Oscar & BAFTA Winners Among Those Eligible To Receive Fast-Track UK Visas After Points-Based Immigration Reforms

Tom Grater
·2 min read

The UK government is introducing a series of points-based immigration reforms that it says will make it easier and faster for people who have won various arts awards to receive a visa to live and work in the country.

Anyone who has won a specific category at the Oscars, BAFTAs or Golden Globes, such as the BAFTA best film prize, as well as a series of other awards from various disciplines, can as of Wednesday go via a fast-track system that allows them to make a single visa application. This replaces the previous ‘Global Talent’ system that required an endorsement from one of six qualifying bodies.

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Winners of various Nobel Prize, Brit, Mobo, or Tony awards will also be eligible to apply. The list of qualifying prizes is below, the home office said it would be updated.

“At the heart of our new plan for immigration is a simple principle, fairness,” Home Secretary Priti Patel said in Commons today.

“These important changes will give them the freedom to come and work in our world leading arts, sciences, music, and film industries as we build back better,” she added in further quotes.

“This is exactly what our new point-based immigration system was designed for – attracting the best and brightest based on the skills and talent they have, not where they’ve come from.”

Qualifying awards (as per the BBC):

Film, TV and theatre: Various Academy Award (Oscars) and Golden Globe categories; Bafta – best film actress/actor/director; various Tony Awards and Olivier Awards
Music: Brit Award – international male/female; Mobo – best international act; Grammys – lifetime achievement award
Arts & literature: Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize; Hugo Boss Prize; Nobel Prize – Literature
Science, technology, engineering and maths: Nobel Prize winners in Physics, Chemistry, Economic Science and Medicine; Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering; Fields Medal; Turing Award

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