Winners of awards, including Nobel Prizes, the Turing Award, Oscars and Golden Globes, will be able to live and work in the UK more easily under reforms being introduced by the Home Office.
From today (May 5) individuals who have won prestigious awards from across the sciences, humanities, engineering, the arts and digital technology will be able to take advantage of changes to the Global Talent visa route.
Currently, people on the Global Talent route have to successfully apply to one of six endorsing bodies. The new fast track route launching today would allow applicants who hold a qualifying prize to fast track the endorsement application and instead make a single visa application.
The eligible prize winners include:
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science, technology, engineering and maths: Nobel Prize winners in Physics, Chemistry, Economic Science and Medicine; Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering; Fields Medal; Turing Award
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music: Brit Award - International Male/Female; Mobo - Best International Act; Grammys - Lifetime Achievement Award
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film, TV and theatre: Various Academy Award and Golden Globe categories; Bafta - Best Film Actress/Actor/Director; various Tony Awards and Olivier Awards
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arts & literature: Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize; Hugo Boss Prize; Nobel Prize - Literature
Winners of certain awards across dance, fashion, architecture, and social sciences will also be included.
The Global Talent route is part of the UK's new points-based immigration system, which will attracts the best and brightest to the country depending on the skills they can bring, rather than their nationality.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said:
Winners of these awards have reached the pinnacle of their career and they have so much to offer the UK. These important changes will give them the freedom to come and work in our world leading arts, sciences, music, and film industries as we build back better.
This is exactly what our new point-based immigration system was designed for - attracting the best and brightest based on the skills and talent they have, not where they've come from.
The government has worked with the endorsing bodies to draft the initial list of qualifying prizes, which will be kept under review.
Since it came into force in February 2020 thousands of people have used the Global Talent route to enter the UK.
