How A Russian Artist Got A Talent Visa To The UK

Gleb Skubachevsky is a 35—year-old artist who moved to the UK on a talent visa. In this interview, Gleb told us about his experience working in different countries, the process of obtaining a British talent visa and the first year of living in London.

Initially, I chose between the USA, Great Britain, France and Germany.

Education and experience

— My name is Gleb Skubachevsky, I am 35 years old. I am engaged in creating art every day. I paint paintings, but my main activity is objects in the author’s technique, which I make from paper on canvases. These are paper, acrylic, canvas, abstract works. I also paint on canvases, make miniatures, graphics and sculptures. I have also been teaching for 11 years.

I have two academic degrees. I studied at the MACH in In Moscow, at the Faculty of Painting and Teaching from 2005 to 2010. Immediately after that, I entered the Surikov Institute, where I studied with Aidan Salakhova and Sergei Ossovsky from 2010 to 2016.

I am an artist with a lot of exhibitions in In Russia and abroad, with participation in international fairs in different countries. Since 2015, I have traveled a lot to art residencies – these are ideal places for artists, where everything is done so that you can create, make exhibitions, and conduct master classes. I have lived and worked as an artist in Brazil and in almost all European countries.

The process of obtaining a UK Talent visa

— Since February 2022, I have been living abroad. At first, I lived for six months in Georgia, then a year in Turkey. There I did exhibitions, created art, and there I learned about the talent visa to the UK.

Initially, I chose between the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany. The main criterion was the level of contemporary art and this market, the possibilities of galleries in specific countries. And since I had already lived in England a little before, and many friends began to move there, I settled on this country. Plus, it’s easier to get a British talent visa than the same American one.

This visa gives you the opportunity to live and work anywhere in the UK (be it England, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales). The desired destination must be specified when filling out the documents.

Often, together with the applicant, the spouse and children receive the opportunity to legally move. For each, respectively, you need to pay separately.

In short, among the privileges, this visa gives you the opportunity to legally live and work in the UK, as well as obtain citizenship under an accelerated procedure. Like other legal residents, you can apply for grants, rent workshops, and join artist unions.

— There are two categories of talent visas in the UK: outstanding talents and promising prospects. We call them briefly “talent” and “promise”. I applied as a painter for the “talent” category, as this speeds up the process of obtaining citizenship by two years compared to the “promise”.

All documents are submitted online. The main thing that needed to be provided was 10 proofs of talent and 3 letters of recommendation. In addition, it was necessary to pay insurance, duties, fill out a huge number of questionnaires, and take a tuberculosis test.

I have provided one award, five exhibitions and four publications. The fact is that exactly ten proofs are needed there, even if you have much more of them. For example, at that time I had about 50 exhibitions in 10-15 years in art, a large number of publications in the media, international awards and prizes in the field of art. It is also important that all these proofs are Googled and can be found on the Internet.

The most difficult thing was to get a letter of recommendation from the UK from some gallery or museum. As a result, the galleries I worked with never signed anything to me. In the end, I had to ask my colleagues for help.
There were no financial requirements, which is important. Just like the knowledge of English was also not tested.

— By the way, this is a unique visa that allows you to apply from almost any country, and even from several countries. That is, you can start the application procedure in one country and finish it in another. While in the UK itself, you cannot apply for this visa.
Upon arrival in the country, you come to a specific post office, there you receive an envelope with an ID card, open it and start living according to this document.

The entire process from applying to obtaining a visa takes about three months on average — from applying to specifically obtaining a passport with a visa. Each stage takes about one and a half months. It happens faster, it happens longer — everything is very individual.

I need to make a reservation that I received a visa 1.5 years ago and I’m talking about how it happened at that moment. I know that conditions change over time and more criteria appear, so it all needs to be checked personally.

Renting a place here is quite a quest if you are not a billionaire.

Housing search and adaptation in the UK

— I arrived on September 10, 2023 with 60 kg. weights in the form of a giant roll of my paintings, a suitcase (also with paintings) and some things that I need for life.

For the first month, I lived with friends, because renting a house here is generally a quest, if you are not a billionaire. There is a terrible struggle for relatively low-cost housing, costing 1500-2000 pounds per month without communal services. There can be 30 applicants per apartment.

After a month of going to interviews, looking at apartments and communicating with landlords, I managed to find a realtor Kristina from Bulgaria. She offered me an apartment in Sutton, which I rented for fifteen hundred pounds. It’s 50 square meters where I can create art and live.

Sutton is a city that is located very close to the center, literally kilometers away, i.e. it is part of the so—called “Greater London” agglomeration. It is a very pleasant and quiet town with good infrastructure, with almost zero or near-zero crime.

I had to pay the rent for six months because I didn’t have a credit history and people weren’t sure about my ability to pay. I had to open an account here and put all my cash into it. That’s the only way I was able to pay the deposit plus six months of rent. The communal apartment here is also very expensive — about 200-250 pounds (~ 235 euros) per month.

After resolving the rental issue, I registered here as a self-employed person. Everything is very similar to Russia, only with higher taxes.

— For myself, I divide countries into three levels of difficulty for survival. England is the maximum level of difficulty. You definitely need to prepare for moving here and save money.

But in principle, my adaptation is going well, you are constantly surprised at everything. Of course, you have to get used to the British accent, but slowly it all gets absorbed.

The main thing I find myself doing is that I feel at home here. I have a feeling that this is a country for everyone; that anyone who comes here feels accepted. In addition, more than 20 years ago, as a child, I lived for a short time in London with an English family, so I also have a chance to feel the difference that has happened during this time.

I have already supported the British national team at the Football Championship and at The Olympics, although, to be honest, I don’t follow closely. But the British press, which I read, constantly covers the news about any medal won, and even if there are no medals, they still write about their athletes and are proud of them. And this, of course, is highly respected.

I came here to become an art star.

How much money do you need to live

— The more money, the better — it is very expensive here. According to my estimates, if we are talking about income per month per person, then we need at least three thousand pounds — preferably five. And the higher this figure, the higher the comfort level will be.

I can say about myself: I kind of fly abroad, go to fairs, invest in myself as an artist, rent stands for my money at these events, sometimes go to cafes and restaurants, but everything turns out to be close to the money – I still want more.
Only renting a good apartment for several rooms, in a good area and with a cool renovation, which is not cold (which is very important here), costs about 3,000 pounds per month. That is, if you rent something from 3000 and above, it will be a good accommodation, if, as I am now, for 1500, this is a compromise – you have to put up with some nuances.

In particular, it’s insanely cold in winter — I call my place the Sherlock Holmes house. This is such a Victorian three-storey mansion with double glazing, which, however, still does not help. I live on the ground floor, and the cold comes straight from the floor.

I have batteries that I turn on, and then the utility bill immediately quadruples. But even the batteries still can’t heat this room properly.

And someone has the opposite problem – wild heat in summer, and in winter, on the contrary, it is not cold. In any case, there will be some nuances with more budget housing, but this is all nonsense.

Future plans

— I came here to become a star in art: this country is ready for this, and I have everything I need for this. I have never worked as hard as I do now: lately I have managed to break all personal records for making money, selling paintings and the number of works created.

And, of course, another important task is to obtain citizenship here. One year has already passed for me, now I have to live for another four years.

So my plan for the next few years is clear, I’m sticking to it, so I think everything should work out well.