- Home
- Guides
What do you want to know about Stage 1?
33 short guides, each answering one real question. Every one is checked against the endorsing body's published guidance.
Most asked
Start with your field
Founders, engineers, product and commercial leaders. Tech Nation assesses you. Read these in order.
Every question we answer
33 questions in five groups. Pick the one closest to yours.
Am I eligible?
Start here if you are deciding whether to apply.
- What is Stage 1, and how does it work?7 min
- What does each endorsing body ask for?5 min
- How do I apply for endorsement, step by step?6 min
- Am I ready to apply?6 min
- Should I apply as Talent or Promise?7 min
- Am I a technical or a business applicant?7 min
- What makes an application strong?6 min
- What do the Appendix Global Talent rules say?5 min
- How do I choose a Stage 1 adviser?5 min
Timing and refusals
How long a decision takes, and what to do after a refusal.
My endorsing body
What each endorsing body looks for, in its own terms.
- What does Tech Nation look for?9 min
- What counts for each Tech Nation optional criterion?8 min
- Which research endorsing body is mine?5 min
- How does Royal Society peer review work?6 min
- How does the Royal Academy of Engineering assess engineers?7 min
- How does the British Academy assess researchers?7 min
- How does the UKRI endorsed funder route work?7 min
- What does Arts Council England accept?6 min
- How does Pact assess film and television?5 min
- What evidence fits my field?8 min
After endorsement
The visa, costs, switching and settlement, from GOV.UK. We help with Stage 1 only.
Evidence and letters
What to send, how to present it and who should write for you.
Not sure which question is yours?
Answer a few questions about your profile and see which endorsing body and category fit you.
Reading about it is useful. Hearing what applies to your own profile is faster.
Book a free 30-minute call
Cannot find your answer?
Ask Mihir Thaker directly. Most questions about your own profile take a few minutes to answer on a call or on WhatsApp.
Glossary: the terms you will meet
- Stage 1 (endorsement)
- The first part of most Global Talent applications. An endorsing body assesses your evidence and decides whether to endorse you.
- Stage 2 (visa application)
- The application to the Home Office for the visa itself, made after you are endorsed, or directly if you have won an eligible prestigious prize.
- Endorsing body
- An organisation the Home Office has approved to assess endorsement applications in its field, such as Tech Nation or Arts Council England.
- Exceptional Talent
- The category for people already recognised as leaders in their field.
- Exceptional Promise
- The category for people at an earlier stage of their career who are recognised as potential leaders.
- Mandatory criterion (Tech Nation)
- The criterion every Tech Nation applicant must meet: recognition as a leading talent, or a potential leading talent, in digital technology in the last 5 years.
- Optional criteria (Tech Nation)
- Four further criteria, of which Tech Nation applicants must meet two.
- Letters of recommendation or support
- Letters written specifically for your application by established experts or organisations. Each endorsing body sets its own rules on how many and from whom.
- Peer review
- The research route in which experts in your field assess your record. The Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Academy run it.
- Fast-track routes
- Research routes based on an eligible UK appointment, an approved fellowship or a grant from an endorsed funder, used instead of peer review.
- Active researcher
- The Immigration Rules require every applicant in science, engineering, humanities, social science and medicine to be an active researcher in an academic, industry or government research institution.
- Product-led company
- Tech Nation's term for a business whose primary revenue comes from its own digital product, service, platform or hardware.
- Prestigious prize
- A prize on the published list that lets its winner skip endorsement and apply for the visa directly.
- Endorsement review
- A request, made within a set period after a refusal, for the endorsing body to check that it followed its process. You cannot add new evidence.
We are experts in the Stage 1 endorsement application for the UK Global Talent Visa. For immigration advice, please seek the services of an immigration solicitor.