How did I get UK Tier 1 Global Talent Visa?
Many people asked me how I got United Kingdom’s Tier 1 Global Talent visa, they are curious about how I gathered and submitted the documents and what was the process like.
So I am writing this article to let other know how I did it, what do you need to do to get this visa.
What is UK Tier 1 Global Talent Visa?
When I got this visa it was named UK Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visa, recently they renamed it to Global Talent Visa. There are many categories under this visa, but I will focus on the technology category aka Tech Nation visa.
This visa granted for up to 5 years, after that you can settle in the UK if you want. This visa allows you to work in any technology company without visa sponsorship. Also you can open tech startup under this visa. This visa is based on merit rather than finance like investor visas.
To learn more about this visa, check this website: https://technation.io/visa/
How did I learn about this visa?
I got a job offer from a startup, but they were not able to sponsor visa as it is quite complex process for small companies or startups. So I found this route which aligned with my career and experience.
What documents were needed?
This visa process is a bit different than others, I had to provide a lot of documents to prove that I am really into technology sector and the UK tech sector will be benefitted by my experience and vice versa. These are the eligibility criteria for this visa: https://technation.io/visa-tech-nation-visa-guide/#eligibility-criteria
I applied for Emerging Leader route ( which was Exceptional Promise before).
Note that, the current eligibility criteria are a bit different than during my application timeframe. But some of the documents are still valid, you might need to provide more documents than me if I understand the current process correctly.
For my case Key Criteria was “Proof of recognition for work outside your immediate occupation that has contributed to
the advancement of the sector”.
For this I showed that I contributed to LightOJ (a Bangladeshi Online Learning site), I also helped some startups in Bangladesh to shape their tech stack and develop the application. And last but not the least, I was Competitive Programmer Coach at Green University of Bangladesh. All I had to do is show some letters, appointment letter as evidence.
Then qualifying criteria 1 was “Have made significant technical, commercial, or entrepreneurial contributions in the digital technology sector as either a founder, entrepreneur, or employee of a digital technology company?”
My evidences for this were employment letter from Traveloka Singapore as a machine learning engineer and experience letter from NewsCred Dhaka where I worked as a software engineer.
Then qualifying criteria 2 was “Have undergone continuous learning / mastery of new digital skills (commercial or
technical) throughout your career?”
Which was easy for me, I had certificates from various online courses on Coursera, then links and screenshot of my Github profile were enough for this.
Recommendation Letters
I had to provide 2 recommendation letters. Gather these documents were a bit hectic for me, as Tech Nation wants the recommender to answer some specific questions on their recommendation letter. I got one letter from Jane Alam Jan, the founder of LightOJ as I was lead contributor for the new version of it. The second one I got from Imran Yousuf, VP of Engineering of NewsCred, where I worked as a software engineer.
Note that, letters of recommendation should be from a person who works/part of well-established organisations acknowledged as experts in the digital technology field.
Personal Statement
This one was a bit interesting for me, as I didn’t know what to write. Thankfully, Tech Nation provided questions which I needed to answer. So all I did was answering their questions. Check the questions here: https://technation.io/visa-tech-nation-visa-guide/#document-checklist
Resume/CV
I didn’t submit my original resume/cv which I usually submit to companies for recruitment purpose. I created a new resume to highlight my experiences with different companies, startups and open source contributions.
Thats all I needed for documents. Then next part is visa application.
Visa Application Stage 1
Stage 1 is where you submit all the documents. This application process is fully online. After one apply to this visa, Tech Nation will check the documents and asses whether the applicant is eligible for this visa. You will get verdict within 3–6 weeks. I got it within 3 weeks, interestingly on a Saturday.
Visa Application Stage 2
Stage 2, is where you apply physically to visa centre with your passport. It is highly unlikely you will be rejected in this stage but obviously it depends on applicant’s circumstances.
My suggestions to prospective applicants
Do not get intimidated by the amount of the documents and the document requirements. The process is easy, all you need is confidence. If you have confidence and evidence, you will be able to succeed to get this visa. If you don’t have the right evidences ( or you do not qualify) now, try to gather it, do or join activities which will help you to gather the evidences and make you qualified. As far as I know, this visa is not going away soon. So plan now, apply in coming years.
Let me know if this article was helpful for you. If you need more information or consultation, please reach me on my Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faiyaz26/
