I am an asylum seeker living in the UK since 2020 and I was endorsed as an exceptional talent.
Last week I went with my spouse to submit our application in one of the UKVCAS centre.
This seems a very unusual situation and I hope my spouse and I will not be discriminated for being asylum seekers (I am proud of my refugee claim, not ashamed, but still fearful) despite the fact that some asylum seekers have been violently attacked by extremists and many hide their status for security reasons.
We have many questions in our minds how things will develop from here. If and how GTV application will affect the asylum claim and vice versa, or if there are going to be any limitations. How long stage 2 decision is going to take…
It would be great to have some warmth from the community in this regard.
Today I was informed that my GTV application was rejected because I have an outstanding Asylum application and therefore I cannot apply to switch to the Global Talent route as I was admitted temporary admission outside the rules into the United Kingdom.
My spouse and I now hope that my GTV application will not harm in any way our asylum claim.
Thank you for your support thus far!
Damn! I am sorry to hear that! Could you go out of the country and apply for a visa there? I imagine that might be difficult given the circumstances but just floating it as an idea.
By doing so we would be losing our asylum claim which is considered a priority to us. Despite the long processing time, we are very grateful to the UK government that is providing Sanctuary to us in times of humanitarian need.
My partner and I are very happy to announce that we finally got our Global Talent Visa vignettes on our passports. Following professional immigration advice, we decided to withdraw our asylum claim, leave the UK and apply for the visa from a third country. As we could not go back to the country we left when coming to the UK due to safety reasons, we decided to apply from Tbilisi Visa Application Centre in Georgia. They were very welcoming, professional and efficient in accomodating our needs.
Thank you Francisca, very much appreciated . Indeed, I reapplied and I was endorsed again. Once granted, we traveled to Georgia to apply for the second stage in Tblisi. It may be so I was the first asylum seeker to be endorsed twice as an exceptional talent and to become a Global Talent Visa holder. We are very grateful to the Home Office for supporting this transition.
The reason why I had to reapply was because last time we did not take action right after the second stage rejection. It took a while for us to digest and comprehend the circumstances why it happened. A year or so later I reapplied as way more than 3 months had elapsed since the first endorsement.
This time everything was surprisingly fast. Since I informed we had plans to leave the UK and requested our passports back, to the time we were reentering the UK, only 15 days were elapsed.
Obs.:It is important to note that we voluntarily left the UK with our own (plus family and friends) means when withdrawing our asylum claim.
. Indeed, I reapplied and I was endorsed again. Once granted, we traveled to Georgia to apply for the second stage in Tblisi. It may be so I was the first asylum seeker to be endorsed twice as an exceptional talent and to become a Global Talent Visa holder. We are very grateful to the Home Office for supporting this transition.