Creative and Sporting Visa
The UK Temporary Worker – Creative and Sporting visa (Tier 5) is available for applicants who are from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland and have been invited to work as a creative worker or a sportsperson in the UK. Before you can apply for this visa and come to the UK to work, you need to get a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed UK employer. Remember, that the work you do in the UK must relate to the work of your sponsor organization.
You can apply for a visa not earlier than three months before the date you are supposed to start working in the UK. This date will also be mentioned on your certificate of sponsorship. The decision on your Creative and Sporting visa will be ready within three weeks when you apply from outside the UK. In different countries, many visa application centers offer priority services, like faster visa decisions, for an extra fee. You can always check if your visa application service offers this option.
The fee you have to pay for the UK Creative and Sporting visa (Tier 5) depends on where you apply from. Citizens of Turkey and Macedonia have to pay £189 for an application, other nationals have to pay £244 and the same price for each of their dependants (if any). The healthcare surcharge is another obligatory part of the application payments.
The UK Creative and Sporting visa allows its holders to come to the UK for a maximum of up to one year (12 months), or the time given in their certificate of sponsorship plus 28 days more. A visa extension option is also available. The UK Creative and Sporting visa holder can come to the UK not earlier than 14 days before the start date on their certificates of sponsorship. Those who intend to work in the UK for three months or even less may choose the Temporary Worker – Creative and Sporting (Tier 5) concession instead of applying for the UK visa.
You can use this option and enter the UK without applying for a visa in advance if you already have a valid Creative and Sporting (Tier 5) certificate of sponsorship and do not normally need a visa to enter the UK as a visitor. It is necessary that you still meet the UK Sporting visa (Tier 5) eligibility criteria. Remember, you will not be able to extend your stay while you are in the UK, or switch to another Tier 5 Temporary Worker visa or Tier 2 General Work visa.
The UK Creative visa allows you to study in the UK, but for some courses, you will need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificate. You can work for your sponsor in the job described in your certificate of sponsorship and also do a second job in the same sector and at the same level as your main job, but it should not occupy more than 20 hours per week. Also, you are allowed to do a job on the shortage occupation list but again – only for up to 20 hours per week. The UK Creative and Sporting visa allows its holders to work as sportspersons for their national teams while they are playing in a British University and College Sport competition. Work on the position of a sports broadcaster is also permitted. The UK Creative and Sporting visa holders are allowed to bring their family to the UK.
The UK Temporary Worker – Creative and Sporting visa (Tier 5) does not allow its holders to receive public funds or start their own business in the UK.
The eligibility requirements for the UK Creative and Sporting visa first of all depend on whether you are a sportsperson or a creative worker. To be eligible for this visa as a sportsperson, you need to make a significant contribution to your sport at the highest level in the UK. Also, it is important to have a certificate of sponsorship reference number and at least £945 in savings – to prove you can support yourself financially if needed.
To be eligible for the UK Creative and Sporting visa as a creative worker, you need to make a unique contribution to the UK labor market and be paid the minimum salary as set by BECTU, Equity, or PACT. This does not count if you are a model, musician, or work in the circus. A certificate of sponsorship reference number is a must for all the categories of applicants. Applicants who have a fully approved (‘A-rated’) sponsor that can support them financially, if needed, do not have to demonstrate their banking balance.
A certificate of sponsorship is a reference number that holds information about the job and your personal details and is valid for three months after it was assigned to the applicant. If you want to change your sponsor within the same organization or move to a new organization, you must apply again and meet all the UK Creative and Sporting visa (Tier 5) eligibility rules. Changing your sponsor does not change how long you can stay in the UK because you can only stay the maximum length of time allowed by this visa. If you need to leave and come back to the UK as part of the job you are doing, your sponsor can give you a multiple entry certificate of sponsorship. It is worth mentioning, that your sponsor can also give you a certificate that covers the entire length of your stay, even if you need to perform at more than one engagement. Applicants who are working for more than one sponsor can get a certificate from each sponsor but the gap between each job cannot be longer than 14 days.
When applying for the UK Creative and Sporting visa, you must provide your valid passport or other travel documents, and your old passports. Tuberculosis test results are necessary for people, who are from countries where they have to take the test before traveling to the UK. Applicants who are applying as a sportsperson or coach need to demonstrate a letter of endorsement from their sport’s governing body.
The application process for the UK Creative and Sporting visa starts online, but later you will need to come to a visa application center to have your fingerprints and photograph taken. Remember to collect your biometric residence permit within 10 days of when you said you would arrive in the UK. The UK Creative and Sporting visa holders are allowed to extend their existing visa for up to a year. People, who are already in the UK as a sports or entertainer visitors, and got a certificate of sponsorship for this visa before they came to the UK, are allowed to switch to the Creative and Sporting visa.
Regards,
SmartImmigrant
