Global talent visa

Endorsement for individuals who have accepted a job in which they will have responsibility for academic, research or innovation leadership, or are an emerging leader. This is likely to include, but is not limited to, Professor, Associate Professor and senior leader appointments. The appointment must be at an approved UK higher education institution or research institute and the route is administered by the British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering and Royal Society.

The following requirements must have been met during the recruitment process for this route:

• The position was advertised and an open competition was held
• at least two references were required and received
• at least three academic representatives from the employing institution were present on the interview panel
• at least one expert in the applicant's field was present on the interview panel - this could be one of the academic representatives, or at least one relevant expert, independent of the employing institution, was consulted before the job offer was made
• the job offer has been made and accepted

The employing School will notify the HR Staff Immigration team to commence the Global Talent process, if all the requirements are met, the HR Staff Immigration Team will issue a letter of support to address the above criteria. The British Academy, Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering provide assurance that the application will be endorsed in approximately one week.

Endorsement for individuals who have been awarded an individual fellowship on the list approved by the British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering and Royal Society. The fellowship must be held currently or within the last 12 months.

Individuals who hold, or have held in the last 12 months, an individual fellowship from one of the awarding bodies should refer to the full published list on the Royal Society web site to see whether their specific fellowship is eligible for fast track endorsement. Not all fellowships awarded by these awarding bodies are eligible, so it is important to check the published list carefully.

If the fellowship appears on the published list, a Stage 1 online application via the Home Office Global Talent web site can be submitted with assurance that the application will be endorsed in approximately one week.

The awarding body of the fellowship may provide guidance to support the application.

Endorsement for researchers and specialists, employed or hosted by a School or Faculty, whose name or job title is specified in a successful grant application from an endorsed funder approved by UKRI.

The criteria is:

• The applicant is either named or appointed to a role named on a grant from one of the endorsed funders
• The grant was won subject to peer review
• The grant award will need to be of a value of at least £30,000
• The grant award is at least two years in duration
• The applicant is employed or hosted by, or in receipt of an offer of employment or hosting agreement from the University
• Have at least two years remaining on their employment contract or hosting agreement at the point of application for Stage 1 endorsement
• Applicant will be spending at least 50% of their working time contributing to the grant
• A robust recruitment process was undertaken if the applicant was not named on the grant

In addition, one of the following circumstances must apply:

1) Independently conducting unique research or innovation project

The applicant is independently directing, or directing under the supervision of a Principal Investigator, a unique research or innovation project. The project may be a part of a wider programme of work.

In addition, one of the following situations must apply:

The applicant must meet ALL of the following:

(a) The applicant must have a PhD qualification or equivalent

(b) The applicant must actively participate in a relevant field within a university, research institute or industry

(c) The applicant must have their name or post listed on the grant/award as the Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator, Researcher Co-Investigator, Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Assistant

2) Providing critical contributions to research

The applicant must make critical contributions to research through the provision of core technical or domain excellence, or in developing new technologies and methodologies. The applicant will be typically named, or their post listed, on the grant/award under ‘directly incurred’ costs.

They must meet BOTH of the following:

(a) The applicant must hold a UK Bachelors degree (or equivalent overseas research degree or research experience deemed acceptable by UKRI)

(b) The applicant must have research experience, typically within a university, research institute or industry.

The employing School will notify the HR Staff Immigration team to commence the Global Talent process, if all the requirements are met, the HR Staff Immigration Team will issue a letter of support to address the above criteria. UKRI provides assurance that the application will be endorsed in approximately one week.

Endorsement application for individuals who meet all eligibility criteria and demonstrate they are a proven leader within their field of expertise (Exceptional Talent) or have the potential to become a leader within their field of expertise (Exceptional Promise). The application is assessed by fellows at the British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering or Royal Society.

This requires a full application which undergoes a peer-review assessment of an individual’s career, achievements and standing in their field, along with assessing future plans and the impact this will have on UK research excellence. This assessment is undertaken by at least two fellows from the Academies who are aligned to the identified specialism.

The following tables details the mandatory eligibility criteria which must be met before your application is put forward for the peer-review assessment.