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Important Visa Updates

for Applicants and Alumni

System Maintenance

Please note that Tech Nation’s application platform (SurveyMonkey Apply) will be performing scheduled maintenance on Wednesday June 1, 2022 at 7pm EST ( 1am BST).
During this time, you may experience an interruption in service for up to 3 hours.


Rules Update

Last updated: 12 April 2022

In order to continue to be as representative of the dynamic and rapidly-changing UK tech ecosystem as possible, small but important changes have been implemented to our visa criteria as of April 6th 2022:

  • All applicants for Exceptional Promise must be ‘early in their career’ (Tech Nation deems the UK Government’s definition of early to mean ‘within 5 years’).
  • All evidence submitted for both Exceptional Talent and Exceptional Promise must have relevance within the last 5 years from the date of application.
  • All Letters of Recommendation must contain as a minimum:

    (i) how the author knows the applicant; and
    (ii)    the applicant’s achievements in the relevant field; and
    (iii)   how the author considers the applicant shows exceptional talent or promise; and
    (iv)   the contribution the applicant would make to UK digital economy”.

For more information, you can find the official announcement of these updates on the UK Government website.

A full update has been applied to the Tech Nation Visa Guide and the UK Government’s Immigration Rules. If you have started your Global Talent application ON or AFTER this date, please make sure your application evidence is in accordance with these changes.


Update on the invasion of Ukraine

Last updated: 10th March 2022

In the wake of the unprecedented attacks on Ukraine, Tech Nation’s Visa team is is supporting efforts in the following ways:

  • We are prioritising applications from ANY nationality currently in Ukraine who is able/wishes to leave, as well as Ukrainians that have already fled and are in neighbouring countries.
  • We are secondarily prioritising the applications of Russian and Belarusian employees, working for UK tech companies who cannot be paid due to SWIFT sanctions.
  • Nonprofit ‘Techfugees’, which is coordinating a response to the invasion by the tech sector has created remoteukraine.org, which connects Ukrainian refugees to a digital hub of global job opportunities. Our Global Talent Visa alumni have added their contact information directly to the site to fast-track support for those affected.

Please note that whilst Tech Nation can and is responding exceptionally quickly, we have no influence over the second stage of the application process.


If you’re an employer managing remote teams across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, our legal partners Fragomen have put together a series of resources to support you here.

If you are exiting Ukraine, immigration considerations specifically for the UK can be found here.

The Global Talent Visa has a two stage application process:

  • Stage 1: Application for endorsement by Tech Nation (£456), which is being prioritised by Tech Nation and will be turned around within 48 hours
  • Stage 2: Application for the Visa itself via the UK Government (£125) – can take up to 3 weeks

Our Visa alumni ambassadors are on hand to support you with your application queries and to help you understand what is required. Please note as of March 15th, there have been no concessions to the Global Talent Visa criteria, so please refer to the following resources:

  • Our Visa Guide, which clearly identifies our criteria
  • Our Eligibility Checker, which will let you know if you’re likely to be endorsed before you spend any time on your application’