Global Talent Visa Scam: Firms Offered Fake Art and Press Coverage for £100,000, Investigation Finds

The Home Office has called it “extremely serious” after a BBC investigation found firms offering to help migrants pose as artists and tech experts to win UK Global Talent visas – including one package costing around £100,000 with artworks made to order in China, staged exhibitions and fake press coverage. Two visas are now being revoked.

What did the investigation find?

The BBC was offered a “fully inclusive” package by a consultant at a firm in Canary Wharf, east London. It included artworks made in China, exhibitions, media coverage and letters of recommendation, and the consultant even offered to have a colleague pose as the client at gallery openings. The price was quoted at 880,000 yuan, about £98,000, with an extra 250,000 yuan (about £28,000) for a Chinese art award.

The consultant claimed approval was “guaranteed” and that at least four clients had got visas this year, which the BBC could not verify. The firm denied selling visa services and said the consultant had left in early October; he denied any wrongdoing. The BBC also spoke to an applicant on the tech route whose agency had fabricated evidence; her application was rejected.

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What is the Global Talent visa?

The Global Talent visa was launched in 2020 to attract the “brightest and best” scientists and researchers, and it is also open to artists and creatives. Applicants are not interviewed, but must show they are exceptionally talented or promising, for example through press coverage of their work and endorsement from a body such as Arts Council England. Successful applicants can bring their families and may qualify for permanent residency after three or five years.

About 6,600 Global Talent visas were granted in 2025, and arts and culture applications nearly doubled between 2023 and 2025. Arts Council England received nearly 3,500 applications last year and endorsed just under half.

What has the Home Office said?

The Home Office said the findings were “extremely serious” and that the company offering the package was already under investigation. A spokesperson said it “will not tolerate anyone cheating the UK immigration system”, and the Global Talent route is now under review. It is revoking visas issued to two men who claimed to be fine art photographers, after fake reviews of their work were published under a real art critic’s name.

Sources: BBC investigation, Home Office. Photo: Stokkete / Shutterstock.