The Global Talent Visa is granted for any period from one to five years, and you choose the length yourself on the application form. Most people ask for the full five years, because the application fees are the same whichever term you pick.

What does change with the length is the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is £1,035 per person for every year of visa you request. One year costs £1,035 per person, five years costs £5,175 per person, and every family member pays their own. The endorsement and visa fees stay at £766 in total either way (£561 for the endorsement, £205 for the visa), so a shorter grant saves money now and costs you more later, because an extension means paying the visa fee and a fresh surcharge again. The full breakdown is in my guide to Global Talent Visa costs.

The term you choose matters most if you are planning for settlement:

  • Endorsed under Exceptional Talent, or through one of the qualifying prizes, you can apply for indefinite leave to remain after three years of continuous residence. Three years is therefore the shortest grant that gets you there, but five leaves room for absences, delays and a change of plan.
  • Endorsed under Exceptional Promise, the qualifying period is five years, so ask for five and be done with it.
  • Dependants always need five years, whichever category you were endorsed in. If you take a three-year visa, your family will be extending while they wait out their own qualifying period.

British citizenship normally follows twelve months after settlement, so a five-year grant covers the whole journey for most applicants without a single extension.

If you do need more time, the visa can be extended for a further one to five years, and there is no limit on how many times you extend. You do not repeat the endorsement stage; you show instead that you have carried on working and earning in the field you were endorsed in.

One practical note: your permission is issued as an eVisa held in your UKVI account rather than as a physical card, so the dates you agreed to at application are the dates you will be proving online to employers and landlords.

Related questions