On 31 January, Tech Nation confirmed that it will cease operations on 31 March 2023 following the recent announcement that the government has decided to, controversially, withdraw its funding and instead award it to Barclays. 

Background

Tech Nation was founded by the coalition government in 2010, and for the last decade has been a champion of the UK tech sector. It has supported scale-ups in numerous ways from growth programmes, a visa scheme and networking conferences to international expansion programs and in-depth sector research, analysis and reports. 

The move, however, has been criticised as giving one of the UK’s biggest lenders (and potential competitor or customer of the start-ups and scale-ups it will be supporting) undue influence over the tech industry.

Uncertainty now arises as to the future of the digital technology Global Talent Visa route because applicants must apply to Tech Nation for endorsement before they can make a visa application. 

In its announcement, Tech Nation advised that it will shortly stop endorsing visa applicants for the Global Talent category, however a date for when it will stop accepting applications has not yet been confirmed.

What to do next?

It is as yet unclear which vendor will take over the role of digital technology endorser for Global Talent Visa applications, and how smooth the transition can be at such short notice. 

We therefore recommend that those intending to apply under the Global Talent Visa category do so as soon as possible. 

There is likely to be a surge of applications before Tech Nation’s doors close, which will slow down processing times, and there is no information yet on how long applications will be accepted. 

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