More Nigerians have been granted British visas for their expertise in fashion than people from any other country, Telegraph analysis of official data shows.
Nigerians have applied for by far the highest number of global talent visas that offer entry to the UK for fashion designers, as well as being granted the most approvals.
The British Fashion Council – a not-for-profit company – has been given powers to endorse applications on behalf of the Home Office, which then has the final sign-off on granting the visas.
The council receives about £2 million each year from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to promote British fashion.
Nigerian expertise in fashion has seen the country lead the way in being granted British visas – Sunday Alamba/AP
The organisation has actively sought to increase ethnic diversity in the fashion industry, particularly in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
From 2019 to 2024, there have been 291 Nigerian applications for fashion visas, far more than any other country. The second highest number were from Chinese designers, who submitted 67 applications.
The number of fashion applications from Nigeria has risen from just three in 2019 to 145 in 2024.
In the same time period, 71 Nigerian applications have been endorsed by the Fashion Council – more than any other nationality.
Word of the visa route has spread online, and The Telegraph has seen numerous videos on social media featuring Nigerian designers offering advice on how to enter the UK on the global talent fashion visa.
One advises viewers who “are looking to stay put” in the UK: “Don’t limit yourself to the post-study work permit, there are so many options.”
So popular is Nigerian fashion there were 145 visa applications for the sector in 2024 – Sunday Alamba/PA
The visa route has a number of criteria for applicants, who are tasked with proving their talent or YouTube promise. This includes providing proof of sales and “international media attention”.
Some designers offering advice online have found that criteria for this media attention can be met by local newspaper stories from their home country. One said they simply shared a screenshot of a blog that mentioned their work.
Another said that they used discussions on Instagram in their application to prove sales had been made.
The increase in application for the global talent fashion visa comes amid a growing interest in African designers.
In 2022-23, the Victoria and Albert Museum hosted a popular exhibition titled African Fashion.
Naomi Campbell
The Arise Fashion Week in Lagos has been running for 13 years, and the showcase of African fashion has been endorsed by British supermodel and designer Naomi Campbell.
There has also been a broader surge in applications for talent visas from Nigeria.
The Telegraph previously revealed that people in Nigeria have made the most applications for entry to the UK via the global talent visa route for “literature”, which covers professed “poets” and oral “storytellers”
Since 2019, Nigerians have made 729 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 volume of applications, Nigerians have just 59 per cent of them endorsed – the lowest of any country apart from Ghana.
Since 2019, more than 5,000 applications have been made by all nationalities, with 3,600 endorsed by the Arts Council.
The Home Office does not break down figures on how many of these endorsements then lead to visas being signed off by Whitehall officials.
