The long wait is finally over for you fashion bods. The most recent of the regular Home Office statement of changes to the Immigration Rules, announced from today JUNE 2018 (HC 1154) brings the welcome news. 

Those of you who are following my blog here on Tier 1 Exceptional Talent, you might remember my post from last year (March 2017, Tier 1 Artist Visa - Is my art covered?) which lists the areas of art that the Arts Council England is prepared to assess for the purpose of UKVI's Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Endorsement. The message from the Arts Council to date (including the most recent response I received from them at the end of May 2018) has been that most areas of fashion design are expressly NOT INCLUDED to be assessed. This has turned away many a saddened - but incredibly talented - fashion designers from attempting Tier 1 Exceptional Talent while their visual arts peers triumphed. BUT NO MORE! THE OPPORTUNITY for fashion designers is NOW WIDE OPEN folks!

Just to explain the changes, Appendix L of the Immigration Rules houses the relevant part of the rules on Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise which, following the change, should now say this: 

"5. The applicant must either: 

(a) be established (if applying under the Exceptional Talent criteria) as, or demonstrate potential (if applying under the Exceptional Promise criteria) to become, a leading artist or an internationally recognised expert within the fields of arts and culture, encompassing dance, music, theatre, combined arts, literature and visual arts (including museums and galleries), as assessed by Arts Council England; or

(b) be established as a leading artist or an internationally-recognised expert within the film, television, animation, post-production and visual effects industry, as assessed by the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT); or

(c) be established (if applying under the Exceptional Talent criteria) as, or demonstrate potential (if applying under the Exception Promise criteria) to become, an internationally recognised expert in their field within the fashion industry through the operation of leading designer fashion businesses (encompassing relevant technical), as assessed by the British Fashion Council.”

So, this means that in terms of allocation of endorsement places, Arts Council will still be the umbrella endorsement body for both PACT and the British Fashion Council and they will hold min. 250 allocations for each year (to be used by Arts Council, PACT, and the British Fashion Council), plus a further number if Arts Council (or PACT or BFC) runs out of its allocation. (N.B. Just beware that at the time of writing, the policy guidance on Tier 1 exceptional talent v. 1/2018 and Appendix L have yet to be updated with the new changes but we should see an updated policy guidance and to the rules in the coming days).

You might guess from my overall tone, I am SUPER excited to share this with you and I would totally encourage those with a good track record of international exposure, vision, and eminent referees to start preparing your first application! Of course, I am here to help you through the preparation and the ultimate application - just get in touch. I will always be excited to hear from you! It couldn't have come at a better time to coincide with the release of the documentary, 'McQueen' I feel. Almost poetic. 

The 2017 stats from Arts Council England is in.

I've been requesting the stats from Arts Council since around 2015. A quick comparison of applicants for the 'Artist Visa' looks like this. A few comments:

1. Bearing in mind that Arts Council England is allocated 250 endorsements each year - 125 between 6 April to 30 September, then the remaining 125 + whatever remains from the first period between 1 October - 5 April, the total annual number of applicants do not come close to the maximum endorsement of 250 allocated to Arts Council.
2. The total number of applications, especially for Tier 1 Exceptional Promise category has increased in 2016 (from 106 in 2015 to 209 in 2016 = circa. a whopping %51 increase). This is still a lesser known category of visa but the reason for the increase could be as a result of something small like my workshop provided for the Korean Cultural Centre in London towards the end of 2016 *smugface*
3. The figure for 2017 could be from Jan 2017 onward which may not give us the most accurate picture of the competition (see para. 1 above - 250 allocation is divided in to two chunks throughout the year, ending and starting in April and October). Nevertheless, this figure includes applications received and decided up to and including 13 April 2017, which was the date of my request to the Council. It would be fairly safe to assume that the current 2017 figures don't yet take into account any applications received from the new year of allocation which began on 6 April 2017.
4. Despite the increase in the no. of applications, success rate still remains high.
5. If you want to see where your application would stand, get in touch for an initial assessment/ consultation. Go to Book Consultation.  

 Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise - The Artist formerly known as ...  [24 APR 2015]

Just before Christmas last year, I was approached by a very humble artist who was looking for ways to continue pursuing their art in England. This soon-to-be world renowned artist in the visual arts field wanted to apply for Tier 1 Exceptional Talent.

We started with their CV of course. Then all press clippings, awards, exhibition promotions, letters of reference from university tutors, gallery owners, art agents, buyers, critics, collectors...   I mean, to cut a long story short, the artist was properly endorsed by the Arts Council andwas later granted entry clearance for the fullest possible period of 5 years and 4 months. You could say, we have achieved the best possible case scenario under this route. The whole process took 3 months.

While wading through this less known route into the UK for those creatively skilled, I have discovered the following 'Fun Facts' which may be of interest to those of you who are likewise thinking about spreading your artistic wings in and around the world based in the UK:

1. The Arts Council, along with the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, British Academy, and Tech City UK, were allocated 250 applications to be endorsed by them between 6 April 2015 - 5 April 2016;
2. Not all of 250 can be allocated at once. Up to 125 can be allocated between 6 April 2015 - 30 September 2015, then the remaining unused endorsements may be used from 1 October 2015 - 5 April 2016. 
3. The Arts Council's most recent statics on how many had applied and achieved success is from December 2013. On it, it shows that 100 applicants applied for Tier 1 Exceptional Talent, and only 37 were granted the endorsement letter (37% success). On the other hand, there were 2 applications received for Tier 1 Exceptional Promise endorsement and of these 1 was granted the endorsement (ironically, 50% success). Since these figures from December 2013 are the latest proffered by the Arts Council itself, I am not sure exactly how many more were granted but you could certainly add 1 more to the Exceptional Promise which I had obtained for my client.  
4. Once you go through Stage 1 of the visa by obtaining your endorsement letter, you could then apply for your leave to remain or if you are outside the UK, then for entry clearance, which is the Stage 2.
5. And here comes the BIG BONUS!!! For entry clearance, there is no specific requirement to prove maintenance OR the English Language Requirement. And of course your family members can come with you.
6. And the benefits don't stop there. You could be granted up to 5 years and 4 months stay in total (Entry Clearance);
7. After 5 years of residence under this visa, with up to 6 months stay outside the UK in each of the 5 years, then you could get to the Indefinite Leave to Remain.

The only other type of visa which affords as much benefits and exemptions is the Tier 1 Investor visa which also exempts its applicants from English Language Test and maintenance requirement. Despite these enormous benefits to be had, the statistics thus far tell me that far too many of the potential Exceptional Talents and Promises are perhaps being too modest about their own reputation and are holding themselves back from attempting an application under this route. (I mean, only 3 applications from Exceptional Promise so far? - Come on.)

It is nice to see that international and national renown, and their artistry is considered to be as valuable as £2 mill. or more of investment into the country.

I would quite curious to see who would be brave enough to attempt these visas and really test their artistic profile. I would totally encourage it.  

Click here for a link to the Arts Council's Endorsement Criteria. Further details relating to your particular case, feel free to contact me. After all, I did contribute to the success statistics! :D  

P.S. I have made a Freedom of Information request to the Arts Council for information on an updated application and endorsement statistics today. Will post once I hear further.