A Comprehensive Post on Applying for The GLOBAL TALENT UK VISA in arts and culture [Theatre]
When I was preparing for my Global Talent Visa application, I encountered a few blogs written by migrant artists who went through the same process as me. Reading their experience and tips for the visa application had been very helpful and encouraging during my preparation period. I hope sharing my case will help others and give some assurance in their application process as well.
Introduction
I am recently granted the Global Talent Visa - Exceptional Talent in arts and culture. I can only speak for my experience and this post is intended for those who wants to apply for the visa in arts and culture especially in THEATRE. I do work across theatre AND film & TV like many other actors, but because I have “stronger” credits in theatre, I thought I would have a higher chance to receive the visa through Arts Council England. *You need to choose the single area of practice for the visa application either film and television OR theatre, not both. But don't worry! You can still work in both film & TV AND theatre once you are granted the visa!
The Global Talent Visa is a highly desirable visa due to its flexibility and because you can apply for permanent residency (Indefinite Leave to Remain) in the UK after 3 years for Exceptional Talent applicants, and after 5 years for Exceptional Promise applicants.
Clarifications
I am an actor, dancer and puppeteer originally from Japan. I previously lived and worked in the UK for two years with Youth Mobility Scheme visa. I have been working professionally for four and a half years in the theatre industry in several countries including US, UK and Austria.
I found the visa application is fairly simple and straightforward. I did not hire a solicitor and did my application by myself.
I am writing this in May 2022. Immigration rules and requirements changes all the time, so please make sure you check the latest requirements.
What is The Global Talent Visa?
The Global Talent visa is a UK immigration category for talented and promising people in specific sectors such as sciences, the humanities, engineering, the arts, and technology, wishing to work in the UK. Once you receive the visa, you are allowed to work for up to 5 years.
The Guidelines
Here are the official Guidelines from the UK government website and Arts Council. They frequently updates the requirements and rules, so I highly recommend you to read them through carefully before you start your application process and also right before you submit your application.
https://www.gov.uk/global-talent-arts-culture
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-global-talent
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/global-talent-visa#section-1
There are two stages for The Global Talent Visa application:
Stage 1: Endorsement (Judged by Arts Council if you meet the criteria)
Stage 2: Application for Visa (Immigration purpose)
*You can apply for Stage 1 and Stage 2 at the same time if you received the awards. Otherwise, you can only apply for Stage 2 after you get Endorsement Letter from Arts Council.
You can apply as either a:
leader in your field - Exceptional Talent
potential leader in your field - Exceptional Promise
*Arts Council England will judge your application.
Fees
It costs £623 to apply.
If you’re applying based on an endorsement, you’ll pay the £623 in two parts:
- £456 when you apply for the endorsement (Stage 1)
- £167 when you apply for the visa itself (Stage 2)Healthcare surcharge
You’ll also have to pay the healthcare surcharge as part of your application - this is usually £624 per year.
Stage 1: Endorsement
This part is the BEAST of the visa application! You need to submit Three Letters of Support and up to 10 supporting evidences to prove you have been working in your field. You can find the criteria from the official websites and also some tips & what I did below.
Stage 1: Endorsement will be judged by Arts Council, so I would recommend to read the requirements that you can find on the website of Arts Council England. I noticed that there were minor differences between the description on Arts Council and the one on the UK gov website... I followed the guide on Arts Council England because they are the one makes a decision for your application in this stage.
It might take a longer than you think to put together all documents, so always plan ahead!
Letter of Support
The first letter must be from a UK based cultural organisation that is established nationally and/or internationally and recognised as having expertise in your field of arts and culture, film and television or architecture.
The second letter must be from another cultural organisation that is established nationally and/or internationally and recognised as having expertise in your field of arts and culture, film and television or architecture. This second organisation can be UK or overseas based.
The third letter can be either; from a third cultural organisation (UK or overseas based) or an eminent individual, with recognised expertise in your field of arts and culture, film and television or architecture.
At least one of the three letters must be from a UK based cultural organisation and only one of the three letters can be from an eminent individual. The letters from organisations must be from separate organisations.
I contacted three people who I have worked with in the past and asked if they could support my visa application. I knew those people were very busy, so I offered them that I would write a draft letter on behalf and they could read and sign if they were happy with a statement on the letter or they could modify and sign if they want to. In my case, all three of them agreed on that and I started writing the letters after I got the permissions from them.
I did make sure to state the following points in the letters;
a purpose of the letter - stating the letter is to support my application for the Global Talent Visa (Exceptional Talent).
the authors’ biography - stating that they are the experts and established organisations and individuals in the field.
how they know me - stating date, location and the details of a production that I met/worked with them.
the contribution I made in the authors’ theatre productions/companies
how I would benefit from living in the UK - stating why I want to pursue my career in the UK.
the contribution I could make to cultural life in the UK - stating my ethnicity background and expertise.
any of your future professional engagements in the UK (if applicable)
I sent the drafts of letters to my three people and asked them to insert the following things in the letters;
their organisation logo/letterhead
registered address
date
their signature
their full contact details including an email address and direct telephone number
*Personally, writing those letters took me the most time probably because English is not my mother tongue. I read a lot of professional theatre reviews from The Guardian and The Telegraph and they were very helpful for me to understand how to evaluate and articulate about one’s performance. Also, I asked a few native speakers to do proof reading the drafts before I send them to my three people.
Supporting evidence
Applicants must provide no more than 10 individual pieces of supporting evidence, in at least two of three categories; media recognition, international awards, proof of appearances. If we receive more than 10 individual pieces of evidence, we can return the application and ask you to resubmit with only the required amount of evidence. Each document must be no more than two sides of A4. Your evidence cannot include physical objects such as DVDs, CDs, books or publications and you should not send digital files or downloads. If you wish to use the content of a webpage as evidence, you must provide a full printed copy or screenshot of the page and the full link (URL) for the page.
If any pieces of evidence are in another language, they must include a full translation from a certified translator.
We are unable to accept handwritten pieces of evidence.
Please check here for the details of each categories.
- Page 7 for Exceptional Talent Criteria
- Page 10 for Exceptional Promise Criteria
I am focusing on the Exceptional Talent guideline because this is the category I applied for.
Note that you only need to qualify two of three categories; media recognition, international awards, proof of appearances. I didn't receive any awards last 5 years, so I only provided the evidences for media recognition and proof of appearances. I excluded international awards. Please see the evidence I submitted below.
proof of appearances
Evidence 1: Programme for "Miss Saigon"(including support letter from the artist director of VBW)
Evidence 2: Poster, programme and screenshot of the official trailer for "Madam Butterfly"
Evidence 3: Programme and photos for "Magic To Do"
Evidence 4: Programme, screenshot of the official trailer and photos for "Princess Cruises/The Secret Silk"
Evidence 5: Programme and photo for "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"
In the evidences, I highlighted the date of performance, location and my name to make it easier for people from Arts Council to assess my evidence. When my evidence (e.g. programmes) did not state the date of performance or location, I either provided additional proof such as a letter signed by a senior member of the production, a signed contract, an offer email, or a tour/cruise ship itinerary.
media recognition
Evidence 6: Review of "Miss Saigon" at VBW from Austria Press Agency (including certified translation from German to English and support letter from VBW artist director)
Evidence 7: Review of "Miss Saigon" at VBW on Salzburg News (including certified translation from German to English and support letter from VBW artist director)
Evidence 8: Review of "Madam Butterfly" at ENO on Rhinegold Publishing (including support letter from CEO of ENO)
Evidence 9: Review of "Madam Butterfly" at ENO on Opera Today (including support letter from CEO of ENO)
Evidence 10: Review of "Madam Butterfly" at ENO on The Stage (including support letter from CEO of ENO)
I read all the reviews for each production and carefully picked the ones specifically evaluated about “my work”. However, they did not mention my name as an individual because I was in the ensemble. To support the evidences, I provided support letters signed by senior members of the organisations to prove my “significant contribution”.
I used a certified translation service at Spanish Group for non-English reviews. Their service seems the most affordable and efficient if you negotiate the rate with them;)
Although the guideline said “Each document must be no more than two sides of A4”, some of my evidences for media recognition were 6 pages of A4 because they required a support letter and a certified translation and it didn't seem an issue.
Apply for Stage 1: endorsement
Once you have all the documents above, you can apply for endorsement.
How long does it take to process applications?
We usually return our decisions within 1-3 weeks, dependent on capacity. However, our service level agreement with the Home Office is to return 100% of our recommendations to them within no more than 8 weeks of an application being submitted. We advise all applicants to plan around this maximum timeframe.
Stage 2: Application for Visa
Once you received the endorsement letter, you are officially eligible to apply for Global Talent Visa. The purpose for Stage 2 is immigration entry clearance.
How you apply depends on whether you’re:
outside the UK and are coming to the UK
inside the UK and extending your current visa
inside the UK and switching from a different visaApplying for the visa takes 3 weeks if you’re outside the UK, and 8 weeks if you’re inside the UK.
I applied in Austria where I was based at that time, and here’s what I uploaded in advance for my Biometrics appointment;
Endorsement letter
Passport
Austria work permit (because Austria is not my usual residence country)
Rental agreement in Austria (to show I am currently resident in Austria)
Supporting travel documents (I did more than 30 international travels last 10 years, so submitted additional documents listing countries, dates and travel purposes.)
Bank Statement (I don't think any financial documents are required for Global Talent Visa, but it wasn't hustle for me to get a bank statement, so I submitted just in case.)
I attended TLSContact appointment in Vienna and here’s what I needed to submit them in my Biometrics appointment;
Passport
Checklist
I thought I needed to submit my Austria work permit card, but a staff at TLS said no need for that since I had already uploaded a copy of the card before the appointment.
I would recommend to bring/upload your old passport if it contains your previous UK visa/vignettes.
Timeline of my visa application
Stage 1
On Friday, 1 April 2022: Paid Stage 1 fee and emailed home office my endorsement
On Saturday, 2 April 2022: Got an email “my previous email was blocked as it exceeded 16mb.” and re-emailed my endorsement
On Tuesday, 5 April 2022: Received the confirmation email from the home office that they have passed my endorsement to Arts Council England
On Friday, 22 April 2022: Received the endorsement letter
Stage 2
On Friday, 22 April 2022: Paid Stage 2 application fee, Health Surcharge Fee and booked appointment for Biometrics
On Thursday, 28 April 2022: Had an appointment for Biometrics
On Saturday, 30 April 2022: According to tracking “Application Received By DMC"
On Tuesday, 24 May 2022: BRP Decision (Decision made) with PDF file via email
On Tuesday, 31 May, 2022: Received my passport with Vignette via mail
Hope this post will help you to see what my process was like.
Best of luck to everyone who is applying for the visa!
If you found this page useful and want to leave me some donations, you can Buy Me a Coffee. Any donations are very helpful and appreciated.
Riko xx
