Blog updated on Tuesday, February 4th, 2025.
If you are looking at the National Innovation Visa (NIV) you must be nominated by a senior professional in your field. This person will vouch for you and can speak on your behalf about how your talent can bring benefit to Australia. This is a key part of the NIV process but one that is often overlooked. Here are our tips on how to find a National Innovation nominator.
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Important terms:
"Applicant" or "Nominee" – this is you, the person who is applying or hoping to apply for the National Innovation Visa (NIV) Subclass 858.
"Nominator" – this is the person providing the nomination to the applicant/nominee. This person will be the author of the Form 1000.
"Expression of Interest" or "EOI" - the document you send to the Department of Home Affairs to express your wish to be considered for a National Innovation Visa.
"Invitation" - the document the Department of Home Affairs sends to applicants who it deems suitable for the National Innovation Visa. NOTE: this an invitation to apply, it does not guarantee you will receive a visa!
"Application" - after receiving an invitation, this is the document you submit to actually apply for the National Innovation Visa.
"Department of Home Affairs" or "the Department" - the department of the Federal Government of Australia in charge of immigration and visas
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The Do’s
Below are some of the things we recommend you do when finding a National Innovation Visa nominator.
1. Understand the Form 1000
The Form 1000 is the nomination form for the National Innovation Visa.
Currently, unless you are referred or nominated by an Australian government agency (Commonwealth, State or Territory) you do not need to provide the completed Form 1000 at the EOI stage.
However, in our experience, it is recomended that applicants have this already completed when submitting their EOI. This form gets updated from time to time, so it is important to ensure you have the most up-to-date version of the Form 1000. You can find the current version on the Department of Home Affairs’ website.
The updates to this form have usually been to increase the amount of information required from the nominator.
While not strictly required, we strongly recommend that you have your Form 1000 ready even at the the Expression of Interest stage. If invited to apply for the NIV, you are given 60 days from the date of invitation to apply, there is a risk that you may not find a nominator during this time and you will miss the chance to apply.
2. Ask Previous Co-workers and Bosses
We understand that you may feel uncomfortable asking those at your current workplace to nominate you, as this can signal that you are looking to end your employment and move your life to Australia for the long-term.
Co-workers and bosses, however, are some of the best nominators as they have lots of first-hand experience of how you work and what your strengths really are. Sometimes they can have better insights than you do yourself! They are also usually as prominent (if not more so) than you are. Try asking people you used to work for, or senior managers in other departments of the business, who you can trust not to tell your current boss!
Just ensure that your boss or co-workers is an Australian citizen or permanent resident and has a national reputation in your area of achievement.
3. Ask Colleagues to Put You in Touch with Prominent Professionals
Your existing social and professional networks can be a great asset if you do not have a nominator to hand. This might be because none of your first-hand contacts.
Discuss with your network that you are looking to apply for this visa and ask if people might have worked with or know professionally an Australian citizen or permanent resident. If they have some contacts, see if you can set up a first meeting, either to get coffee together or to have an initial chat on the phone or via videoconferencing.
The way you find someone can be an important part of the nomination, as the Department has recently shown increased interest in how the nominator came to know the nominee. If you met through your network, this can be a very easy explanation for the Department to understand.
4. Choose Your Best Nominator
Some lucky applicants may have several persons open to nominating them for their National Innovation Visa. If this is you, it is important that you choose the best nominator for your application.
This depends on the situation. Two important things to consider are:
- How prominent the nominator is in your field; and
- How well the nominator knows you.
Sometimes somebody who you know less well, but who is extremely prominent in your target sector can be the right choice. Other times, it will be someone you are very close to, but might be slightly less prominent than your other options. Prominence is usually the dominant factor. The Department would rather hear form somebody who knows a lot about the field than somebody who is your close friend, but knows little about the field.
Whichever is the best choice for you, it is important to be considerate when discussing this with your options. While you can only put forward one Form 1000 for your visa, references from other professionals can be very useful in showing you are a National Innovator. Even if some contacts do not end up providing a Form 1000 nomination, you might ask them for a letter of support instead.
The Don’ts
Here are some things to avoid for your National Innovation nomination and Form 1000.
1. Don’t Pay Someone
There have been concerns raised about integrity risks in the National Innovation Visa program. While there is no express rule against payment for nomination, the exchange of any payment (whether in exchange for nomination or not) might undermine the earnestness of the nomination in the eyes of the Department. As such, we do not recommend offering payment in exchange for your nomination, and being very careful that your nomination does not appear to be financially motivated.
The exception to this is certain organisations who charge an application or administration fees for nominations. These sorts of organisations are experienced at providing a verification as a service, and so payment in those circumstances is appropriate.
2. Don’t Provide False Information
Do not ask your nominator to provide information to the Department which they would not know about. Unless the information the nominee gives comes directly from their own experiences, it is considered false information. Giving false information, or inciting a nominator to provide false information for your benefit, will automatically preclude you from receiving a National Innovation Visa and quite possibly, any other Australian visa you might pursue in future.
3. Don't Use Someone Who is Doing Numerous Nominations
Some people may be nominating several people at once. This is not in itself a problem, however if someone is nominating too many people, this may cause the Department to grow suspicious. Further, if there is a problem with any of these nominations, it may quickly become your problem. If one of the nominations is considered problematic, it will most likely lead to the Department refusing all nominations made by that nominator.
As such, we recommend that you ask someone to nominate you with whom you have a genuine connection and who is closely associated with you.
Conclusion
The nomination is a critical part of your National Innovation Visa and it is important that you get it right. We understand that locating a nominator and getting a good quality Form 1000 can be challenging but if you follow our advice and reach out to all the connections in your professional network, you will give yourself the best possible chance at success.
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Based in Adelaide South Australia, we provide Australian Immigration advice to people and businesses from all over the world.
If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:
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Author:
Luke Edwards, Associate Lawyer at Work Visa Lawyers
Disclaimer
This information is correct at the time of publication but is subject to change without notice. All information provided on this page is provided for purely educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your situation, please speak with an Immigration Lawyer or a Registered Migration Agent.
Resources
National Innovation Visa: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/national-innovation-visa-858
National Innovation visa: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/visas-for-innovation/national-innovation-visa
Form 1000: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/1000.pdf
