Global Talent Arts and Culture Route Guidance - Part 2
In our earlier post we looked at the application process for a Global Talent (Arts and Culture) visa and the documents that are required in support of a Global Talent (Arts and Culture) visa application. In this post we will look at which artists, entertainers and support staff are eligible to apply for a Global Talent (Arts and Culture) visa.
Eligibility for a Global Talent (Arts and Culture) visa
The Global Talent (Arts and Culture) visa route is available to individuals working in the following sectors:
Dance
Applications can be accepted from dancers, choreographers, teachers, producers, directors, or curators.
Practitioners can be working in areas including ballet, contemporary dance, aerial dance, street dance, folk, traditional and culturally specific dance, social dance (Ceilidhs, barn dance, tea dance, line dancing, salsa, jive, Lindy Hop, ballroom), jazz and tap, and entertainment dance (dance styles associated with the mainstream entertainment industry such as musicals, jazz and tap dancing and dance spectaculars such as ‘Dancing on Ice’ or ‘Lord of the Dance’).
Literature
Applications can be accepted from writers and literature practitioners working in areas such as print, digital or live poetry; print, digital or live prose fiction (including novels, novellas and short fiction, or graphic novels); writing and illustration for children and young people; graphic novels and comics; independent publishing; live literature and storytelling; translation (of poetry and prose fiction); literature festivals and programming; writer development.
Writers of non-fiction work who use an innovative and creative approach that demonstrates strong literary merit (for example, where the work experiments creatively with form or genre) can be considered. However, journalists, general arts writers, academic writers about the arts or writers for lifestyle magazines are not eligible to apply in this route.
Screenwriters for film and television would not be able to apply in the Arts and Culture route, and should instead apply in the Film and Television route.
Music
Applications can be accepted from musicians; singers; writers; composers; producers; engineers; conductors; musical directors; or repetiteurs. The Global Talent (Arts and Culture) visa is designed for artists, performers and creative practitioners who wish to live and work in the UK.
Practitioners can be working in areas such as classical and orchestral music, baroque, chamber and early music, brass or silver bands, marching or concert bands, opera, contemporary music (such as pop, rock, indie and alternative, metal and punk, soul, country, funk, hip-hop, R&B, grime, urban, blues, electronic, experimental and singer-songwriters) folk, traditional and culturally specific music, jazz, choral or gospel, youth music, grassroots music, music created using digital technology, and independent record labels.
While composers who create music for live performance or recordings can apply in the Arts and Culture route, composers who create music for film and television must apply in the Film and Television route.
Theatre
Applications can be accepted from theatre actors and theatre practitioners working in areas such as musical theatre; physical theatre and mime; plays or narrative drama (excluding film and television); experimental theatre; comedy; variety and cabaret; pantomime; circus; puppetry and visual theatre; audience development; youth theatre; new writing.
Arts Council England can also consider applications from people working in areas such as production, directing, writing, dramaturgy, design (e.g. lighting, set or costume design) or stage management.
Actors who work in film and television are not able to apply in the Arts and Culture route, and should instead apply in the Film and Television route.
It is not possible to apply across two endorsing bodies, so actors who work in both theatre and film/television can only apply in either the Arts and Culture route (for theatre) or the Film and Television route.
Visual Arts
Applications can be accepted from artists, arts practitioners or designer/makers working in areas such as drawing, painting or printmaking; sculpture and installations; artist-led animation (excluding work primarily intended for film or television, commercial games or mass-market media distribution); illustration (such as concept art, comic art, picture books, zines and other narrative or sequential illustration, but not including areas such as
technical, scientific, medical or fashion design and illustration); live and performance art; mixed media art, digital or computer-generated art; ceramics, pottery or crafts (such as woodworking or turning, silversmiths or metal work, jewellery, glass work or textiles); photography (excluding documentary photography such as fashion, music or journalistic); artists film and moving image (excluding for film or television); sound art (including site specific installations or sound installations, ‘audioscapes’, sound walks and sound mapping and performance art, or noise or sonic art).
Arts Council England can also consider applications from people working in areas such as curating, production or directing.
Combined Arts
Applications can be accepted from those whose work is made up different areas of arts practice that involves one or more of Arts Council England’s supported disciplines (dance, literature, music, theatre and visual arts), such as interdisciplinary arts practice; multi-disciplinary arts practice; participatory and celebratory work; festivals and carnival arts.
Arts Council England can also consider applicants working in areas such as commissioning, programming or curation, production, directing or developing work, touring networks and public engagement.
Museums and Galleries
Arts Council England can consider applications from artists, arts practitioners and curators who deliver arts-focused activity in museum or gallery settings. (Arts Council England defines “arts-focused activity” as activity related to their supported artforms – Dance, Literature, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, or Combined Arts).
Arts Council England cannot endorse applicants whose area of practice involves museum-focused activity such as preserving, conserving or archiving collections, archaeology and social history, anthropology and world cultures, natural history, military history, science, industry and technology or research.
Fields outside Arts and Culture
Arts Council England does not endorse applications from those working in Film and Television (which are endorsed by The Producers Alliance for Film and Television, PACT), Fashion (which are endorsed by The British Fashion Council, BFC) or Architecture (which are endorsed by The Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA).
Contact our Immigration Barristers
For expert advice and assistance with a Global Talent visa application, contact our immigration barristers on 0203 617 9173 or complete our enquiry form below.
