Tech Nation is the body designated by the Home Office to assess Global Talent Visa applicants who work in digital technology. It still endorses, which is worth saying plainly because the opposite is repeated online constantly: Tech Nation became part of Founders Forum Group in 2023 and carried on in the endorsing role for the digital technology route.

The route runs in two stages, and Tech Nation owns the first one. At stage one you apply to Tech Nation for an endorsement, which is the assessment of whether you belong on the route at all. At stage two you apply to the Home Office for the visa itself, which is mostly a check of eligibility, identity and documents. The endorsement is the hard part and it is where cases are won or lost.

What Tech Nation assesses is whether you are a recognised leader in digital technology (Exceptional Talent) or a potential leader (Exceptional Promise). The assessment is built around a mandatory criterion covering that leadership question, plus at least two optional criteria drawn from things like innovation, recognition beyond your day job, and significant technical or commercial contribution. You support it with recommendation letters and a capped set of evidence documents; the exact number allowed changes from time to time, so check the current guidance before you assemble the pack. My notes on the criteria and on letters of recommendation cover both in detail.

The digital technology route covers founders and senior employees in product-led technology businesses, in technical and business roles alike, across fintech, artificial intelligence, cyber security, gaming and the rest of the sector. It is not the right body for everyone: artists and cultural professionals go to Arts Council England, and researchers and academics have their own endorsing bodies, which I set out in my guide to who can get the visa.

The endorsement costs £561 and the visa itself £205, so £766 in total, plus the health surcharge. What you get for it is a visa of one to five years with no sponsor, no employer tied to your permission, the right to change jobs or work for yourself, the right to bring your family, and a route to settlement and then citizenship.

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