Information Technology professionals are the largest group of Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer beneficiaries in the UK. Most large ITES employers [Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, TCS to name a few} prefer this route to bring in workers to the UK to on client projects.

One of the biggest challenges that the ICT visa holders face is when they are required to return to their home country either at the end of the project or at end of maximum validity of their visa.

The general perception is that Tier 1 Exceptional Talent can be an ‘exceptionally’ hard visa to qualify for – however it is possible for Information Technology professionals to explore this option.

The Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa is officially described by the British government as a unique chance for talents to come and work in the UK who are eminent figures in fields like science, humanities, engineering, digital technology, medicine, arts and fashion.

The UK Immigration rules presently have discretionary criteria to define what constitutes the eminence.

So if you are working in IT and have a degree in Information Technology and are able to evidence an excellent employment profile in terms of projects that you have worked on and have diversity in terms of programming languages and its even not necessary for you to be working in cutting edge fields like machine learning and artificial intelligence.

It is pertinent to note that Tier 1 Exceptional Visa has no financial requirements to be met with and for highly qualified professionals it is easier to demonstrate that they meet the English language requirement and provide testimonials of work done and their professional achievements.
Also, the Home Office has relatively increased the potential number of Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visas recently.

Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) Visa, as the name suggests, is aimed at those who are considered to be exceptionally talented and actually stand out in the fields mentioned above. If you qualify under this particular visa, a person may be employed or self-employed, work for any employer and move between employers without any additional approval from the Home Office and take up employment in any sector at any level.

If you hold leave in any other category, you should leave the UK and apply for entry clearance.

You can stay in the UK for up to 5 years and 4 months if you apply outside the UK and 5 years if you apply inside the UK. If you wish to extend your leave or apply for settlement, you will be needed to demonstrate that you have worked exceptionally well in your respective field of specialty.
Dependents may also accompany the applicant as long as they meet the relevant requirements and may continue to reside till the applicant remains eligible under this particular criteria.

With an increasing number of migrants in UK on Tier 2 Intra company transfer who may be finding themselves in tough spots with regard to their careers; no scope for growth, no permission to switch companies, among other hassles- this is surely an option worth exploring to see if you have eligibility for the same.

Switching from a Tier 2 Work Visa to a Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) Visa might be a viable option for many who are currently struggling with their careers on the Tier 2 Visa.
Just have a look at the success rates for both the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent as well as the Exceptional promise visas in the graphic below:

The SmartMove2UK (a unit of Smart Move Immigration) works to ensure that your application has the highest probability of success if you are eligible for Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa, in association with T1 Digital.

If you are considering to switch from a Tier 2 ICT to Tier 1 Exceptional Talent, and belong to the digital technology industry (graphic designer, web designer, SEO expert, amongst others), then the first thing you need to do is to arrange for consultation with our UK Immigration experts to explore your eligibility to apply for Tier 1 exceptional talent.

For any other UK Immigration/Visas related queries, fill out the form on the right-hand side of the screen and one of our experts will get back to you with your answers!