The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the world come to a standstill – and Australia is no exception.
The Prime Minister has already foreshadowed a drop in the migration program in the next financial year (2020-2021). What is unlikely to drop however is the availability of business migration and global talent visas. Why? Because these visas are likely to assist in the recovery of the economy.
In this article we will look at the Global Talent Independent (GTI) Visa. The companion GTI program was first announced by the government in August 2019 to attract skilled migrants in the “future-focused fields” to Australia who would create employment opportunities for Australia by transferring skills, promoting innovation, and creating job opportunities in the Australian economy.
Purpose of The Global Talent Independent Visa(GTI)
The purpose of the program is therefore to seek highly-skilled migrants with exceptional, transferrable skills from around the world, who work/study in “future focused fields” who can contribute towards the innovative development of Australian’s growing economy.
The primary objective is to create opportunities in Australia by transferring skills & creating job opportunities.
The Global Talent Independent Visa offers permanent residence and is given priority processing by the department.
How does The Global Talent Independent Visa Program work?
The program works in two ways:
• The Australian Government has actually stationed Global Talent Officers or Scouts in 7 key locations around the world (Berlin, Dubai, New Delhi, Santiago, Shanghai, Singapore and Washington DC) to locate eligible candidates. In this process, the department is collaborating with Australian universities, industry bodies and state/territory governments to source eligible candidates.
• The other way is for candidates who fit the profile to apply to the department directly for one of these visas.
In 2019-2020 the government has allocated 5,000 visas for this program.
Global Talent Independent Visa Criteria:
The government has published the eligibility criteria for this visa. Essentially, the eligible candidates will come from one of these targeted highly-skilled fields:
o AgTech
o Space and Advanced Manufacturing
o FinTech
o Energy and Mining Technology
o MedTech
o Cyber Security
o Quantum Information, Advanced Digital, Data Science and IT
The candidates must attract a salary commensurate with the Fair Work High Income Threshold (FWHIT) of at least AUD $148,700.
Other considerations could include:
o future job offers in Australia specifying remunerations, or
o candidates are recent PHD or Masters graduates in the mentioned target sectors.
o candidates endorsed by a nominator in Australia with recognized skills. The nominator can be an Australian citizen, resident or organization or an eligible New Zealand citizen.
o examples of work done around the world (via secondary source)
Global Talent Independent Visa Application process:
Consistent with what we have said above on how the program works, an application for this visa can be done in one of two ways:
• Eligible candidates may get a referral from a Global Talent Officer or an organization with a national reputation in the same field; OR
• Eligible candidates can be considered under a range of different visa options available in the migration program: such as the Distinguished Talent, Skilled Visa, Entrepreneur Visa, and Global Talent Employer Sponsored visa. For instance, under the Distinguished Talent Visa Program they have to show that they are “internationally recognised with a record of achievement”, or under the Skilled Independent Visa stream the candidate will need to register their Expression of Interest in the department’s SkillSelect database and they will be given a Global Talent unique identifier along with their lodgment.
Note you do not have to be invited by one of the above-mentioned Global Talent Officers to be considered.
How can we help?
If you are such a highly-skilled individual in one of these top-“future focused fields”, please contact us.
Rostron Carlyle Rojas Lawyers team of Migration Lawyers will be interested to review and assess your suitability for the program. We can provide comprehensive advice regarding your eligibility, address the important issues regarding the visa, and guide you in preparing a decision-ready application.
We invite you to contact us for a consultation today, or alternatively write to any one of us in the Migration team:
• Peter K K Lee: [email protected]
• Clayton Hellen: [email protected]
• Shanalee Johal: [email protected]