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.  

My FOI request to the Royal Academy of Engineers came back at Easter.

It was a bit disappointing to see that the numbers were bunched up together between 2015 - 13 April 2017, because the Royal Academy of Engineers were allocated a finite number of endorsements each year (150 per year, split into two periods, i.e. 75 between 6 April - 30 September and 75 + whatever is left over from the first period between 1 October - 5 April). But still incredibly useful statistics nevertheless. Between some 2.5 years (2015 - April 2017), the Royal Academy would have been allocated over 300 endorsement by the UKVI but only 56 applicants (representing circa. 19% of all available endorsement) even attempted the application for endorsement. (Exceptional Talent categories tend to be fewer because of the high threshold so that's normal). Both Exp Talent and Exp Promise categories, more than a majority of the applicants succeeded (72% avrg.). Finally, there doesn't appear to be the Academy-own production of leaflets or information sheet on this visa route. They refer to the UKVI guidance only.

1. Still too few are applying for endorsement under the category (19% of all available endorsements).
2. Once you do apply, the success rate is fairly high (72% on average across both categories).
3. Perhaps information on Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise is not so widely known or available. Well, fear not! Solicitor Cho shall be posting updates and further information on this throughout the year.
4. Conclusion? It's definitely worth a try!

Incidentally, I loved the RA's politeness and speedy response. Much appreciated and it was a pleasure dealing with the Academy.

Seriously, DO NOT MAKE TRAVEL PLANS until you have your visa and PASSPORT IN YOUR HANDS!

As an immigration lawyer, it would the most frustrating to see the good work on a case get overshadowed by the clients failing to heed to this one simple piece of advice. With any court awarded compensation for the lost travel being very unlikely, if you don't want to see your India trip turn into a pack of 1st class stamps, there's no better time than now to heed to this advice.

The poor guy featured on Metro London today. The compensation is utterly paltry but however much you wish to travel at a particular time, making prior travel arrangements will not force anyone to act faster for your application/ postal/ visa process, and the remoteness of damage in order to recover the cost of the lost holiday is rather tenuous in most cases (meaning, unlikely to obtain any compensation for the lost travel arrangements) so if you want to avoid any costly *disappointment* (to put it mildly), Do Not Make Travel Plans Before Your Visa and/ or Passport Is In Your Hands! Pleeease!