The Chemist's visa: the UK's Global Talent route for those working in chemistry
Edgewater Legal regularly provides advice to clients applying under the Global Talent immigration route. Here, principal, Nick Nason outlines how chemists might qualify, with top tips for applicants towards the end of the article.
You may be eligible to apply for a UK visa if you are recognised as an exceptionally talented chemist, or a chemist demonstrating exceptional promise.
This includes chemists demonstrating exceptional talent or promise within biochemistry, molecular cell biology, structural biology, chemistry, applied chemistry, theoretical chemistry including (in)organic chemistry, materials chemistry, physical chemistry, atmospheric chemistry and geochemistry.
Visa outline
You choose how long you would like to live and work in the UK on the Global Talent visa (up to 5 years) and it is a pathway to applying to settlement (and British citizenship after that).
To apply for the visa you first normally need to be endorsed by the Royal Society. To do this, you complete an online form, and then provide supporting evidence to show you meet the criteria.
If the Royal Society provide endorsement, you can then make the visa application. If endorsed under the Exceptional Talent route, you may apply for accelerated settlement after 3 years if eligible. Those endorsed as having Exceptional Promise are usually eligible after 5 years.
Peer review
There are four ways to be endorsed, but we will concentrate on Route 4: Peer Review, as this is the only one not requiring a pre-existing offer of a position, fellowship, or funding.
It is worth investigating the other routes if you have been offered an eligible academic or research position in the UK (Route 1), a qualifying fellowship (Route 2), or you are a key part of an approved funding grant from UKRI (Route 3).
Holding a prestigious prize (qualifying prizes listed below) means you are eligible to apply for a Global Talent visa without obtaining endorsement.
Basic eligibility
You must be an active researcher (for example in a university, a research institute or industry), with a PhD (or equivalent research experience, including industrial or clinical research).
You must also be at an early stage of your career if you are applying for Exceptional Promise (i.e. that you have the potential to be a leader in your field).
Your application is then peer reviewed by experts in chemistry who look at the strength of your evidence in order to assess whether your application demonstrates Exceptional Talent or Exceptional Promise.
The application will be considered under peer review solely on the required evidence that you provide as part of the application.
Detailed criteria
The peer review assessment will evaluate the following criteria to determine if your application provides adequate evidence of your recognition as an Exceptional Talent and leader in the field, or as someone showing Exceptional Promise and potential to become a leader in the field:
- Your track record, career history and contributions to the field to date, including your international standing; the significance of your publications, prizes and research funding awarded; patents, licenses, spinouts or other forms of intellectual property and the impact of past innovation activity, in an organisation, academia or as an individual (as applicable);
- The strength of the supporting statements in your letters of support; and
- The expected benefits of your presence in the UK in terms of the contribution to UK research and innovation excellence and to wider society, including potential economic benefits from exploitation of intellectual capital.
Assessors seek strong evidence highlighting a high level of originality, creativity, independence, and intellectual leadership in research and innovation.
They consider the merit, novelty, significance, and quality of your research and innovation vision, as well as how it advanced (or is expected to advance) the field of chemistry.
They also look for a clear and credible plan for what you expect to do in the UK and how you will contribute to UK research and innovation excellence.
What documents do you need to submit?
You will need to:
- provide a short CV (maximum 3 sides)
- complete an online application form
- detail your qualifications, and any fellowships and grants awarded, significant publications, prizes and/or patents.
The main evidence is a letter of personal recommendation from an eminent person resident in the UK in support of your application. The letter-writer must be familiar with your work, your contribution to your field, and be qualified to assess your claim to being exceptionally talented, or showing exceptional promise.
In Exceptional Talent applications only, you must provide a second letter from another eminent person who is a senior member of a reputable UK organisation involved with research or innovation in chemistry.
If you wish, you can submit additional evidence to show how you meet the endorsement criteria.
Content of the supporting letter(s)
The personal recommendation letter must be signed, dated, and on headed paper (if applicable) from an ‘eminent’ person resident in the UK. The person must also be a leader within chemistry. The letter should include:
- how the letter-writer knows you;
- details of your achievements in your field;
- how, in the letter-writer’s opinion, you show exceptional talent or promise;
- how you would benefit from living in the UK; and
- how you will likely contribute to UK research or innovation and to wider society.
As mentioned above, if applying on the basis of Exceptional Talent, you must provide a second letter from another eminent person within the chemistry arena, who is also a senior member of a reputable UK organisation widely acknowledged as having expertise in chemistry. Their letter must include:
- a statement confirming that the letter-writer is a senior member of a reputable UK organisation concerned with research or innovation in your field;
- why the letter-writer considers your work shows exceptional talent and how you are likely to contribute to UK research or innovation excellence and to wider society; and
- a statement confirming the objectivity of the letter-writer’s assessment
Letters should also include contact details for the author.
Application tips
Endorsing bodies do not provide any kind of pre-assurance and so I would usually provide the following guidance:
- If you think you might have a shot, it’s worth applying. The Global Talent route stands out as a golden opportunity among UK visas, offering a rare bright spot in an otherwise challenging landscape for international talent. Compared to visa routes (even other streams within Global Talent e.g. Tech Nation), the documentary requirements are relatively light, and the costs for endorsement application relatively low.
- Don’t be restricted by the minimal documentary requirements: many of our clients have provided letters or other documents from multiple sources, beyond the one or two mandatory letters required.
- Pay attention to the guidance – it’s there for a reason! The letters must cover the specified information summarised above, and, especially, why and how you are be a leader or show exceptional promise within the field
- Evidence from high profile letter-writers carry more weight. The more senior and eminent the author is in your field of research or innovation the stronger the letter will be considered to be.
Prestigious prizes list
As referred to above, you will be eligible to apply for a Global Talent visa without the need to obtain an endorsement if you are the holder of any of the following qualifying prizes, and the prizes has not been withdrawn or suspended.
| Qualifying Prize | Name of Awarding Body |
|---|---|
| Abel Prize | Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters |
| AF Harvey Engineering Research Prize | Institute of Engineering and Technology |
| Annual Review Prize Lecture | Physiology Society |
| Bakerian Medal and Lecture | Royal Society |
| Balzan Prize | International Balzan Prize Foundation |
| Benjamin Franklin Medal | Franklin Institute |
| Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture | Berggruen Institute |
| Blue Planet Prize | Asahi Glass Foundation |
| Cadman Award | Energy Institute |
| Centenary Prize | Royal Society of Chemistry |
| Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering | US National Academy of Engineering |
| Copley Medal | Royal Society |
| Crafoord Prize | Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Crafoord |
| Croonian Medal and Lecture | Royal Society |
| Davis Medal | IChemE |
| Distinguished Fellowship | British Computing Society |
| Faraday Medal | Institute of Engineering and Technology |
| Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize | National Academy of Engineering |
| Fields Medal | International Mathematical Union |
| Fyssen International Prize | Fondation Fyssen |
| Gold Medal | Institution of Civil Engineers |
| Honorary Membership | British Ecological Society |
| Holberg Prize | Holberg Committee |
| Humboldt Research Award | Alexander von Humboldt Foundation |
| IEEE Medal of Honor | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| INCOSE Pioneer Award | International Council on Systems Engineering |
| Individual Gold Medal | Royal Aeronautical Society |
| International Award | Biochemical Society |
| International Medal | Institution of Civil Engineers |
| Isaac Newton Medal and Award | Institute of Physics |
| IStructE Gold Medal | Institution of Structural Engineers |
| J J Thompson Medal for Electronics | Institution of Engineering and Technology |
| James Watt International Medal | Institution of Mechanical Engineering |
| Japan Prize | The Japan Prize Foundation |
| John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity | John W. Kluge Centre |
| King Faisal Prize – Medicine | King Faisal International Fund |
| King Faisal Prize - Science | King Faisal International Fund |
| Kyoto Prize – Advanced Technology | Inamori Foundation |
| Kyoto Prize – Basic Science | Inamori Foundation |
| Kyoto Prize – Arts and Philosophy | Inamori Foundation |
| Lasker-Debakey Clinical Medical Research Award | Lasker Foundation |
| Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science | Lasker Foundation |
| Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award | Lasker Foundation |
| L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science | L’Oréal-UNESCO |
| Louis-Jeantet Prize | The Louis-Jeantet Foundation |
| Lovelace Medal | British Computing Society |
| Melchett Award | Energy Institute |
| Mensforth Manufacturing Gold Medal | Institution of Engineering and Technology |
| Millennium Technology Prize | Technology Academy Finland |
| Mountbatten Medal | Institution of Engineering and Technology |
| Nine Dots Prize | Kadas Prize Foundation |
| Nobel Prize - Chemistry | The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |
| Nobel Prize - Economic Science | The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |
| Nobel Prize - Literature | The Swedish Academy |
| Nobel Prize - Physics | The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |
| Nobel Prize - Medicine | Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet |
| President’s Award | Energy Institute |
| Prince Philip Medal | Royal Academy of Engineering |
| Princess Royal Silver Medal | Royal Academy of Engineering |
| Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering | The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation |
| Rayleigh Medal | Institute of Acoustics |
| Robert Koch Award | Robert Koch Foundation |
| Robert Koch Gold Medal | Robert Koch Foundation |
| Vane Medal | British Pharmacological Society |
| W H Pierce Prize | Society for Applied Microbiology |
| Wolf Prize - Agriculture | Wolf Foundation |
| Wolf Prize - Arts | Wolf Foundation |
| Wolf Prize – Chemistry | Wolf Foundation |
| Wolf Prize – Mathematics | Wolf Foundation |
| Wolf Prize - Medicine | Wolf Foundation |
| Wolf Prize - Physics | Wolf Foundation |
We regularly review and manage Global Talent visa applications. Please do not hesitate to contact us at Edgewater Legal for further information about how we might be able to assist.