The Tech Nation Visa, officially known as the Global Talent Visa, enables the brightest and best tech talent from around the world to come and work in the UK’s digital technology sector, contributing their cutting-edge expertise, creativity and innovation to maintaining the UK’s position at the forefront of the global digital economy.

Tech Nation is the official Home Office designated endorsing body authorised to assess endorsement applications from individuals with expertise in digital technology and who want to come to the UK under the Global Talent visa. 

The Tech Nation Visa is for founders and employees with technical or business backgrounds, including all tech sub-sectors like fintech, AI, cyber, and games. The visa is valid for up to 5 years, enabling you to work, change employers, or be self-employed, without the need for further authorisation. The Tech Nation Visa can be extended to your immediate family members and after the initial visa period, you can either apply for an extension or permanent settlement in the UK. 

If you are a talented or promising individual and want to work in the UK’s digital technology sector, the Tech Nation Visa is for you. 

About this Guide

This Guide applies to all Tech Nation Visa endorsement applications submitted after 1st December 2020 and is subject to review. It is based on the official guidance available and is not a substitute, you must review the following official guidance before making an application!

• Global Talent Official Guidance
• Global Talent Immigration Rules

Please ensure your application meets the latest version of the above resources.

This guide focusses on the criteria applied by Tech Nation for Endorsement Applications (Stage 1). For more information regarding Fees, Switching, Extensions, Dependants, Visa Application (Stage 2) or general Immigration, please see the official resources above.

A log of changes and Terms of Use is provided for this guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Applicant suitability

This section contains more resources to help you determine if the Tech Nation Visa is suitable for you. We've mapped out the skills and experience of a typical applicant, along with a definition of “Digital technology sector” and “product-led”.

Typical applicants

Tech Nation’s criteria are designed for applicants with technical and business skills in the digital technology sector. Suitable skill types are listed below. This list is not complete and provides an indication of the typical applicants assessed by Tech Nation.

1. Technical applicants (i.e. programmers) from non-technical organisations are eligible.
2. Non-technical applicants (i.e. business roles) from technical organisations are eligible.
3. Non-technical applicants from non-technical organisations are generally not eligible.

Technical applicants must demonstrate proven technical expertise with the latest technologies in building, using, deploying or exploiting a technology stack and building technical infrastructure. 

Business applicants must demonstrate a proven commercial, investment, or product expertise in building digital products or leading investments in significant digital product businesses.

**Please note the following specialisms are generally not considered suitable**

• Service Delivery, Process Delivery, Outsourcing, Consultancy (technical or management), ERP Consultancy, Systems Admin and all related fields.

• Corporate roles or experience of managing large corporate teams.

• Junior investors/analysts. Such specialisms must be supported by an investment track record made at a senior level and are not suitable for Global Promise.

• Business skills apply to in-house work within product-led digital technology companies, not tech-enabled or service companies such as agencies, outsourcers, marketing firms etc.

Useful Definitions

Single definition of “Digital technology sector” and “product-led”:

The “digital technology sector” or “product-led digital technology companies” are defined as businesses that provide a proprietary digital technical service/product/platform/hardware as their primary revenue source. The creation of software, processing/storage of data, or the creation/application of technical computing hardware is often a central aspect of their business model.

[This excludes general consultancies, outsourcing and technology-related consultancy groups focused on process/service delivery or solutions/systems architecture. Such firms do not meet the guidelines, particularly those primarily serving large corporate or multinational corporate (MNC) customers. 

Work at specific agencies may be considered if the agencies are extremely focused on product innovation in a specific industry and are well-recognized for their contributions to that industry.]

Eligibility Criteria

There are two options for applicants applying for endorsement by Tech Nation: 

Leader (called ‘exceptional talent’)

Emerging or potential leader (called ‘exceptional promise’)

Exceptional promise applicants are likely to have less than 5 years of experience in technology, but can have had a longer career in another type of work. You must be able to prove your potential to be a leader through your skills and achievements.

Tech Nation will assess your endorsement application, establish whether your skills and achievements meet the eligibility criteria for Exceptional Talent or Exceptional Promise, and decide whether you should be endorsed for the Global Talent visa. You should note that this is not determined solely by the eligibility criteria, Tech Nation’s independent panel of assessors will determine whether, overall, they consider that the applicant should be endorsed and for which route. It is at Tech Nation’s discretion to assess each application on its own merits and make a recommendation for or against endorsement.

Applicants must either: 

Meet one mandatory and two optional “Exceptional Talent” criteria in the table below

OR

Meet one mandatory and two optional “Exceptional Promise” criteria in the table below.

Exceptional Talent

(leader in relevant field)

An applicant evidencing EXCEPTIONAL TALENT must:

• show that they have been recognised as a leading talent in the digital technology sector in the last 5 years.

And provide evidence for two of the following:

• a proven track record for innovation as a founder or senior executive of a product-led digital technology company or as an employee working on a new digital field or concept
• proof of recognition for work beyond the applicant’s occupation that contributes to the advancement of the field
• they have made significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field as a founder, senior executive, board member or employee of a product-led digital technology company
• they have demonstrated exceptional ability in the field by academic contributions through research published or endorsed by an expert.

Exceptional Promise

(potential leader in relevant field)

An applicant evidencing EXCEPTIONAL PROMISE must:

• show they have been recognised as having potential to be a leading talent in the digital technology field in the last 5 years.

And provide evidence for two of the following:

• innovation as a founder of a product led digital technology company or as an employee working on a new digital field or concept
• a proof of recognition for work beyond the applicant’s occupation that contributes to the advancement of the field
• they have made significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field as a founder or employee of a product-led digital technology company
• they have demonstrated exceptional ability in the field by academic contributions through research endorsed by an expert.
  
  And
• Be at an early stage in their career

Fast Track

If you can provide evidence of being accepted onto a current or future programme at one of the recognised UK accelerator programmes listed below then Tech Nation will fast track your application.  Most fast track endorsement applications get a decision in 3 weeks. The Fast Track is not applicable to alumni of previous accelerator programmes. The evidence in your endorsement application should provide clear details regarding your plans in the UK outside of your involvement in the accelerator programme. 

Please note that this Fast Track does not relate to eligibility and applying for this Fast Track does not enhance the likelihood that your application will be endorsed. The Fast Track only relates to the speed of processing your application.

The following listed accelerators are currently eligible for this Fast Track (this includes any active programmes run by these accelerators throughout the UK):

The application process

If you are an initial applicant for Global Talent (someone who has not previously held leave in this category, or its predecessor Tier 1 Exceptional Talent) there are two applications stages:

Stage 1 - Application for Endorsement: an endorsing body assesses your skills, abilities and achievements, and advises the Home Office whether you can be endorsed. This stage takes up to 8 weeks to be processed. If your application is considered under 'Fast Track' then you may get an endorsement decision in 3 weeks. You must first Apply for Endorsement on the official Global Talent visa website and then also complete a Tech Nation Visa application form for assessment.

In order for your Stage 1 application to be valid you must submit your Tech Nation application form no more than 15 working days after you submitted your Home Office application. Failure to submit your Tech Nation application form will result in your application being rejected as invalid.

The Home Office will inform you if you have been successful in receiving endorsement from Tech Nation. If you are successfully endorsed, you can proceed to apply for the visa (Stage 2).

Stage 2 - Application for Visa: Tech Nation is not involved in Stage 2 - you must apply on the official Global Talent website within 3 months of receiving your endorsement from Tech Nation (failure to do so may result in your endorsement no longer being valid). The Home Office consider immigration aspects, such as general grounds for refusal, and if you are already in the UK whether you are able to switch into Global Talent. This stage usually takes up to 3 weeks if you're outside the UK, and up to 8 weeks if you're inside the UK.

Unsuccessful Endorsement Applications

If your application for endorsement is unsuccessful and you think that this outcome is due to a mistake that has been made, you can ask the Home Office to request that Tech Nation checks the processing of your application by means of a 'Review'. Full guidance on the Review process, including how to submit a Review, can be found in the official guidance.

Recommendations:

• Review enables you to identify any mistakes in processing your application, it should not be used to only argue against the endorsement decision.
• When submitting a Review, keep your arguments as concise and clear as possible, this helps the Review assessor to consider your case.
• Focus the contents of your Review on any mistakes in processing your application that you have identified.
• Submitting complex or excessive amounts of information is unlikely to strengthen your Review or assist the process.
• New evidence cannot be submitted under Review and attempting to do so may hinder the Review process.
• As you cannot change your original application, carefully consider whether the mistake you have identified will change the outcome without new evidence.

If you decide not to request a Review, you can still consider whether to make a new Global Talent application for endorsement. If you do make a new application, carefully consider how you might improve your application based on the previous endorsement decision and the feedback that is provided. Alternatively, you can apply for a different visa route if you meet the relevant criteria. Both of these options will require you to pay a new application fee.

Documents & Evidence

Document Checklist

To allow your application to be assessed, you must provide all of the following documents, uploaded to the Tech Nation platform as part of your application:

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

• All evidence submitted must be legible to be considered during assessment. Documents containing only links to online sources are not acceptable. Authorised English translations must be provided for all documents which are not originally written in English. 

• The use of templates within your application is not acceptable (e.g. Letters of Reference, Personal Statement, Criteria Evidence, etc.). The standard required for Global Talent endorsement requires that your application be unique. The use of templates may weaken your application or potentially raise concerns regarding the validity of your application.

• Any ‘letters of reference’ submitted as part of your 10 documents of supporting evidence will be expected to be from well-established individuals acknowledged as experts in the digital technology field, with detailed knowledge of your work over a period of 12 months or more. Note that the use of letters of reference alone to show how you meet any of the criteria is not sufficient, additional evidence should be provided.

• Letters of recommendation can be created using a digital signature service (such as DocuSign or similar service), enabling the inclusion of the document log file that clearly indicates the letter’s author and signature originated from a different IP address to the applicant. Letters must uploaded on Tech Nation's Application Platform.

• The use of Artificial Intelligence and/or language processing tools (e.g. ChatGPT) within your application is not acceptable (e.g. Letters of Reference, Personal Statement, Criteria Evidence, etc.). The standard required for Global Talent endorsement requires that your application is created by the applicant. All referenced examples of work must also be accompanied by verifiable evidence (e.g. screenshots, press clippings, company-approved performance data, etc.) in order to qualify. The use of AI or similar tools may weaken your application or potentially raise concerns regarding the validity of your application.

• Usernames for professional public profiles should be provided (such as LinkedIn and GitHub etc.), in order to ensure that correct profiles are found. This information can be provided in your CV. 

• If appropriate, Tech Nation will undertake checks on the information applicants provide. If Tech Nation finds that false or fraudulent evidence has been submitted, the application will be ineligible for consideration and the Home Office will be informed. Submission of fraudulent information on a Global Talent endorsement application may lead to the refusal of future visa applications you submit under both Global Talent or any other immigration route considered by the Home Office.

• You do not need to send printed hard copies to Tech Nation or the Home Office.

• Application data received by Tech Nation will remain strictly private and confidential, and is stored and processed on Tech Nation’s secure application system. Data will only be accessible to the Home Office, Tech Nation and the independent assessment panel. In accordance with Home Office instructions, Tech Nation will store your data for up to 6 years, after which it will be permanently deleted. You should only share data if you have permission to do so, Tech Nation cannot advise regarding NDA's or whether you should share any particular data.

Examples of evidence

When making a decision on your application, Tech Nation will assess that you meet the eligibility criteria. It will also consider the following factors:

• your career history - for example the international reputation and impact of your work
• the strength of the statements in your recommendation letter and of the evidence in support of your application
• how you’ll contribute to UK digital technology by being based in the UK
• personal factors such as your academic track record, salary level and company you’re being hired by, or amount of money raised if an entrepreneur
• the commercial impact of your previous work, achievements and experiences

You should provide financial documentation and proof of earnings to enable Tech Nation to assess the strength of your application where evidence relates to business ownership, commercial contracts, employment contracts, revenue history, product/market traction, or financing history in the case of investments or funds. For work within a startup, the company’s capital raised and revenues should be provided. Any statements regarding your previous or future impact on the UK digital technology sector should be supported by relevant evidence where possible.

All currencies contained within evidence should be converted to GBP where possible, or a summary of appropriate conversion rates provided.

The following examples indicate the type of evidence that could be assessed by Tech Nation when considering the criteria for either Exceptional Talent or Exceptional Promise. These examples are not exhaustive and alternative relevant evidence can be supplied to demonstrate you meet the relevant criteria. 

Mandatory criteria

1) How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised as (or recognised as having the potential to be) a leading talent in the digital technology sector in the last 5 years?

A ‘leader’ of exceptional talent (or promise) must show extraordinary ability by sustained (or emerging) national or international recognition. The individual will be able to demonstrate a level of expertise (or emerging expertise) which places them at the forefront of their respective field in the digital technology sector.

Any activity you are providing as evidence of recognition should have occurred within the past 5 years.

Examples of relevant evidence could include:

• You led the growth of a product-led digital technology company, product or team inside a digital technology company, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, or as evidenced by news clippings, lines of code from public repos or similar evidence.
• You led the marketing or business development at a product-led digital technology company, demonstrably enabling substantial revenue and/or customer growth or major commercial success, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, senior global commercial executives inside the company and/or at company partners/customers, or similar evidence.
• You led the growth of a non-profit organisation or social enterprise with a specific focus on the digital technology sector, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, or as evidenced by news clippings or similar evidence.
• Outside of your normal day-to-day job role, you led or were a significant contributor to a substantial open source project, as evidenced from compilation of code commit summaries, repo stars or similar metrics such as download statistics, where possible.
• Outside of your normal day-to-day job role, you established, led or were a senior contributor to a large technology-led industry initiative, evidenced through reference letter(s) from global senior project executives.
• You have received nationally or internationally recognised prizes or awards for excellence specifically in the digital technology sector, as evidenced by the award itself, reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your achievement, or as evidenced by news clippings or similar evidence.
• You have evidence of speaking at high-profile digital technology sector events, or specialist events for your particular field in the digital technology sector, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, or as evidenced by news clippings or similar evidence (including event size/attendance estimates where possible).
• Published material in professional or major trade publications or major media about the applicant related to the applicant’s work in the digital technology sector. You must include the title, date and evidence that you are the author of such published material and any necessary translation.
• You command a high salary or other remuneration for your services, as evidenced by commercial or employment contracts with salary information including any bonus and equity options and history of earnings.
• You have held or hold a significant expert role participating on panels, or individually, assessing the work of others in the same field or a field of specialisation related to the digital technology sector.

Please note that ‘leading industry experts’ excludes roles listed as unsuitable in the Typical Applicants section of the guidance (for example, managers at Outsourcing or Consultancy firms etc.). Evidence of recognition, such as Reference Letters, provided by an immediate colleague, manager, or friend are not sufficient.

Also note that evidence of media recognition should include details about the publication and target audience. LinkedIn or Medium are not considered sufficient as evidence. Internal company awards, training or certificates are also not sufficient for meeting this criterion. Where possible evidence should include supporting data such as number of page views, downloads or other quantifiable metrics.

Optional Criteria

1) How do I demonstrate that I have a proven track record or examples of innovation in the digital technology sector as a founder or senior executive of a product-led digital technology company or an employee working in a new digital field or concept?

You can demonstrate this by providing evidence of any genuine and significant product-led digital technology businesses you have established as a founder or senior executive which is currently active or has been dissolved in the last five years.  Any company provided as evidence should demonstrate a level of income beyond solely covering the applicant’s salary and must have been commercially successful or otherwise demonstrate how the applicant meets the endorsement criteria.

Examples of relevant evidence include:

• Evidence of innovation/product development, proof of product in market and associated traction through revenue.
• Evidence for each business should include your last set of audited accounts, projections for current financial year and articles of association.
• Evidence of domestic and/or international sales should show customer numbers for each country in which the company is operating, including a ranking of your distribution channels with a breakdown of when these sales were achieved for each channel (i.e. online, physical retail, 3rd party distributors, resellers etc.).
• Evidence of employment contract with salary information including any bonus and equity options and history of earnings.

Papers or patent applications which have been made solely to support the timing of your application are unacceptable.

If you are an employee working in a new digital field or concept, this must be clearly demonstrated, for example by providing a patent application (patent should include verifiable ID on Google Patents).

2) How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the sector?

You can demonstrate this by providing evidence that you have gone beyond your day-to-day profession to engage in an activity that contributes to the advancement of the sector.  Examples may include mentoring, advising, organising interest groups, leading on policy, teaching at a university or participating in clubs or societies for the furthering of the field.

Letters of Reference alone are not sufficient and should be supported by other evidence.

Examples of relevant evidence include:

• Evidence of contributions to an Open Source project
• Your GitHub profile demonstrating active participation in a collaborative project
• Your Stack Overflow profile showing significant contribution to discussions around code
• All contributions (for example to an Open-Source project, GitHub, or Stack Overflow profile etc.) must demonstrate a consistent and ongoing track record of contributions to the sector. Contributions which have been made solely to support the timing of your application are unacceptable.
• Talks or conference speaking that have had a significant viewership. Conferences must be widely regarded as sector-leading events for your field with at least 100 attendees (not registrations). As a speaker you must be speaking on the main stage and the invitation to speak must not have been paid for by your organisation as part of any sponsorship. Leading a workshop or running a session at a conference is not sufficient. Evidence should include your speech with either a link to the video of you speaking, the programme of events displaying your talk or a reference letter from the conference organiser with explanation of why you were asked to speak.
• An op-ed or news article that exemplifies thought leadership, evidence of mentorship.
• Evidence of mentorship must be for activity outside the applicant's organisation or normal course of work duties and excludes mentorship of other commercial organisations as part of a commercial arrangement. Mentorship should be on behalf of a structured programme with selection criteria and is inclusive of non-profit charities and social mentorship programmes. You must be able to demonstrate a consistent track record of mentoring and have received recognition for your personal contribution. Mentoring at a university or a single startup is not sufficient. When mentoring alongside other mentors (for example at a top-tier accelerator) you must have been a senior mentor that may be evidenced through a letter of reference from the programme. Note that simply training a colleague, providing general support or advice, or advising at a company of someone you know is not considered to meet the definition of mentorship.

3) How do I demonstrate that I have made a significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field as a founder, senior executive, board member or employee of a product-led digital technology company?

Tech Nation will distinguish whether you are a technical applicant (whether your occupation requires you to write code or manage developers) or whether you are a business applicant (any occupation within a product-led digital technology company that doesn’t require you to write code).

Please note that the term ‘significant contribution’ in this criteria requires you to demonstrate impact, not necessarily innovation. This is different from Optional Criteria 1 where you are required to demonstrate high levels of innovation, not necessarily impact. If these are your chosen criteria then your evidence should clearly demonstrate this differentiation. Submitting the same evidence for both criteria may not be sufficient if it does not meet these different requirements.

Technical examples of a “significant contribution” include:

• Having led in the development of high-impact digital products or services;
• Starting or contributing to open source projects in a way that has been acknowledged by peers as advancing the field;
• Having worked as a key engineer in the core product of a start-up, showing evidence as to how you have contributed to its success.

Documents that will be considered as acceptable evidence include (please provide more than one piece of evidence.  The list below contains suggestions – other types of documents can be submitted):

• Employment contract with salary information including any bonus and equity options (although you will have to demonstrate how you have made a significant impact in the sector beyond your day-to-day activities);
• Letter from an employer wherever applicable.  This is in addition to the required letters of endorsement and should be written by another individual;
• Documentation on product designs or architecture diagram clearly showing your contribution.  Please ensure this evidence is no more than three A4 pages long and demonstrates your personal work, not that of the company or team of individuals;
• GitHub account that contains lines of code clearly showing your continuing contribution.

Business examples of a “significant contribution” include:

• Having led or played a key role in the growth of a product-led digital technology company, such as influencing investment and strategy or delivering major products or releases;
• Having founded a successful product-led digital technology company or other organisation and leading it.

Documents that will be considered as acceptable evidence include (please provide more than one piece of evidence.  The list below contains suggestions – other types of documents can be submitted):

• Employment contract containing salary information including any bonus and equity options
• Letter from an employer wherever applicable.  This is in addition to the required letters of endorsement and should be written by another individual;
• Documents detailing your significant contribution towards commercial success (such as evidence of sales pipeline built and delivered, growth generated, leads generated, processes developed and implemented).

4) How do I demonstrate that I have exceptional ability in the field by making academic contributions through research?

Academic research must be endorsed by a recognised academic expert either through peer review in a recognised publication or endorsement from a leading senior academic who has supervised the individual directly.

 Examples of relevant evidence include:

• Evidence of at least one significant contribution to the field in the form of a paper published in a top-tier peer-reviewed journal.  Research undertaken as part of an undergraduate or MSc thesis does not qualify for this criteria;
• Evidence of presentations at a peer-reviewed conference, or evidence of being awarded competitive peer-reviewed research grants.
• Evidence of awards received for outstanding applied work, supported by excellent academic achievement (a first-class degree or distinction);
• A letter of support from a research supervisor or other expert in your area of expertise affirming their potential world-class standard.  This is in addition to the required letters of recommendation and must be written by another individual;
• Evidence of a merit based award that has been granted by an organisation of a similar standing and distinction to the Royal Society in the UK, as well as the selection criteria for this award.

Please note that awards must be of merit and not solely monetary (e.g. grants, bursaries or scholarships).

Useful resources and further reading:

Visa Guide change log

Previous versions of the Tech Nation Visa Guide are available below:

For applications up to the 11th April 2023 see here

For applications up to the 8th Nov 2022 see here

For applications up to the 5th April 2022 see here

Below is a log of changes made to our unofficial Tech Nation Visa Guide. It does not necessarily reflect changes to the official Global Talent visa route, guidance or immigration rules. You should consult the official Guidance and Statements of Change and Immigration Rules archives for official changes. Our guide does not replace the official guidance, any changes, errors or omissions within our guide cannot be used within an Endorsement Review.

April 2023

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Updated Exceptional Promise criteria wording to match updated immigration rules.
• Updated note that Exceptional Promise applicants can have had a longer career in another type of work.

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST

• Added requirement for at least 2 unique pieces of evidence per criteria.

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST - NOTES

• Added note regarding use of Artificial Intelligence and/or language processing tools (e.g. ChatGPT) 
• Amended note regarding checks on information and evidence provided by applicants.

January 2023

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST - NOTES

• Added note that digital signature services can be used for creating Letters of Recommendation, providing a log of document history.
• Added note that Usernames for professional public profiles should be provided in CV.

November 2022

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST - LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

• Clarification that Letters of Recommendation should be from 'individuals' and the minimum length of time a referee should have known the applicant and their work. Updated to:
  
  "well-established organisations individuals acknowledged as experts in the digital technology field, with detailed knowledge of the applicant’s work over a period of 12 months or more, supporting the Global Talent application"

• Added note to clarify that any additional letters of reference submitted as evidence will be expect to be from digital technology experts that have known the applicant's work for 12 months or more, and also that providing letters of reference alone as evidence for meeting criteria is not sufficient.

April 2022

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST - LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Each letter must:

• Be about your Global Talent application - you cannot use a letter that was written for another reason
• Say how the person knows you
• Show your achievements in the digital technology sector, and how you are a leader or potential leader
• Say how you would benefit from living in the UK
• Say how you would contribute to the digital technology field in the UK
• Explain what plans you have for work in the future
• Explain how the author knows the applicant; and
• Knows the applicant’s achievements in the relevant field; and
• how the author considers the applicant shows exceptional talent or promise; and
• the contribution the applicant would make to the UK digital economy.

EXCEPTIONAL TALENT

• Added 'within the last 5 years to 'show that they have been recognised as a leading talent in the digital technology sector'

EXCEPTIONAL PROMISE

• Added 'within the last 5 years to 'show that they have been recognised as a leading talent in the digital technology field'
• Added requirement: 'Be at an early stage in their career' to evidence required.

February 2022

FAST TRACK:

• Removed Barclays, Microsoft and NatWest from list of eligible accelerators
• Added Carbon13

November 2021

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST:

• Added extra wording that use of Templates is not permitted (not new guidance, already in 'Letters of Recommendation' section)

October 2021

TYPICAL APPLICANTS:

• Added wording to clarify types of eligible applicants, Technical vs Business.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

• The phrase ‘at least’ has been removed from the optional criteria for Promise, applicants should choose ONLY two optional criteria.
• Clarified meaning for Optional Criteria 4 (academic achievement). For this criteria, it is the Research that should be endorsed by an expert, not the applicant themselves.
• All Promise criteria have been amended to require 'At least 1 example' of evidence
• Added 'Board member' to applicant type for Optional Criteria 3 for Talent (significant impact).

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST:

• Added wording that all evidence must legible for assessment.

EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCE:

• Added wording that Patent applications made solely for the purpose & timing of application are not acceptable.
• Updated wording to clarify what is acceptable as evidence of Mentorship.
• Added wording that contributions to software development made solely for the purpose & timing of application are not acceptable.
• Updated wording to clarify what is acceptable as evidence of Conferences.
• To support above criteria amendment, added wording to state that academic research must be either published or endorsed by an expert.

July 2021

FAST TRACK:

• Added wording to clarify that the current Fast Track does not relate to Eligibility.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

• Added sub-section regarding Unsuccessful Applications and moved text here regarding the Endorsement Review process. Expanded text to include several recommendations.

June 2021

EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCE:

• Clarified wording for Mandatory Criteria that Letters of Reference from an immediate colleague are not sufficient.
• Clarified for Optional Criteria regarding mentoring, that Letters of Reference alone are not sufficient evidence.

February 2021

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST:

• Updated wording regarding evidence page limits to clarify that applicants should provide only the key aspects of evidence, and not physically shrink evidence to fit the page limit.

January 2021

APPLICATION PROCESS:

• Added wording regarding 15 day deadline for submitting Tech Nation application (effective from 1st December 2020)

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST:

• Added note that Personal Statements must be submitted using Tech Nation form and not uploaded as a separate document.

EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCE:

• Added note that currencies in evidence should be converted to GBP or appropriate conversion rates provided.

December 2020

ABOUT THIS GUIDE:

• Updated guide effective date to 1st December 2020
• Link to official Immigration Rules for Global Talent has been updated

APPLICANT SUITABILITY:

• Moved 'Typical Applicants' beneath new 'Applicant Suitability' section
• Added Useful Definitions sub-section and definition for 'Digital Business' and 'Product-led'

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

• Eligibility Criteria have been updated. There is now a single mandatory criteria and four optional criteria, this applies to both Exceptional Talent and Exceptional Promise.
  The criteria wording is mostly unchanged, the main change is that the criteria have been rearranged. The former Qualifying criteria regarding ‘Continuous Learning’ has been removed.
• Removed all mentions of “Key and Qualifying” criteria and replaced with wording regarding mandatory and optional criteria.

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST:

• Updated wording for CV and Letters of Recommendation to match updates to official guidance. No new or additional requirements have been added.
• Added note regarding data confidentiality.

EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCE:

• Examples of Evidence section has been updated to match the changes to the Eligibility Criteria. The examples for the Mandatory criteria have been updated, examples for other criteria have not been changed. Please note, Examples are not a definitive list, if previous examples have been removed they may still be eligible as evidence.

June 2020

ABOUT THIS GUIDE:

• Updated guide effective date to 4th June 2020

TYPICAL APPLICANTS:

• Added ‘latest technologies’ wording to Technical applicant definition (i.e. emphasising expertise of latest technology)
• Split Consultancy/ERP in the list of unsuitable roles and added technical/management definition of consultancy for clarity

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

• Replaced the word 'director' with 'senior executive' in the first Key Criteria for Talent (this clarifies that the previous use of ‘director’ referred to internal executives and not non-exec directors).
• Replaced 'entrepreneur' with 'senior executive' in the first Qualifying Criteria for Talent (the use of ‘entrepreneur’ duplicated the use of 'founder' and ‘senior executive’ was a necessary addition).
• Removed 'entrepreneur' from the first Qualifying Criteria for Promise (again the use of ‘entrepreneur’ duplicated the use of 'founder', but ‘senior executive’ not added to Promise as not relevant).

FAST TRACK:

• Added wording to Fast Track to clarify it relates to current/future programmes, and that past programmes are not applicable.
• Added three Accelerators to the list (Antler, Creative Destruction Labs and NatWest Accelerator).

EVIDENCE - DOCUMENT CHECKLIST:

• Added bullet to stipulate that Letters of Recommendation should be a maximum of three pages of A4 (excluding credentials of the author)
• Increased evidential page limit to three pages of A4 (this applies to the ten pieces of evidence provided by the applicant and aligns with the applicant’s CV and Letters of Recommendation which also now have a three page limit)
• Updated text regarding the use of letter headed documents in order to modernise. Letters must show the organisation logo and registered address, if written on behalf of a third party organisation.
• Added wording to stipulate that where the applicant has active or dissolved businesses the businesses should demonstrate commercial success or otherwise meet the endorsement criteria.

EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCE:

• Applied the same ‘director’ and ‘entrepreneur’ word changes to reflect changes in Eligibility Criteria above. 
• Applied same wording where the applicant has active or dissolved businesses the businesses should demonstrate commercial success or otherwise meet the endorsement criteria.
• Expanded the example / definition ‘mastery of skill’ in the third Qualifying Criteria, so that it now is also applicable to Exceptional Talent (i.e. skills acquired through professional career).
• Added bullet/wording to examples for third Qualifying Criteria regarding 'latest technology / sector specific processes / senior domain knowledge' (i.e. emphasising expertise of latest technology etc.)

February 2020

• Global Talent wording updates.
• FAQs updated to reflect Global Talent route changes regarding grant periods and removal of the cap to visa numbers
• Application Process section wording updated (no change to process)
• Suitable Applications section wording updated (no changes to example suitable roles box)
• Eligibility Criteria section wording updated (no changes to Eligibility Criteria except wording in fourth Qualifying Criteria - see next bullet point)
• Update to wording for fourth Qualifying Criteria for Global Promise - “Provide more than one example” (no actual change in requirement, updated from “Provide two or more examples”)
• Fast Track - list of Accelerators updated (Microsoft & Wayra updated, GCHQ removed as its part of Wayra, and Founders Academy added)
• Documents & Evidence section updated to reflect wording in official Global Talent rules (no changes to actual evidence requirements except changes to CV length - see next bullet point)
• CV uploads may now be of three A4 pages in length