I’m preparing evidence for my Global Talent visa application under the Exceptional Promise route. I’m a cyber security researcher with some (<5yrs) experience. I’m about to graduate (bachelors), so I thought that would be a good time to apply. It would be amazing if you could provide some review my application and share some feedback!
My Story:
I was initially a cyber security researcher. But for the last 1.5 years, I’m not doing cyber security that much, instead I did an internship and then founded my failed product-led marketing tool. However, I’m still contributing to the cyber security field with open source tools, talks, etc. I’m not sure how to add this to my application. So, any feedback would be valuable.
Letter of Recommendations:
CEO of a cyber security company A (UK based, acquired by company B. I worked at this company)
CEO of a cyber security company B (US based. I worked at this company as well)
Senior Cyber Security Researcher (Worked together in a community to teach cyber security to others, gave free and open talks in universities, etc. He knows my soft skills)
Mandatory Criteria:
Evidence 1: 8x of minimum wage of my country. $5000 (£3800). I had a starting salary of £1000 and got it raised to £3800 in 6 months, after the acquisition of the company. Will add my contracts as proof. (2024)
Evidence 2: Letter from LoR 2, saying my work led to closing deals and developing the core function of the platform. (2024)
Evidence 3: My talk at National Radio Organization (government org.) as YouTube video. Has ~1000 views but it was live radio talk. It was recorded 5.5 years ago, so I’m sceptical about this. (2020)
Evidence 4: We finished 5th in MENA region during the CTF qualification round. I was the team leader. My department shared this on its Instagram page. Also I have the results on the CTF website. (2022)
Optional Criteria 2:
Evidence 5: I built a platform for cyber security researchers. It was an original idea in the field and got 800 users registered to the platform. Platform is still active. I can show database results to prove the user count. I have some public YouTube videos (from accounts having 130K+ and 45K+ subscribers) and some blog posts mentioning the platform. (2021)
Evidence 6: 2 GitHub repos with more than 70 stars in total. They are cyber security tools. (2025)
Evidence 7: University club + LoR 3. I was the president of university cyber security club, having 150+ members and organized 7 events. LoR 3 backs this. I can add some photos of from the events. (2023)
Optional Criteria 3:
Evidence 8: Built the core platform at startup A. That was important in the process of acquisition of the company. LoR 1 backs this claim in the letter. I can add news about acquisition of the company. (2023)
Evidence 9: Platform design and plan documents with only my name. (2022)
Evidence 10 (Business impact): I founded a product-led marketing tool and got 122 users. No revenue. It was unsuccessful in terms of business success. So not any strong public evidence like news, revenue, funding, etc. However, the platform was solid and I can show my GitHub contributions and user count from DB. (2024)
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
I read lots of posts on the forum and saw that you were very helpful to everyone. I am wondering if you could give me some feedback on my application. Thank you so much!
I got the GTV using the cybersecurity route because of my data protection subject matter expertise. My main question would be whether your MC actually profiles you as a cybersecurity expert, considering you mention that you have not done it in a while. For OC3, you will need to show that this is your singular contribution and that it was significant. Each evidence must meet that requirement, whereas I think your evidence requires a consideration of all three pieces of evidence together to argue you fit this requirement. OC2 I think looks good.
Your evidence shows good initiative, but let’s refine two areas. First, your 2020 radio talk (Evidence 3) falls outside the 5-year window required for mandatory criteria - Tech Nation only considers activities from 2019 onward for 2024 applications. Second, the failed marketing tool (Evidence 10) needs clearer third-party validation - do you have user testimonials or partnership agreements that show its technical impact beyond just user numbers?
The cybersecurity platform with 800 users (Evidence 5) could be stronger with traffic metrics or adoption by known organizations. Can you share any analytics showing regular active users or enterprise usage? For Exceptional Promise, Tech Nation looks for scalable impact even in early-stage projects.
Your salary evidence meets requirements, but ensure contracts clearly separate base pay from bonuses. You also need evidences for your contribution. The acquisition news (Evidence 8) is good - combine it with a reference from Company B’s leadership team to show your direct role in the technical success that led to acquisition.
Thanks for reviewing my application. Congrats on your GTV! Let me share some more info.
For MC, that is a valid point. I can probably make it stronger with LoR 2 focusing more on cyber security and leadership skills, instead of focusing solely on business impact.
For OC3, I’ll try to make them more compelling individually. Do you think it is wise to add evidence 10 for OC3? I’m not sure about the best strategy here. Would love to hear your perspective on that