Global Talent Visa ILR

The UK Global Talent visa is for talented and promising individuals in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, humanities, digital technology and arts and culture wishing to work in the UK.

Description

How long you must have spent in the UK under the Global Talent visa category will depend on your circumstances. If you have been endorsed under the ‘exceptional talent’ criteria for an endorsing body, under the ‘exceptional promise’ criteria for the endorsing bodies for science, engineering, humanities and medicine, or under the UKRI “endorsed funder” fast-track criteria, then you can settle after three years in this category.

If you were last endorsed under the “exceptional promise” criteria for Arts Council England or Tech Nation you will need to spend a continuous period of five years in the UK before being eligible to apply for settlement.

Three or Five-Year Qualifying Period

endorsed as a ‘recognised leader’ under Exceptional Talent;
endorsed in science, or under the UKRI Endorsed Funder route, (whether under Exceptional Talent, or Exceptional Promise).

The qualifying period is 5 years for those:

endorsed as an ’emerging leader’ under Exceptional Promise in either arts and culture or digital technology.

Time under Tier 2 visas can be combined with time spent under Global Talent (previously Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise) to reach the relevant qualifying period.

Even if the main applicant is eligible to apply for ILR after 3 years, the qualifying period for family members who hold Dependant visas is always 5 years, under Dependant visas only.

Exceptional Talent/Promise Endorsement

Applicants are required to provide evidence that they have earned money in the UK working in their area of expertise since being granted their Global Talent/ Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise visa. This is normally evidence of employment, such as a letter from their employing department/ college, along with copies of payslips and bank statements covering at least three months. In some cases evidence of self-employment may have to be submitted instead.

Continuous Residence

A new rule (where periods of research outside the UK are not counted against the limit on absences) originally only applied to Skilled Worker/ Tier 2 visa holders working as researchers or lecturers, but now also applies to Global Talent/ Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise visa holders endorsed in science or under the UKRI endorsed funder scheme.

A stricter limit on absences from the UK applies under the 10 year ‘Long residence’ ILR route.

Only whole days are counted

Only full days outside the UK are counted against the 180-day limit. For example, travelling on Monday to a conference held outside the UK on Tuesday and returning to the UK on Wednesday would only be counted as one day’s absence from the UK.

Counting absences

The Home Office changed the way absences are counted in January 2018 but this change is not retrospective.

Absences under visas issued before 11 January 2018 – The 180 days limit is counted in 12 month blocks counting back from when the ILR application is submitted. This can make it possible in some cases to split longer absences across two successive 12 month periods.

Absences under visas issued after 11 January 2018 – The new rule introduced on 11 January 2018 states that the 180 days limit must instead be counted in rolling 12 month periods. This prevents longer absences being split across two successive periods.

More detail on how Home Office caseworkers count absences when assessing ‘continuous residence’ in ILR applications is found in Home Office guidance.

If an applicant thinks they are near or over the 180 day limit they should contact SIT to discuss further.

Contact our Immigration Advisers

For expert advice regarding the requirements for settlement in the UK as a Global Talent migrant, contact our immigration advisers on 0208 638 5532 or complete our enquiry form.

Contact us today

Adivis assists international clients in obtaining UK visas, residence and citizenship under the respective programs. Contact us to arrange an initial private consultation.

ENQUIRY