Nigerians are now the top applicants for the UK’s Global Talent visa in the literature category. This means that more Nigerian writers and bloggers are applying for and getting this visa than people from countries like the United States, Canada, or Australia.
This special visa allows creative people like writers, poets, and storytellers to move to the UK if they have strong talent. To get it, they first need to be approved by the Arts Council England, which checks their work before sending it to the UK Home Office for final approval.
In the past five years, Nigerians submitted 125 applications under the literature category. That’s more than twice the number of applications from the US (61), and more than the total from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand combined.
Out of the 125 Nigerian applications, 54 were accepted and 70 were rejected.
Although this visa also includes other creative areas, not everyone in the UK supports it. Some politicians are not happy with creative professionals coming into the country.
One politician, Lee Anderson from the Reform UK party, said the UK doesn’t need more poets or bloggers. He said the country should focus on bringing in doctors, builders, and businesspeople who can help the economy and public services.
He also said the UK immigration system is too soft and lets in too many people. His party wants to freeze all immigration and only allow people who fit their idea of helpful and hardworking individuals into the country.
People who get the Global Talent visa can live in the UK for up to five years. They are also allowed to bring their family members with them.
The reason so many Nigerians are applying might be because of the success of famous Nigerian authors like Ben Okri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, and Chinua Achebe. Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart is still read in many schools in the UK.
It’s not just literature. Since 2019, Nigerians have applied 729 times across all Global Talent visa categories, including dance, film, fashion, and theatre. Nigeria is now second only to the US in the total number of applications.
In 2019, only 12 Nigerians applied for this visa. But in 2024, that number jumped to 279 — a 2,225% increase. However, just 59% of those applications were accepted, one of the lowest success rates among major countries, except for Ghana.
Since the scheme started, over 5,000 people from all over the world have applied, and the Arts Council England has approved more than 3,600. But it’s not clear how many of these people actually got the visa from the UK government.
This report came out just as the UK’s new Labour government is under pressure to reduce immigration numbers.
