How I Got the Global Talent Visa to Move to London

Understand the what, why, and how behind the most coveted visa in the United Kingdom.

On June 28th, 2024, I got the endorsement for my Global Talent Visa approved by Tech Nation through the digital technology track for the Exceptional Promise route, granting me the chance to spend up to 5 years in the United Kingdom. I applied without a lawyer and the entire process took 16 days and cost ~$2250.

I know the above passage contained a lot of legal jargon. Fear not, by the end of this article, you’ll be fluent in all things Global Talent Visa. :)

(I’ll be officially relocating to London in September 2024 to work on my next book — 1000 Days of Love — as well as continue growing my company, Unshackled.)

What’s the Global Talent Visa (GTV)?

The Global Talent Visa (GTV) is a talent visa given to individuals who want to relocate and work in the UK. This visa is particularly aimed at leaders or potential leaders in the fields of:

• academia or research,

• arts and culture, and

• digital technology.

(You must be at least 18 years old to apply).

The “digital technology” track is broad. It includes everyone from software developers, tech entrepreneurs, product leaders, AI engineers, data scientists, IT professionals, and others who have a digital tech component in their work.

The GTV allows successful applicants to live and work in the UK for up to five years, with the possibility of extending their stay or applying for permanent residence (or “indefinite leave to remain” as they say in the UK).

Exceptional Talent vs. Exceptional Promise

When applying for the GTV, you have the choice to apply under two routes: “Exceptional Talent” or “Exceptional Promise.” Here’s the difference:

• Exceptional Talent route is meant for those who are already recognized as leaders in their respective fields. These folks have a significant track record of achievements and contributions that demonstrate their expertise and impact. They are typically more advanced in their careers (>5 years of experience), with a history of recognized work and accolades.

• Exceptional Promise route is designed for those who show potential to become future leaders in their field. These folks are at an earlier stage in their careers (<5 years of experience) but have shown considerable promise through their achievements and potential for future success.

Because of the difference in who it targets, the Exceptional Promise route has a relatively lower bar against which you’re judged, compared to the Exceptional Talent route.

Here’s a sample scenario:

• Exceptional Talent: A software engineer with 10+ years of experience, multiple patents, extensive work of judging others, and a proven track record of leading innovative projects.

• Exceptional Promise: A young tech entrepreneur who has launched a successful startup, received early-stage funding, and won a few notable industry awards but is still building their career.

Here’s the main advantage of the Exceptional Talent route: getting your GTV through the Exceptional Talent route will give you a chance to file for permanent residency within 3 years of living in the UK, while the Exceptional Promise route requires you to stay for 5 years before filing.

I applied under the Exceptional Promise route because (a) I don’t see myself settling down in the UK as of now, and (b) I wanted to have a lower bar against which I am judged for the visa.

Why is GTV amazing?

I did a mini-PhD on all UK visas and realized that the Global Talent Visa is probably the most flexible, because,

• No job offer required: Unlike many other visa routes, the GTV does not require you to have a job offer before you apply. You can file it as an individual without employer sponsorship.

• Clear path to settlement: The GTV provides a clear pathway to permanent residency (“indefinite leave to remain”) after three to five years, depending on whether you applied through the Exceptional Talent (3 years) or Exceptional Promise (5 years) route.

• Incredible work flexibility: GTV holders can work as employees, freelancers, or start their businesses. This visa allows you to switch jobs, employers, or even sectors without needing additional permissions. Basically, you can do whatever you want once you enter the country.

• Family inclusion: You can bring your dependents (spouse/partner and children) with you to the UK, and they will have the right to work and study.

Finally, getting this visa is also a sign of recognition for many — and helps you want to keep growing further in your career.

If you’re convinced about why the GTV is coveted, great. Now let’s talk about what it takes to get it.

What goes into the application?

The application process involves two stages:

• obtaining an endorsement, and

• submitting the visa application.

(NOTE: You can apply for the visa without an endorsement IF you’ve won an eligible award, such as the Nobel Prize or Turing Award. Find out which awards are eligible here.)

Step 0: Submitting endorsement on GOV.UK (Stage 1)

So… there’s a step 0 before you obtain your endorsement. This involves creating an account on GOV.UK and submitting your basic details and paying the £524 fee.

This is sent to the UK Home Office. Once you’re done with this stage, you can move on to Step 1 below to obtain your endorsement.

(NOTE: If you’ve traveled to many countries, be sure to go back and figure out your itinerary as that’s one of the sections in the Stage 1 application. They require you to mention the date you entered and left any country you’ve been to in the last 10 years).

Step 1: Obtaining an endorsement

The first (and major) step in the GTV process is securing an endorsement from an approved endorsing body relevant to your field. For digital technology, this body is Tech Nation as of July 2024 (it may change in the future). Since I applied through Tech Nation, I’ll talk about the steps from that lens for the rest of this article.

To get an endorsement, you need to show proof of why you deserve the visa by submitting the following documents:

• Personal Statement: A 1000-word essay outlining your achievements, the purpose of moving to the UK, and how you plan to contribute to the UK’s digital technology sector. This statement should articulate why you consider yourself a leader (or potential leader).

• Curriculum Vitae (CV): A comprehensive CV detailing your career history, significant accomplishments, and contributions to your field. Highlight any awards, publications, or notable projects. Specifically, make sure you talk about your work that involves digital technology.

• Letters of Recommendation: You need a minimum of three letters from established experts in your field (and the field of digital technology) who can attest to your skills, achievements, and potential. You can get up to 10 letters if you’d like.

• Supporting Evidence: Although the term “Supporting Evidence” sounds like an afterthought, this is the crux of your application. This is where you show documents that prove why you’re a leader (or potential leader) in your field, related to digital technology. Tech Nation has excellently laid out what they consider as evidence on their page, under the “Documents & Evidence” section. Read it once, and read it again. Supporting Evidence includes,

  • Publication of academic or business-related articles.

  • Proof of obtaining a high salary for your work relative to peers.

  • Obtaining an award or honor.

  • Invitations to speak at conferences.

  • Media articles about your achievements, and more.

Tech Nation requires you to submit between 6 to 10 pieces of “Supporting Evidence”, spread across one "Mandatory Criteria” and two “Optional Criteria.” They’re also pretty strict about ensuring each of the evidence does not cross 3 pages. So, in total, you can expect to furnish between 18 to 30 pages of evidence documents.

Here’s the best part: the entire process is online. You just need to create an account, sign in, upload all the above documents, and hit Submit to send in your application. Once you do, they take up to 8 weeks to give out a decision. In my case, it only took 4 working days. On average, you can expect it to take a few weeks.

Step 2: Submitting the visa application (Stage 2)

Assuming you got an endorsement, congratulations!

You will get an email from the Home Office similar to what you see below. Specifically, notice the sentence in yellow. (Yeah, I wish they were more emphatic with their approvals. It took me a minute to figure out if I got the endorsement or not!)

In the same email, they’ll also send you a link through which you need to now apply for the visa.

Don’t worry — the hard part is over. This step is more of a courtesy step that you need to go through to pay your visa application fee (£192), health surcharge fee (£1,035 per year) and eventually book an appointment to get your passport stamped.

Going to the UK consulate

I was able to book an appointment as early as tomorrow at the Chennai UK consulate.

While booking the appointment, you get a roster of services you can choose from. I chose the “Digital Application Submission” service so I could upload all documents prior to the appointment itself.

In my case, they asked me for the following documents:

• Tuberculosis test (this must be from one of the designated centers as per the UK government)

• Information about your visit (tour details / flight details / letter of invitation / evidence of sponsor's immigration status in the UK)

• Proof of funds (Bank statements / bank books / bank letter / balance certificate / tax returns / crop receipts)

• Proof of home in India (Property deed / mortgage statements / tenancy agreements / accountant's letters / land registration documents)

• Evidence of assets (Property deed / mortgage statements / accountant's letters / land registration documents)

• Additional information (Evidence of family members remaining in your home country whilst you travel)

Once you go through this stage and finish your appointment, they take up to 3 weeks to return your passport with a stamp. In my case, I got my passport stamped and returned within 10 calendar days (although some estimates by other recipients state 8 weeks).

If all goes well, you will receive your passport with a “sticker” on it. With this sticker, you have to enter the UK within 3 months (90 days) and receive something called the Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). You must do this before the vignette sticker in your travel document expires or within 10 days of arriving in the UK, whichever is later.

My timeline & total cost

I discovered the Global Talent Visa on June 12th, applied for an endorsement on the 22nd, and got the endorsement on the 28th. The full process took 16 days and cost me $2250, with the following breakdown:

• £524 for endorsement application ($674)

• £192 for visa application ($245)

• £1,035 for health surcharge for one year ($1331)

Here’s why I was able to apply so quickly: I already have an O-1A and EB-2 NIW approved in the United States. These are also talent visas given out to individuals at the top of their fields — based on similar evidence documents. So I already had most of the documents I needed. What took time was getting the new LORs, writing the personal statement, creating a CV (I have not updated my CV in 5 years!), and figuring out which evidence document I should submit for the different criteria.

Here’s why I did not use a lawyer: I was about to pay $5000 to an immigration consultant who agreed to help. But, thanks to a friend of mine (Jason), I didn’t. Jason gave me advice and feedback on my application. He’s a GTV recipient under the Exceptional Talent track and submitted his application without a lawyer. He encouraged me to take a shot on my own. Specifically, he said, “Tech Nation has excellent guidance on their website. If you follow it closely and map all your evidence to what they’ve asked, there’s a high chance they will grant you the endorsement.” In my case, he turned out to be spot on!

Finally, after having gone through multi-year struggles with the U.S. immigration system (on which I even wrote a book), going through the UK system felt like a breath of fresh air. Unlike the U.S. immigration, everything in the UK process was online, digital, and streamlined. Kudos to the Home Office for what they’ve done!

Relocating to London to write my book

I’m officially relocating from San Francisco to London in September 2024. Besides continuing to grow my company, I’ll be enrolling in Faber Academy’s novel-writing program to finish my next book’s manuscript.

I’ve had childlike wonder toward London — and Europe as a whole — for a long time. I’m thrilled to enter the country for the first time not just as a tourist, but to live and work there while pursuing my passion.

If you’d like to become an early reader of my book “1000 Days of Love”, hit the subscribe button below and join thousands of others who are on the early list! :)

And if you found this article useful, spread the joy and share it with a friend who you think should look into the Global Talent Visa. Cheers <3

Useful reference links

• UK gov login: https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/nextSteps

• Tech Nation login: https://tech-nation-visa.smapply.io/prog/tech_nation_visa_application/

• Tech Nation’s guidance on what qualifies as evidence under all categories: https://stagetechn.wpengine.com/visa-tech-nation-visa-guide/#typical-applicants

• Tech Nation’s list of technical and business skills: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-talent-endorsing-bodies/technical-or-business-skills-covered-by-tech-nation

• Excellent article on an artist getting his GTV: https://dsokolovskiy.com/blog/all/global-talent/.

• A sample personal statement: https://tennexas.com/uk-global-talent-visa-example-personal-statement-by-successful-candidate/

• A long list of FAQs addressed: https://www.davidsonmorris.com/global-talent-visa/