In October 2024, I hosted my very first Celebration party to celebrate my successful clients’ endorsements for the Global Talent Visa.
It was such an amazing experience, meeting all of them particularly when we had only worked together via zoom, some before, some during and some after the pandemic. So in May 2025, I hosted another celebration party.
I love hosting these community events in London because I love building communities. In 2017, I co-founded Women of Wearables, a global community of women working in wearable tech, IoT and Femtech while I was the founder of my own wearable tech start up, Made With Glove. In 2018, I was the community manager of TusPark China/UK Forge accelerator program in Newcastle and now I lead a community of diverse exceptionally talented UK Global Talent Visa recipients.
Building communities has always been important to me because as a migrant who moved to the UK alone, became a sole founder of her wearable tech startup while having to navigate a new career in a new country and new city was extremely challenging. It was only because of my communities and networks that I joined or built that enabled me to overcome my own challenges and achieve my goals.
Working remotely and coaching all my international clients for the UK Global Talent Visa endorsement is so rewarding, however my favourite part of the journey is meeting them in person to congratulate them and celebrate with them while also introducing them to others who have also been on the journey. This is because it brought me back to when I received my own Global Talent Visa in June 2016 and didn’t have a community of likeminded people to celebrate with. Back then, the Global Talent Visa was such a new visa and I was one of the top 50 recipients who received this visa. It is a lonely process and the stakes are high. After receiving my own Global Talent Visa, I volunteered to be a Tech Nation Visa Ambassador, a voluntary role that I did for 2 years to support Tech Nation in their mission to promote the Global Talent Visa in Digital Technology. I met some incredible people, shared my story, my top tips and reviewed their profiles to confirm whether or not they would make a good fit for the program and if they did, I encouraged them to apply.
The UK Global Talent Visa consists of strict criteria requiring successful applicants to meet before they are endorsed. I am so inspired by all my clients’ achievements in tech, the work they do and the numerous challenges they face while trying to build their career, become experts in their field, become leaders in tech, make significant impact for the companies they work for, lead their projects and manage their migration status for the UK. Another significant challenge most of my clients face is the fear of redundancy or the reality of actual redundancy.
The UK Global Talent Visa is often referred to as a golden ticket for migrants working in the tech sector. This is because it provides freedom, security and stability that most migrants want when they decide to leave their home countries for another country to build their tech careers.
It is a special visa that allows exceptional tech professionals to bring their expertise and innovative thinking to the forefront of the UK’s tech sector and rewards them with a visa that is attached to them and offers a route to settlement.
The main topic everyone was discussing at my alumni party was the recently published UK Immigration White Paper titled ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration system’, which included significant changes to the Immigration Rules. The UK Government’s aim is to reduce net migration and ‘bringing back control over the immigration system’.
However, while the title is concerning, it specifically mentions that the UK Government plans to increase the number of people arriving on high talent routes, alongside faster routes for bringing people to the UK who have the right skills and experience to supercharge UK growth in strategic industries. They also want to simplify access to Global Talent Visa for top scientific and design talent. (here there is no mention of the digital technology route – my view is that the digital tech route is fine as it is while the scientific and design route under the GTV is less simple).
This is because the White Paper states that
“In the global economy, the race to attract the most desirable talent is fierce, with many countries seeking to improve their attractiveness to this highly prized cohort through various measures including their immigration system”.
There are numerous countries competing for the best and brightest talent – e.g. Australia, Canada, US as well as the UK.
The only way to promote growth in the UK is to ensure they bring talent to the UK and they refer to talent as those who are “very highly skilled” to come to the UK and access targeted routes for the best and brightest talent.
Countries are competing for highly skilled talent to help them grow. The digital technology route is one of the most popular routes that is under the Global Talent Visa with the UKRI (research) route also quite high. Tech Nation has been the endorsing body for the last 11 years and it has just been announced that they will continue to be the endorsing body for the next 3 years here!
In summary, it is positive for the Global Talent Visa route because the Government has confirmed in the White Paper of its plans to increase the number of individuals coming to the UK on the ‘very high talent routes’.
While the Global Talent Visa attracts people from more than 90 countries, more recently, I have received more enquiries from the US. I have also coached more clients from the US in the last 12 months and have helped them successfully secure their endorsements for the UK Global Talent Visa.
Currently around 4,000 people apply for endorsement per annum from across the UK and the rest of the world for this golden ticket and with an endorsement rate of around 40%, it is a highly competitive visa.
I am so proud of my clients who secured their endorsements and the UK Global Talent Visa. I look forward to hearing and seeing more of their achievements in the UK. Some have also secured their Indefinite Leave to Remain Visa and are on their way to becoming British Citizens!
These are just some of our exceptionally talented leaders in tech who will make significant contributions to the UK tech sector. They are the future of the UK tech sector!
*Note: The White Paper is also proposing to increase the standard qualifying period for permanent residence (also known as indefinite leave to remain or settlement) from five to ten years, with some people qualifying sooner based on criteria yet to be decided.
Under this “earned settlement” proposal, there will be a shorter pathway than ten years for people who have made “Points-Based contributions to the UK economy and society”.
The white paper does not say how these points would be earned or how much of a reduction on the ten-year qualifying period would be available. These issues are likely to be covered in the promised consultation.
Source: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10267/
If you are planning to apply for the UK Global Talent Visa (Digital Technology), and need support, please complete my eligibility questionnaire here or contact me at techvisa@michellehua.co.uk.
The contents of this blog is not to be taken as legal advice and we highly recommend you seek legal advice for any immigration related issues. Michelle Hua is not an immigration solicitor. Any content provided is only for Stage 1 endorsement for the UK Global Talent Visa. Stage 2 are visa applications and an Immigration Solicitor can assist with those enquiries.
