So, it's that time of the year again. 

The latest stats on how many applied and were un/successful are in. This time I have obtained the nationality breakdown as well as the art field breakdown which should hopefully give you a better understanding of how the 'Artist Visa' has grown in popularity in the recent years (and why the additional 1,000 allocation  - albeit available for all 5 Designated Competent Bodies, not just to the Arts Council - could actually be useful for artists). These stats take us only up to April 2018. Of course, future stats from April 2018 onwards will be requested and shared with you in due course 

First, how many have applied and how many were successful: 

As we saw last year, there was a sudden surge of applicants under this route in 2016. It may be that this route was a bit more widely promoted by the likes of moi (*smug hair-flick*) or is a coincidence. Whatever is the case, I find that a lot more people are now aware of this route than ever before. This is the reason for the slightly lower success rate in percentage (%) but if you look at the sheer number of applicants who apply and eventually succeed, you can be sure that more people are applying and are succeeding than before. 

Second, from which countries do the applicants come from? 

So, Americans form the majority of applicants, circling above 30s-40s. 2017 appears to have been somewhat of a climax in all aspects of the stats under this route in that we saw double the no. of American applying that year and this probably accounted for the increase in the number of applicants across all art disciplines as well. 

Most English-speaking and Commonwealth countries (Australia, Canada, NZ) appear to produce the next highest average number of applicants between 11 - 25 across the four years (2015 - 2018), with Asian countries trailing a bit behind these. 

Of the Asian countries, South Korea appears to be in the lead though, having produced an average of just under 10 applicants each year between 2015 - 2018 while Japan has produced just under half of that number. 

N.B. I haven't included the figures for dual-nationals here though. But they form a very small number in any case. 

Third, in which art disciplines were the applications received?

So, of those who applied in each year, we can see that Music still makes up the majority of applicants. 

Finally, some news regarding which area of arts will be covered.

You might have already seen from my recent post "Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Update: Here come the Fashion!" that the previously excluded discipline of Fashion Design is now included and Fashion Designers of world-leading talent may be assessed for a visa by British Fashion Council (which sits under Arts Council England for the purpose of Tier 1 endorsement). 

I have not seen many but there is another category called 'combined arts' - lovely and vague. Arts Council's own guide on its website appears to define it as follows 'Festivals and carnival arts describe a range of activities that come under our combined arts discipline’ which includes music, dance, visual and live performance arts, theatre, literature and other combined arts. My question to them was to clarify whether 'combined arts' as an art discipline is only assessed in the context of a festival/ carnival, or whether can the same Tier 1 criteria be used to assess an individual artist who may engage in as many arts areas (e.g. literature & Dance, jewellery design & illustrations) as well?

Here is their answer:

"Combined Arts covers many areas of artistic practise:
 
Traditionally, Combined Arts does refer to festivals, carnivals, multi disciplinary events, large outdoor events, parades etc  
 
If a Tier 1 applicant is involved in delivering/has worked within any of the above areas they would be considered as a Combined Arts practitioner. However, a Tier 1 applicant who worked within a number of areas of artistic practise, such as literature, theatre and music could be considered as a Combined Arts (multi disciplinary) practitioner but we would expect that they plan to gain entry to the UK to work specifically and equally in each of these areas. 
 
Ideally, applicants who work in various single areas of artistic practise should identify their main specialism that they wish to work within in the UK, rather than Combined Arts however, when we receive an application we can liaise with the applicant via UKVI to determine the most appropriate artform to select for applicants if we are unsure." 

Now, this last sentence (in bold) of their response is pretty significant I think. It sounds as though the Arts Council will discuss and if necessary allocate an appropriate art-area for an application where the relevant art area is not so clear cut! 

That's all folks! Until next year! 

If you want to test out your credential and have a got at applying for a Tier 1 endorsement, feel free to contact me for consultation. 

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.