Two years of international border closures that locked out migrants and led to labour and skills shortages across the economy makes it difficult to fathom Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s decision to cull 27 jobs from the list of occupations eligible to receive a priority skilled visa to work in Australia.

Amid the hacking of Optus, Australia is now shaking up to find highly skilled people in Cyber security and IT field and sending them to the back of the queue.

As clearly seen, during covid-19, where every single work had been shifted to online platforms and the wave of migrants and international students running out of the country, the needs of highly skilled and talented people have been raised significantly.

That opened up a new popular Global Talent Visa program, a fast tracked permanent residency of Australia pathway for skilled migrants who are recognized internationally with projects and researches.

Up until today, there have been many ups and downs regarding the popularity of the Global Talent Visa program.

Want to know what the skills summit outcomes affect the future of Australian Migration settings - read this>>

This is for someone who does not know about the Global talent visa in Australia.

Basically, this is the fast-tracked permanent residency pathway for highly skilled and talented people in the world with significant achievement in Australia’s target sectors.

There are about 10 target sectors listed for the GTI program Australia.

There is no specific occupation required for being eligible for the Global Talent Visa program.

Within the scope of this writing, we only mention the latest update that we have received on the media or during our visa application process.

Updates on Offshore applicants as the highest priority for Global Talent Visa Program

In a bid to “fix” the immigration system and address the skill shortage, the Australian government announced that it will be making some changes in the processing the Global Talent Visa.

One change that was flagged by the Home Affairs Minister, Ms. Clare O’Neil in an interview with the Australian Financial Review is the Global Talent Visa program.

Minister O’Neil said that the only candidates that would be considered are those located offshore.

With the explanation that onshore applicants may be able to find other pathways for Australian PR.

The government would like to focus more on recruiting talent worldwide.

Last program year has seen a more than 70% of GTI visas were granted to ONSHORE applicants.

However, to date, there are still no legislative, regulatory, or policy changes nor new Ministerial Directions to this effect.

We have been advised that the Global Talent Visa EOIs continue to be processed in submission order.

According to the Global Talent Visa program officers: “Government is currently revising Ministerial directions to give priority to applicants for a permanent visa where the applicant is offshore, including within the Global Talent program. This will enable more workers to enter Australia more quickly, contribute to the labor market and ease labor shortages.”

This is appropriate because most Global talent visa applicants in Australia have secured their own stable jobs.

Granting those onshore workers will not help deal with the labor shortages the country is facing.

So, for now at least, pending any policy changes, EOIs from onshore applicants are still being accepted and processed.

Global Talent Visa priority assessment order

EOIs for the Global Talent visas are usually assessed in order of receipt but some EOIs receive priority assessment. these are:

1. Those that have the confirmed support of a Global Talent Officer
2. The EOIs from Hong Kong nationals and residents
3. Candidates of extremely high calibre including those who meet the high-income threshold.

Those EOIs that clearly do not meet the criteria for the Global Talent Visa may receive an early unsuccessful notification.

Global Talent Visa Current processing time

It is advised by the department that they are currently processing EOIs submitted in April 2021. 

With the current skills summit, the government has announced the budget to deal with the backlog.

In fact, our clients have received good turnaround time recently.

We expect that in the near future, the Global Talent Visa processing time will be decreased further.

Removal of EOI invitation expiry

One recent significant change in the Global Talent Visa program is the removal of the EOI invitation expiry.

Prior to this, EOI invitations are only valid for 12 months.

That means those who got the invitation to apply for the Global Talent Visa have 12 months to apply for the visa.

If you want to check your eligibility for the Global talent program, you can use our free Global Talent Assessment Tool

ACS NOMINATION FOR GLOBAL TALENT VISA OVERVIEW

The one stumbling block for a lot of potential Global Talent Visa applicants is getting a nominator. While they may have internationally recognised achievements and are prominent in their fields, they cannot find anybody who can or will nominate them.

The nominator for a Global Talent Visa must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident or an Australian organization and MUST have a ‘national reputation’ in the same sector as the applicant.

One of the organizations that have been recognized by the Department of Home Affairs to have a national reputation and that can provide nominations to eligible applicants for the Global Talent Visa is the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

ACS is the skill assessing authority for most IT skilled workers who want to get skill assessments for the Skilled Migration Program (Visa 491, 190 and 189) or Employer-Sponsored Program (TSS 482 Visa, Visa 186…)

ACS is listed in the top 10 nominators of 2021 for Global Talent Visa program since this is one of the first choices for technological talents to sign up for their nominator.

We have previously discussed the process of applying for an ACS nomination back in June 2020. However, the ACS nomination process had changed since then.

For other programs, you only need to meet the criteria of each streams you are aiming toward and apply for the visa. As long as you provide all supporting documents required by the Department of Home Affairs, you will just need to wait for the result.

It is not like that in Global Talent Visa Australia.

Through the process of expressing your interest in the Global Talent Independent program, you have to make sure the documents show your best aspect of your expertise in the Targeted Sectors.

Read our latest Australian Immigration updates here >

During Australia’s border closure and travel restrictions in 2020 to late 2021,

visas such as the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa, Skilled Nominated (subclass 190), and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) were not processed as quickly as the GTV and fewer invitations were extended.

The Global Talent Visa (GTV) on the other hand has gained popularity as it was an attractive option for several skilled and talented individuals because it was designed to be a streamlined pathway to permanent residency for those who are considered as high-calibre, outstanding global talents.

So how would you know whether the Global Talent Visa or another skilled visa is suitable for you?  Below are some of the considerations