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Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

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Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#11

Post by chrisseaton »

itsbits wrote: post #8
klipt wrote: post #3

If you can qualify for that, you might also qualify for O1/EB1 visas in the US which gives a fast track to green card. From what I've heard London has similar high cost of living to Silicon Valley but much lower software engineering compensation, so seems a less desirable place for engineers to work.

I don't understand as well..why are compensations so low in London compared to other places? I mean even if you consider cost of living..not good at all

My understanding is that London is extremely bi-modal. There’s £30k jobs and £300k jobs and not a lot in between. So you can get a good salary but it’s hard to make the enormous job to get into that band.

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#12

Post by carlsborg »

If its anything like the prior Tier 1 program, I'd say it would be run very efficiently. (Time between applying to the approval letter == 2 or 3 weeks iirc for me.)

Its certainly one of the most startup-friendly visas out there, and despite the recent football press, the UK is a world class country.

- Mainly there are no earning requirements like the Tier 1 program had, so you can use your time to drive an innovative startup instead of chasing the relatively high (for this geography) earnings on every renewal.

- Indefinite Leave to Remain in 3 or 5 years (this is the equivalent of a Green Card) and passport 2 years later.

- And from the website:

With a Global Talent visa you can:

    choose how long your visa is for, up to 5 years
    be an employee, self-employed and a director of a company
    change or stop doing your job without telling the Home Office
    bring your partner and children with you as your ‘dependants’, if they’re eligible
    travel abroad and return to the UK
- There are no language or minimum salary eligibility requirements.

Bonus advice: Consider a lower cost city Edinburgh, Bristol, Newcastle, Brighton, and chase the startup dream rather than working at larger company.

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#13

Post by wreath »

itsbits wrote: post #8
klipt wrote: post #3

If you can qualify for that, you might also qualify for O1/EB1 visas in the US which gives a fast track to green card. From what I've heard London has similar high cost of living to Silicon Valley but much lower software engineering compensation, so seems a less desirable place for engineers to work.

I don't understand as well..why are compensations so low in London compared to other places? I mean even if you consider cost of living..not good at all

People will tell you that universal health care and other such programs make up for the low salary (same as the "rest of Europe" - quoting since it varies wildly in quality across Europe).

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#14

Post by hkt »

carlsborg wrote: post #12

If its anything like the prior Tier 1 program, I'd say it would be run very efficiently. (Time between applying to the approval letter == 2 or 3 weeks iirc for me.) Its certainly one of the most startup-friendly visas out there, and despite the recent football press, the UK is a world class country. - Mainly there are no earning requirements like the Tier 1 program had, so you can use your time to drive an innovative…

As someone who lives in the UK, I would like to point out the only affordable city on your list is Newcastle. The rest are in the midst of a crisis of earnings to rent/mortgage costs nightmare.

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#15

Post by bovine3dom »

tadkar wrote: post #2

From an employer’s perspective, I’d be super interested in hearing about the experience of applying for this visa too! Does the UK government make it easy to apply? What are the interviews like? Anything your employer did that made the whole process easier for you?

If you're an employer you'd be looking at the skilled worker visa: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa

If you're on this forum all your potential employees will probably meet the requirements easily.

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#16

Post by ghaff »

wreath wrote: post #13
itsbits wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand as well..why are compensations so low in London compared to other places? I mean even if you consider cost of living..not good at all

People will tell you that universal health care and other such programs make up for the low salary (same as the "rest of Europe" - quoting since it varies wildly in quality across Europe).

People will say that. But I'd point out that if you're working for a typical tech company--or, indeed, most companies employing professionals--you're probably covered by health insurance through your employer. You're often paying for some of it and you'll have some out of pocket up to a max, but the amounts involved are likely modest compared to salaries.

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#17

Post by voisin »

hkt wrote: post #14
carlsborg wrote: post #12

If its anything like the prior Tier 1 program, I'd say it would be run very efficiently. (Time between applying to the approval letter == 2 or 3 weeks iirc for me.) Its certainly one of the most startup-friendly visas out there, and despite the recent football press, the UK is a world class country. - Mainly there are no earning requirements like the Tier 1 program had, so you can use your time to drive an innovative…

As someone who lives in the UK, I would like to point out the only affordable city on your list is Newcastle. The rest are in the midst of a crisis of earnings to rent/mortgage costs nightmare.

Everyone from any reasonably sized city in any reasonably developed country seems to be saying the same thing at the moment!

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#18

Post by user5994461 »

itsbits wrote: post #8
klipt wrote: post #3

If you can qualify for that, you might also qualify for O1/EB1 visas in the US which gives a fast track to green card. From what I've heard London has similar high cost of living to Silicon Valley but much lower software engineering compensation, so seems a less desirable place for engineers to work.

I don't understand as well..why are compensations so low in London compared to other places? I mean even if you consider cost of living..not good at all

The exchange rate.

London was relatively competitive when the exchange rate was above $1.5 for a pound. Note that it was approaching $2 for most of the 2000s until the financial crisis.

You could make bank easily in London as a contractor (very low taxes), maybe more than in the Silicon Valley.

Then over the last decade the exchange rate plumetted and the cost of rent/home doubled, while salaries and daily rates didn't move. Why they didn't move? There's too much talent and not a lot of companies with big pockets.

Most of the FAANG and assimilated that drove up salaries in the valley have no presence in London.

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#19

Post by throwgt »

> the requirements seem intimidating

Don't be discouraged from applying because of this! The UK parliament published a report stating that the UK gov failed advertising this visa with too stringent requirements [1]. In reality, you definitely don't have to be a Nobel prize laureate to get this visa, especially if you go through the 'Promising Talent' route.

If you apply, the only thing you lose is £450 and some time. Even if you fail with your application, you can always reapply later, again and again, so there are almost no downsides to trying.

> How did it go?

It went well. :) People compare this visa to O-1, but I think it's better because you are completely free to work on whatever you want and you have virtually the same rights as a permanent resident, with the exception of having no access to public funds (e.g., getting unemployment benefits - you are still entitled to accessing NHS though). Compared to the Tier 2 General visa, the terms are amazing and it's worth all the trouble.

What helped me most with my application were my open source work and conference talks. The hardest part was actually obtaining 2 recommendation letters (I believe nowadays you have to provide 3 of them). You need to find someone in a higher position, like CEO or CTO, who will write a letter for you. I was very lucky with this: I sent a random request to a CTO of a rather well-known open source company and to my surprise they were willing to help me. I'm still astonished by this and I can't overstate how amazing open source communities can be.

Other than that, Immigration Boards [2] helped a lot with technical details - there's a dedicated forum about Tier 1 visas, so I'd recommend reading everything about other people's cases.

Lastly, I do recommend applying on your own (without solicitors). The reason is simple: no solicitor will know about your achievements better than yourself! And the bulk of putting together an application is actually listing your achievements, so getting help in this would be a waste.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have, and good luck with your application.

[1] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmsc...

[2] https://www.immigrationboards.com/

Re: Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

#20

Post by tuvistavie »

In general, I'd say UK visa process and cost are quite terrible, to say the least. However, for the global talent, the harder part is to get endorsement, after which it should be relatively straightforward. A friend of mine recently got his through the research route and the process seems to have been quite smooth. I think it took about a month or so. For reference, he is finishing a PhD in a top US university and has a good amount of peer reviewed research.
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