How to qualify for an Arts and Culture Global Talent Visa?

If you are a leading expert or upcoming talent in your industry, you may wish to consider the Global Talent visa. The Global Talent visa allows migrants to come to the UK to work in their area of expertise. After 3 or 5 years of continuously living in the UK, you may become eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

The requirements for this visa depend on which field you work in. In this blog, we tell you more about the requirements if you are an expert or upcoming talent in the field of arts and culture.

The Global Talent visa covers a wide array of different industries including science, engineering, humanities, social science, medicine, digital tech or arts and culture. This blog only addresses those who are dancers, writers, musicians, theatre performers or visual artists in the field of arts and culture. The rules for those who work in fashion, film and television and architecture are different, and will be covered in a future blog.

If you wish to consider the Global Talent visa, the starting point would be to see if you have certain prestigious awards. Examples include the “Grammy Award – Lifetime Achievement Award” if you work in music, or the “International Dublin Literary Award” if you are a writer. If you do not have an award from the list of prestigious awards, you may first need to apply for endorsement before you can apply for the Global Talent visa.

To apply for endorsement, the starting point would be to see whether or not you work in one of the supported disciplines recognised by the Home Office’s approved endorsing body (the Arts Council). The core areas supported are dance, literature, music, theatre and visual arts. The rules for which disciplines are supported and which are not, are complex.

To qualify for endorsement, you need to be professionally engaged in producing outstanding work. You need to show regular professional engagement in your field for the last 5 years. You would need to have a substantial track record in at least 2 countries if you are a leading talent, and a track record in at least 1 country if you are an upcoming talent in your field, but at an early stage in your career. Evidence is required to show that you meet these requirements, including media articles recognising your talent, international awards, evidence of significant professional appearances, performances, publications, and international sales or distribution of your work, as well as support letters from other experts in the industry.

Once you have received an endorsement from the Arts Council (if you do not have a qualifying award), you can apply for the actual Global Talent visa.

How Gherson can assist

Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on UK visa matters. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

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