Global Talent - Arriving in the UK

The Home Office strongly recommends against making travel arrangements to the UK before the visa has been issued.

Travelling to the UK as a Visitor

Once an online application for Global Talent visa application has been submitted, or once the Global Talent visa has been granted, the applicant must not enter the UK as a Visitor (for example, as a tourist). Doing so will invalidate the Global Talent visa, and they will not be able to start their employment or engagement.

Travel arrangements should be made to arrive to the UK on or after the Global Talent visa issue date.

Any concerns around travel plans should be discussed with the employing department/ faculty/ college and the Staff Immigration Team (SIT).

Global Talent visa holders and their family members will normally have their passport and eVisa checked by a Home Office Immigration Officer on arriving in the UK.

Nationals of an EU Country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein,New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the USA who have a biometric passport will instead be able to enter through 'eGates' without having to speak to an Immigration Officer. If travelling with children under 10 years old, however, they cannot use the 'eGates' and will need to see an Immigration Officer.

Those who enter through an 'eGate' will not receive a date stamp in their passport and will need to retain their boarding pass, travel itinerary, or other evidence of when they entered the UK to show the date they entered the UK when applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).

Even those who have travelled to the UK before may find the government's Guide to faster travel through the UK border useful.

Global Talent visa holders will be issued with a digital immigration status, called an eVisa.

A UKVI account will need to be created and the details on the eVisa should be carefully checked. If there is any error the visa holder must report the error  and inform their employing department/ faculty/ college and SIT.

The UKVI account allows the visa holder to;

• View and prove their rights in the UK for an employer, landlord, education and other organisations such as government services and the National Health Service
• Check what rights they have in the UK
• Update  personal details including your contact details, travel documents and personal information
• Link  travel document(s) to the eVisa status for return travel to the UK

Before travelling the current travel document(s) must be linked to the eVisa. This ensures the smoothest journey when boarding to return to the UK. This can be done by using the Update your UKVI account details.

Evidence Right to Work before any work starts

Global Talent visa holders will need to provide a share code to their employing department/ faculty/ college to evidence their right to work in the UK before they can commence work, and an online check will need to be carried out.

If a share code cannot be obtained from the UKVI Account, the Employer Checking Service can be used, a 6 month right to work check should be provided by the Employer Checking Service, allowing time for the technical issue to be resolved.