Detailed Journey of Successful 5-year GT Promise Visa

Hi Everyone,

I and my wife received 5-year Global Talent Visas so I thought of sharing my journey in case anyone gets some ideas from it.

Disclaimer: Do NOT take any of the content as an advice, I am merely stating what I did and worked for my application. Follow official guidance of gov.uk.

Background:

  • Prior to coming to UK I founded a boutique consulting company in Georgia and had small but solid success on local market
  • I came to UK on Tier 4 Student visa to study MBA in LBS
  • I switched to Start-Up visa with LBS’s endorsement
  • I applied to switch from Start-Up visa to Global Talent Visa
  • After graduation form MBA I joined a Health-Tech startup which raised ÂŁ400k at the time of applying and I received a full-time offer as a COO with Salary + Stock options

Facts:

  • I applied for Global Talent Exceptional Talent
  • Received an endorsement from TN for Global Talent Promise on the next day (Kudos to TN!)
  • I made 2nd stage application from Inside the UK
  • My wife applied from Outside the UK in several days after me (my decision was not yet granted)
  • I received a positive decision l in 4 days after my Biometrics Appointment (Paid for expedited service)
  • My wife received a visa for 90 days starting EXACTLY from the date we entered for planned arrival to UK in her application
  • I received a BRP via mail (had to ship back my old BRP cut into half), my wife had to collect from Post Office in 10 days after arrival
  • Both BRPs are Valid Until 31/12/2024 (2.6 years). According to guidance we will need to request a replacement in year 2024 as there are some changes to BRPs. Contacted UKVI and they told me not to worry as it was same for everyone.
  • Both of us had to Register with the Police within 10 days from receiving the BRP

Evidence:

Recommendation Letters (which I drafted for everyone):

  1. Chief Medical Officer of the startup I got the offer letter from
  2. Another shareholder of it serving as a Business Advisor who also has his own tech startup
  3. CTO of another tech startup where I interned during MBA

Additional Evidence:
1. Main - Job Offer Letter and Bank Statement showing salary payments
2. Main - Brochure and link to Business Plan of the Startup
3. Main - Giant Health Email (where they thanked me for leading a tech startup panel) + Image of the tech panel I accidentally led on the event
4. Main - Images from Unblocked, Visionary Labs (startup ompetitions our startup exhibited on or won) and ClubHouse screenshots (where I am one of the speakers on Healthy Ageing)
5. Main - LBS MBA Diploma + Scholarship Confirmation Letter
6. OC 1 - Product Roadmap and UX Designs of a tech startup I co-founded ni 2020 in Georgia but didn’t go anywhere
7. OC 1 - Company House Registration Certificate for same startup
8. OC 1 - Product description + images of another portrait selling startup in UK which I had’t registered anywhere
9. OC 3 - Letter for commercial contribution from our Lead Investor (Almost same as recommendation letter)
10. OC 3 - Same Letter for commercial contribution from another Angel Investor (Same as a recommendation letter)

P.S. I drafted each and every document or recommendation letter I anyone to provide. Some people didn’t even read them before reverting a signed pdf. One Angel investor rejected to recommend as he didn’t feel he knew me that much. Fortunately a back-up plan investor sent the recommendation 10 hours to deadline so I was able to submit 10 evidence docs.

Partner’s Evidence:
For my wife’s application we provided:

  • My TN Endorsement Letter
  • My current BRP
  • My Job Offer letter
  • A translated copy of our marriage certificate
  • Photos from various occasions proving our genuine relationship
  • Tuberculosis Test Results

Costs:

  • ÂŁ456 on the 1st Stage
  • ÂŁ3,120 for 5-year my Healthcare Surcharge + ÂŁ671 on my 2nd Stage (I paid extra to receive decision in 1 week from Biometrics Appointment)*
  • My wife paid ÂŁ3,579 for healthcare surcharge + unclear application fees. She also paid extra ÂŁ90 for local biometrics appointment + document scanning
  • ÂŁ34 x 2 for our Mandatory Police Registration
    Total: ~ÂŁ8,000 for two 5-year visas. It was painful to pay but worth it :sweat_smile:

! Personal Notes ! :

  • If you apply from inside the UK and your Partner from outside the UK she/he has to start a separate application. Make sure your Partner is applying through a link from the right page! Their application will be linked with yours, so make sure you enter correct information for both. Rejection for one could result in rejection for both. They will need your URN to link their application to yours.
  • At the final stage of my partner’s application in the documents section we saw the following: “you can provide other evidence that are not mandatory but may support the application”. One of the items in the list is a proof that sponsor meets “maintenance requirements” and one of the sub-items for this is that the funds need to be held for over 90 days on the bank account. - I was freaked out on this one as I didn’t have the funds held on my account for 90 days but after multiple consultations and going through the entire legislation I got convinced that she DID NOT have to provide any maintenance requirements. My advice: only provide documents that are requested on gov.uk website. (Detailed: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-global-talent)
  • At the end of the application (many people have asked this here) it also asked her the following: “You are joining or remaining with this person in the UK. Visa Expiry Date:” As my visa wasn’t granted yet we didn’t know when it would expire so entered a tentative date of receiving the visa +5 years. More about this here: Dependents visa for endorsed Global talent

Legal Advice:
Prior to completing the application I did not receive any official legal advice, I only consulted with two LBS classmates who also received the visa earlier. However, when it came to my wife’s visa and I was worried at the stage when it requested maintenance requirements held in bank for 90+ days, I reached out to two legal advisors with the question.

1.Law Firm Limited: https://www.lawfirmuk.net/about_e (They answered my questions with strong confidence, which is exactly what I needed at that moment, and only asked for consultation fee of ÂŁ80 for a call)
2. Richmond Chambers - https://immigrationbarrister.co.uk (They also sent me their initial thoughts on my query which was quite helpful as well)

Thanks to Tech Nation for the endorsement!
HUGE thanks to the members of this community whose guidance and experience was precious during the application!

Thanks to everyone who replied to my edge-case questions diligently :))

I hope my experience helps. Feel free to pop any questions, I’ll try to answer them as soon as I can.

Best of luck!
Toko

9 Likes

@Toko congratulations, this is one of the most detailed journeys I have ever read on this platform. You have really put a lot of effort into putting this together. Congratulations once again.

Congratulations @Toko
As Sojo said, it has been articulated very well and with all necessary details.

1 Like

Hi Toko, Congratulations and thanks for the detailed breakdown.
Can I ask, does your visa or partners visa mention the speciifc field you have been endorsed in or just Global talent. Thanks

Hi Abby, it only mentions Global Talent. No mention of field. It doesn’t even mention whether it’s Promise or Talent. Just says Global Talent Leave to Remain

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Hi Toko, thanks so much for the quick feedback.

Hi Toko, i am going through the same route and i have short particular questions. May i ask your email to connect with you?

Hi Safaryan, you can DM me here or I can send you my email if you only want to ask via email

Didi madloba, my wife has found you on Linkedin. Her name is Bella. She will formulate the questions.

Hi question did you pay for faster service for your wife aswell.
How long did it take her to get her visa.
Also did you submit your marriage certificate in your application or just your wife’s application

You don’t need to submit marriage certificate at as the main applicant. You will be given a checklist of what you need to submit.