Hundreds of Nigerian “authors” have come to Britain using a visa scheme for literary talent, report has revealed.
Nigerians have made the most applications for entry to the UK via a little-known “literature” visa for writers, which covers professed “poets” and oral “storytellers”, than any other nationality.
Applicants from Nigeria have also been the most successful in having claims to exceptional literary ability endorsed by the government quango Arts Council England, which has powers to review and endorse applications for “Global Talent” visas.
This visa route supports entry to Britain for exceptional individuals in music, theatre, and dance, with applicants expected to possess and prove artistic merit.
There is also a category for great talents in “literature”, which covers a range of writers, including novelists, poets, spoken word performers, storytellers and creators of “graphic novels and comics”.
Successful applicants can bring their family to the UK as dependents and stay for up to five years at a time once endorsed by the Arts Council, and signed off by the Home Office.
A rise in applications
Nigerians have dominated this visa scheme over the past five years, putting in 125 applications for the literary category, more than double the 61 received from the USA and far more than other Anglophone nations like Australia, Canada and New Zealand combined.
Across that five-year period, 70 were rejected, and 54 were endorsed – more than any other country represented in official figures.
Lee Anderson, a Reform UK MP, said: “As the country boasting some of the world’s best literature, the last thing we need is to import more foreign poets and bloggers. What we urgently need are doctors, builders, and entrepreneurs. We need people who will contribute directly to our economy and public services.
“Our soft-touch immigration policies have allowed for total abuse of the system. And one where everyone benefits except the hard-working taxpayer.
“Reform will implement a freeze on all immigration. Then, gradually, we will welcome the world’s best and brightest, those who will adhere to our culture and contribute to our workforce. Reform will not continue to treat this country like a charity.”
Analysis of the talent visa numbers comes amid growing pressure on the Labour Government to tighten their stance on immigration, which in recent years has reached record levels both for legal and illegal arrivals.
The past five years have also seen the making or securing of reputations for some prominent Nigerian writers, including Ben Okri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀.
The work of the late writer Chinua Achebe’s famed 1958 novel Things Fall Apart has become common on schools reading lists.
However, the use of the literature visa appears to be part of a broader trend.
The number of Global Talent visa applications being submitted from Nigeria has risen by 2,225 per cent since 2019.
There were just 12 applications in 2019, but this rose to 279 in 2024.
Across that entire period, Nigerians made 729 applications across artistic Global Talent categories – dance, fashion, music, film and TV, theatre, combined arts, and visual arts – second only to the US, with 977.
Despite the glut of applications, just 59 per cent of the entries from Nigeria were endorsed – the lowest of any country apart from Ghana.
Since 2019, more than 5,000 applications have been made across all nationalities, with 3,600 endorsed by the Arts Council.
The Home Office does not break down figures for how many of these endorsements then lead to visas being signed off by Whitehall officials.
Other nationalities have also submitted large numbers of applications including Russia (725), China (492), Australia (233) and India (160).7
The revelations about the Global Talent route come after The Telegraph reported the Labour Government intended to protect skilled worker visa routes for diversity and inclusion experts, despite their promise to reduce immigration.
The Home Office has safeguarded visa application routes for those with specific skills, creating a temporary list of “shortage” occupations.
This list safeguards the positions of “poet” and “blogger”, roles that come under the visa route for the broad category of “authors, writers and translators”.
The median earning for a self-employed writer, according to a 2022 report by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, was just £7,000.
While only the median, this is below the £12,570 personal allowance for income tax.
The shortage occupation list will drop out of use, pending a review, in December 2026.
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