicly accessible award listings or news coverage that corroborate the recognition, Videos or photos from the event, or program listings from reputable event websites that confirm your speaking role, Evidence of speaking at respected industry events with at least 100 attendees.

Your document checklist

In order to apply you will need the following set (1) Statement of Purpose (SOP), (2) 3 letters of recommendation, (3) 10 pieces of evidence files (max 3 pages each). You can also include optional letters of reference either as one of the 10 evidence files or included in one of the evidence files as a page or two. Applicants must meet the mandatory criterion and fulfill two out of four optional criteria.

(1) Statement of Purpose

The Statement of Purpose (SOP) is central to your application, as it outlines your reasons for relocating and your anticipated contributions. I guess the toughest part in preparing the Statement of Purpose is the 1000 word limitation but what I recommend is that you leave the SOP until the very end after all your other documents are ready, first neglect the word limitation and draft it freely, and then start to refine and reduce to 1000 words. In crafting this, aim to address these key points:

• Career Background: Begin with your journey, touching on key roles and milestones that have shaped your professional path. For instance, my statement highlighted the my childhood in the UK, my journey from programming to entrepreneurship and quick glance at industries I've had experienced, navigating early growth challenges, and its eventual expansion.
• Why You Want to Come to the UK: Articulate specific motivations related to the UK’s tech scene, professional development opportunities, or cultural alignment.
• Planned Occupation: Describe the professional roles you aim to undertake and explain how they align with your long-term goals.
• Planned Location: Identify the city or region and tie it back to how it aligns with your professional goals, available opportunities, or lifestyle preferences.
• Benefits to the UK Tech Sector and future contributions: Show how your work will advance the UK’s digital technology landscape. Outline how you’ll impact the UK tech scene. Highlight planned innovations, market expansions, product development, job creation, or mentoring.
• Regional Fit: State your intended location in the UK, e.g. considering its tech infrastructure and talent pool, or its rank in FinTech, EdTech etc.

(2) Three Letters of Recommendation

You’ll need three letters of recommendation from industry leaders who have directly observed your work and can endorse your talent. These letters should ideally come from respected professionals, particularly those with expertise in your area. The recommendation letters play a pivotal role in establishing your credibility, particularly as they are written by respected industry professionals who can attest to your impact. Here are essential aspects for ensuring these letters carry weight. The letter should be specifically about your Global Talent application - you cannot use a letter that was written for another reason. Each letter should cover (a) an introduction to the referee which ideally will have a good first impression for the reviewer, seeing that someone with their credibility have chosen to write you a recommendation letter, (b) about the writer’s relationship to you and familiarity with your work and examples of your achievements and how they have impacted the digital tech field, (c) show why they think you are a global talent and an exceptional talent or promise, (d) what differentiates you from others, (e) how they think you can potentially contribution to the UK tech sector and if applicable, your exact plans and how they are informed of it. Consider the following:

• Credibility of Referees: The authors of your recommendation letters should have an established online presence and industry recognition and be a senior member of their organisation. This means that when the evaluators search for their profiles (such as on LinkedIn or Google Scholar or search), they should be able to confirm these professionals’ qualifications and roles. Evidence such as LinkedIn profiles, professional news articles, or public speaking records enhance the trustworthiness of their endorsements.
• Insight into Leadership and Impact: Each letter should not only confirm your achievements but also highlight your role as a leader or emerging leader in the industry. The letters should showcase your contributions to specific projects, innovations, or community engagements that reflect your influence beyond day-to-day tasks.
• Diversity in Perspectives: To avoid redundancy, ensure each recommendation letter can cover different aspects of your career. For example, one letter could emphasize your business contributions, while another highlights technical expertise, and a third focuses on your mentorship roles in industry initiatives.
• Presentation and Consistency: Ensure letters are typed, dated, and signed, with organizational logos, contact details, and a CV or credentials attachment if possible. Verify all dates align with those in your CV and LinkedIn.

• Using a digital signature tool like DocuSign can help add authenticity. If used, include the audit trail in your documents to strengthen your application’s credibility.

(3) Overview on Mandatory and optional evidence files

Given the limit of ten documents (each under three pages), it’s essential to choose well-rounded evidence that meets Tech Nation’s criteria and highlights diverse aspects of your career. I don't want to recommend but I guess the best way would be have 5 mandatory criteria files and 5 optional criteria files. but this is totally up to you. Supporting documents should clearly illustrate your career achievements without requiring additional clarification. Here, I have provided several sections which help you prepare your 10 evidence files better:

Difference between mandatory and optional criteria

Now this is a tough one. I honestly am a bit confused still, but this might help. The Mandatory Criteria as the name demonstrates is is a required criterion that every applicant must meet. It demonstrates recognition as either an existing or potential leader in the digital technology field. Applicants must show that they have been recognized either nationally or internationally within the last five years for their talent or promise in the sector. Regarding the Optional Criteria, applicants must meet two out of the four optional criteria. These criteria demonstrate other aspects of the applicant's contributions, such as innovation, recognition, technical or commercial impact, or academic contributions in the field of digital technology. But, if I want to give you a defining tip, I would say, if you miss to impress the reviewer based on what you provide in the mandatory optional criteria, the reviewer will probably only read the optional criteria files to write the rejection letter and elaborate why.

General Tips

• Make each document as self-explanatory as possible by including a brief description of its relevance. Adding captions, short summaries, or relevant data points within documents (such as annotated financial reports or project screenshots) will help evaluators understand your contributions at a glance.
• Use a combination of media types — images, charts, screenshots, or graphs — to convey complex achievements visually. For instance, user growth data can be better appreciated with graphs, while product interfaces or UX designs can be showcased through screenshots. Remember, that although quality is important, quantity matters as well. So for instance if you are placing a translated document like board membership or financials, you can simply put readable images of e.g. two pages next to each other, use a text box to provide brief explanations if possible and red boxes with no fill to help the reviewer focus on the most important information on each document.
• Present data such as user engagement metrics, revenue growth, or increased market share through analytics reports, financial summaries, and visual charts. Each document should demonstrate quantifiable achievements, such as metrics on user growth, revenue increase, audience engagement, or technological adoption. These can include analytics reports, financial statements, and charts showing measurable impact. However, if its going to be translated official documents such as company ownership, board membership etc, you can simply put the screenshots of the translation.
• There are four Optional Criteria (OC) categories. (OC1) Innovation in the Digital Technology Sector regards demonstrating a track record of innovation as a founder, senior executive, or employee involved in new or pioneering technology fields or concepts. This can include product development, launching new technologies, or other innovative work that has made a significant impact. This is one of the most difficult categories, so unless you can prove it was an innovation, I suggest going for other categories. (OC2) Recognition Beyond Immediate Occupation regards evidence of contributions that go beyond your primary job, advancing the tech sector in a broader sense. This could include activities such as mentoring, contributing to open-source projects, participating in industry events, leading policy discussions, or publishing thought leadership pieces. (OC3) Significant Technical, Commercial, or Entrepreneurial Contributions regards demonstrating impactful technical, commercial, or entrepreneurial achievements in the digital technology field. This could involve playing a key role in product development, business growth, or significant contributions to commercial success and finally (OC4) Academic Contributions Through Research regards showcasing exceptional ability through academic research that contributes to the digital technology sector. This can include publishing peer-reviewed papers, presenting at notable conferences, or receiving research awards, indicating a recognized impact on the field.

Where should I place my files, mandatory or optional?

I can't give you a rule of thumb since evidence files you provide is unique based on each applicant, but there are a couple that might be common and this list will help you to know where to place them.

• Company documents (MC): This will go in Mandatory Criteria. Any documents regarding you being on the board, company registrations, financial audited documents or any other similar documents will fall here. Remember, place your most impressive documents that show you are a leader or on the way to becoming one in the mandatory criteria.
• High-Profile Speaking Events (MC): This will go in Mandatory Criteria. Include documentation of public speaking events if they highlight your leadership and impact. Provide visuals like event photos, landing pages, and audience numbers to demonstrate the scale and significance.
• Mentorship and Community Engagement (OC2): This will go in the Optional Criteria and it falls under the second category OC2 which regards "Evidence of mentoring or contributions beyond your primary occupation". Include structured programs, accelerator involvement, or community events that showcase your commitment to advancing the tech sector.
• Media and Recognition (OC2): This will also go in the Optional Criteria and it falls under the second category OC2 which regards "Evidence of mentoring or contributions beyond your primary occupation". Use this section for press mentions, interviews, and awards. Demonstrate how these recognitions reflect your influence within the industry.

I have created a structure to help you start this process. Click below to access. Please like and leave a comment or share so this gets to the hands of those who intend to apply.

Submitting application on Tech Nation

So on 26th May 2024, I had prepared all my documents and files and thought I've done everything and just have to upload on the Tech Nation portal and Voilà! To my surprise, there were several questions and sections in the application in the portal especially regarding the application form that I didn't know and had to spend 2 more days to think about them and complete. To prevent this happening to you, I thought it'd be good to give you guys a heads up.

Your tasks in the portal

There are seven tasks that you have to complete. (1) Application form (2) Upload CV (3) LoR 1 (4) LoR 2 (5) LoR 3 (6) Evidence Files (7) Your Feedback.

I will only cover the application form since the rest of the application sections are fairly straight forward. But just to note, remember to complete the Letter of Recommendation details after you upload the file. It has a file name and description and I guess it doesn't hurt to fill out the feedback section as well.

Application form

The first page of the application form is is simple. As you can see below, this is the first page and requries you to input the UAN received from the Home Office Stage 1 after you paid ￡524 which I mentioned in the first section of this article.

The other questions on this page are fairly easy to answer and are unique to each applicant so I will just cover those which you need to know. There are several fields that you need to think about before filling the application:

1- How long has your career been in the digital technology sector?

This question directly relates to whether you want to apply for Promise or Exceptional talent route. You would've also selected this in the Home Office Stage 1 application as well.

2- Please indicate your sector. My sector was FinTech and the options are as follows:

• Accelerators & Incubators
• Apps & Software Development
• AI & Machine Learning
• Blockchain
• Cryptocurrency
• Cybersecurity
• Data & Analytics
• Digital Advertising & Marketing
• Digital Entertainment
• eCommerce & Marketplace
• EdTech
• Enterprise Software & Cloud Computing
• FinTech
• Games
• Hardware & Devices
• HealthTech
• Quality Assurance
• Social Networks
• Telecommunications & Networking
• Venture Capital & Private Equity
• VR&AR

3- Please indicate your specialist skill. My specialist skill was Product Management and the options are as follows:

• Business development (inc. sales, partnerships, growth hacking etc.)
• Data scientist
• Digital design
• Experience investing in digital businesses
• Hardware engineer
• Marketing
• Network engineer
• Operations
• Product management
• QA engineer
• Research
• Security architect
• Software engineer
• Solutions architect
• Systems engineer
• UX designer
• Video game designer

4- Are you currently employed? (either as an employee or as a founder/director). If yes, Present workplace/employer, Present position/role, Type of present position/role (Founder, Executive, Employee, Consultant, Academic/Researcher, Other), Annual Salary and/or other compensation, Start date of present employment, Address of present employer, Company registration number of present employer, Website of present employer.

5- NEW OR PENDING OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT IN UK (Please only select 'Yes' if you have been offered a new role that is different to the current role you have provided above. Do not provide the same details as given above.): It will have same fields as (4).

6- Are you actively looking for a job in the UK? (Yes or No)

7- Do you have any active digital technology business(es) that you have established? (If yes, Are the business(es) registered in the UK? Company registration number, Website of active business(es), Please provide details of the active digital technology business(es) you have established.

8- Do you have any dissolved digital technology business(es) that you have established? If yes, same fields as (7).

9- Exceptional Talent or Promise? Since, the list is extensive, click on below to see the full page screenshot. I chose exceptional talent for this.

10- What is the main reason you have chosen to apply for the route of "Exceptional Talent (rather than promise)?

The final and I guess the most important question. This is in case you select the exceptional talent route. The limitation is 50 words which makes it tough because you have to make this as impactful as possible.

Am I eligible?

I have created a form that might help. The intention of this form is just for you to see what kind of questions you should ask yourself to see if you're eligible for this visa or not. However, I might automate the assessment if I had the time so you'd have a rough idea but no promises :) Therefore, leave your details just in case. Click below to access.

Additional tips for a strong application

1- Consistency between your online presence and application materials reinforces credibility. Ensure LinkedIn and other profiles are up-to-date, accurately reflect your achievements, and align with your application.

• LinkedIn: Verify that your LinkedIn details match your CV and include descriptions of notable projects, achievements, and contributions.
• Accessible Cloud Storage: Store high-quality versions of documents and images on a secure drive. If necessary, include links within your documents to offer evaluators additional reference points.
• Formatting Consistency: Limit documents to three pages each and ensure clarity across all visuals and text. Maintaining high resolution in PDFs is crucial to avoid information loss.

• Focus on Impactful Evidence: Select documents that demonstrate your achievements and contributions. Aim for quality over quantity to keep your application focused.
• Be Clear and Avoid Jargon: Use straightforward language to describe your achievements, especially if your work involves specialized technical fields.
• Plan for Early Submission: Allow sufficient time for gathering recommendation letters, obtaining translations, and organizing documents.

2- For non-English applicants, given that many achievements occurred in Iran, a non-English-speaking country, it was necessary to provide certified English translations for Farsi documents. I also included metadata like screenshots and media mentions as supplemental evidence. If any of your achievements or publications are non-English, certified translations are crucial for clarity and compliance. If it is a web page such as a news coverage, you can use Google translate for website which will give you a unique translated link that you can reference.

3- Your CV should include career history, achievements, and any publications, and must be no more than three pages. Here’s how to make it count:

• Highlight tech-relevant achievements with quantifiable results (e.g., increased user engagement or growth metrics).
• Include public profiles (LinkedIn, GitHub) to provide assessors easy access to verify your credentials.
• Consider omitting unnecessary information like a photo, as the CV should be strictly professional.

4- Many applicants face challenges with balancing detail and brevity or inadvertently omitting required elements. Here are a few tips for success:

• Focus on Quality: It’s better to have fewer, impactful pieces of evidence than an excessive amount that lacks substance.
• Maintain Clarity: Avoid technical jargon or assumptions about industry familiarity. Make each document as understandable as possible.
• Early Preparation: Give yourself enough time to gather reference letters and translate documents, as these can be time-consuming.

4- To ensure your contributions are considered as an innovation in the context of the Global Talent Visa, focus on demonstrating a clear and measurable impact. I thought its tough to convince them I had innovations in my endeavors, and therefore chose OC2 and OC3 instead. Here’s how to solidify your evidence around innovation:

• Highlight Originality and Novelty: Describe how your work introduced new concepts, methods, or solutions to a specific problem in digital technology. Show how your contributions pushed boundaries or introduced improvements that didn’t exist before, whether it’s a product feature, a business model, or a technical approach. For example, if you designed a unique algorithm or created a new product feature that improved user experience, explain how it was distinct from existing options.
• Provide Context and Problem-Solving: Explain the context behind your innovation. Describe the challenge you identified and how your solution addressed it in a unique or more efficient way. For instance, if you optimized an existing process, quantify the improvement—whether it’s increased speed, cost savings, or user engagement. Show how your solution directly contributed to solving industry problems or advancing tech standards.
• Showcase Market or Industry Impact: Evidence with tangible results is key. Use metrics, testimonials, or media coverage to demonstrate that your innovation had a significant impact. Examples could include increased user adoption, revenue growth, high engagement, or industry recognition. Providing external validations, like a case study, user feedback, or a third-party article, can reinforce the broader impact of your work.
• Document Technical and Market Recognition: If your innovation has been recognized by industry peers, through awards, patents, or significant media mentions, include this as evidence. Such recognition supports the claim that your work was seen as groundbreaking or essential within your field, helping evaluators understand its significance.

By framing your evidence around these areas, you provide a strong case that your contributions qualify as genuine innovation in digital technology.

5- Using a clear naming convention helps evaluators easily navigate your documents. The following was the naming convention I used personally. You can choose whichever method that you think would make more sense to your application.

Mandatory Criteria Evidence

• 1-1- MC- Co-founding FinTech Startup (Your Business name)-Proven track record of innovation in Digital Technolgoy Sector
• 1-2- MC- Your Business name (Acquisition by Business name, Investment agreement, Notice of changes, Audited financials, Valuation)
• 1-3- MC- Founding Tourism Startup (Your Business name)-Proven track record of innovation in Digital Technolgoy Sector
• 1-4- MC- Speaking at High Profile Event-Event Name- Proof of recognition for work outside my immediate occupation
• 1-5- MC- Expert Role in assessing work of others (Elsevier Journal Peer Reviewer) and academic contribution- Proof of recognition outside my immediate occupation

Optional Criteria Evidence

• 2-1- OC3- Leadership in product-led digital technology companies in FinTech
• 2-2- OC3- Entrepreneur in Residence at Business name (EdTech)- Leadership in business development, scale up and growth of a product-led digital technology company
• 2-3- OC3- Lead Product Manager at Business name(Ride-hailing product-led digital tech company)- Significant commercial and entrepreneurial contributions
• 2-4- OC2- Top 36 Entrepreneurs selected by UNIDO in Iran and most influential leaders in FinTech- Personal Recognition and Public Speaking
• 2-5- OC2- Co-organizing ProductTank Birmingham and proven mentorship track record- Recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation

Sources that might help you

1. Tech Nation Discourse channel where you can find loads of useful information, experiences, rejections, samples of evidence files and get to connect with other members.
2. A sample of successful application: For developers
3. A sample of successful application: For developers
4. A sample of successful application: For art
5. A sample of successful application: For software engineers