Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Priti Patel's fast-track visa scheme for scientists attracted zero applicants in first six months

Priti Patel's fast-track visa scheme for scientists attracted zero applicants in first six months

The Home Office says that there have been thousands of applications for other immigration schemes, but none from people who have won prestigious awards.
A fast-track visa scheme launched by the home secretary Priti Patel in May to entice Nobel laureates and similarly prestigious prize-winners to the UK has resulted in no applications in six months, it has been revealed.

There are more than 70 prizes that could make an applicant eligible for this immigration route, including the Nobel Prizes, the Fields Medal for mathematics, and computer science's Turing Award.

In the arts, the route is open to people who have won one of numerous awards including an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA or Golden Globe, alongside other prizes in music, fashion, theatre, and architecture.

"Winners of these awards have reached the pinnacle of their career and they have so much to offer the UK," said Ms Patel at the time of the launch.

"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.

The fast-track Global Talent route was meant to offer potential immigrants to the UK the ability to simply cite their prestigious award as evidence of their achievements, rather than having to apply to an endorsing body alongside their visa application.

"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," Ms Patel said.

But despite this, according to a freedom of information request reported by New Scientist magazine, "no one working in science, engineering, the humanities or medicine has actually applied for a visa through this route".

A spokesperson for the Home Office told Sky News the scheme had received applications but did not explain which sector the applicant had worked in nor when the application was made.

"The Prestigious Prizes' route makes it easier for those at the pinnacle of their career to bring their unrivalled expertise to the UK and contribute to our world-leading sectors including science, engineering, humanities and medicine," they said.

"It is just one option under our Global Talent route, through which we have received thousands of applications since its launch in February 2020 and this continues to rise," the spokesperson added, referencing the date when Britain left the European Union.

"We have received applications through the Prestigious Prizes pathway, however due to the exclusivity of the prizes which qualify under the Prestigious Prize pathway, we did not expect a high volume of applications in comparison with the 'endorsement' pathway or other immigration routes."

The shadow science minister Chi Onwurah told the magazine: "It's clear this is just another gimmick from a government that over-spins and under-delivers.

"It is not surprising that the government has failed so comprehensively to attract scientists from abroad, given their lack of consistent support for scientists here."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×