We have assisted many clients with their Global Talent Visa Expression of Interest (EOI). We understand that some people have already lodged their expressions of interest, but are wondering “How can I make my Global Talent EOI better?” We are passing on some of the tips we have learned along the way.
After lodging your Global Talent Visa Expression of Interest, more information can be provided to support your EOI by emailing it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you are sending more information to the Department, be sure to include your name, date of birth and passport number, so that the information can be linked properly.
The ways to improve your expression of interest are linked (necessarily) to the requirements for the Global Talent visa EOI.
This article is updated regularly. Last updated: Friday, 5th January 2024
At Work Visa Lawyers, we understand that the Government’s processing times are important to your expectations and how you plan your life. Unfortunately, as with all visa processes, these are difficult to predict and are never guaranteed. We write about our experiences across many Global Talent visa applications, to help you to gain an understanding of the processing times which might lie ahead if you choose to pursue a Global Talent visa.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
Late last year, we published the states’ allocations but we have just discovered a new increase of 650 nominations for South Australia and 350 for Tasmania! These allocations were increased without an announcement from the government and at this stage, are not widely known of. That's 1,000 new places for Skilled Nominated visas and Skilled Work Regional visas!
The Australian Government has announced a new skilled list on 2 September 2020 to prioritise occupations which are critical to Australia’s handling and recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
There is a clear focus on the construction, health and ICT sectors.
The Government has indicated that applications under these occupations will be processed more quickly than other occupations.
We expect this to primarily have a large impact on the TSS 482 visa and SESR 494 visa sponsored worker space, as well as for the 189 visa program.
A lot of businesses are currently being negatively impacted by the coronavirus and many others are staring down the wave about to crash over them.
In the sea of information currently spreading on coronavirus matters, it can be difficult to understand where you and your 457/482 visa holding employees stand.
A lot of businesses are finding it necessary to:
Reduce staff salaries
Reduce staff hours
Stand staff down where there is no work for them to do
Make arrangements for staff to work from home
There are strict regulations which apply to Standard Business Sponsors and their relationship with sponsored staff.
If you think you might be eligible to apply for a GTI, take 5 minutes to complete our free online GTI assessment form. Our lawyers and registered migration agents will assess your eligibility and get back to you.
The Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs introduced a new program in 2019 to boost the movement of highly skilled individuals from around the world to Australia.
This includes a fast-tracked pathway to Australian permanent residency for applicants with globally recognised talent in a target sector.
This is one of the first programs of its type where Australia is actively hunting talented people and asking them to come to Australia.
It presents a great opportunity for a highly-skilled professional in a high-growth area to move to Australia permanently.
The Global Talent scheme was launched 4 November 2019 and is built on the existing Distinguished Talent program, comprised of:
Offshore Distinguished Talent visa (subclass 124)
Onshore Distinguished Talent visa (subclass 858)
Fast Processing
At the Law Council's Immigration Law Conference on 20 March 2020, respresentatives from the Department of Home Affairs stated that applications under the GTI program are being given priority processing. Processing times vary from 2 day to 2 months with many being decided in one to two weeks!
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (as he then was) David Coleman has also signed Direction no 85 to give high priority to GTI applications as they are considered to be highly desireable by the Government.
“Ability to attract” a salary at or above the Fair Work High Income Salary Threshold (this varies each financial year and is AUD158,500 as at 01 July 2021) or
Recent graduate of PHD or a Masters program who received high grades.
The program is designed to have global talent officers situated around the world in capital cities such as Dubai, New Delhi, Santiago, Shanghai, Washington DC, Berlin and Singapore. These officers are seeking to attract and engage highly skilled individuals to the program to move to Australia and bring their skills with them.
Currently there are allocated 15,000 places in the GTI program which are up for grabs so if you’re a leader in your field, make sure you get your place to move to Australia.
Watch our video: Fast Track to Australian PR Now: GTI visa for Tech and IT sectors
High-Growth Fields
Agricultural Technology (AgTech)
AgTech is one of the fields identified for the Global Talent Independent Program.
Australia is looking to push the boundaries of “Agriculture 4.0”.
Growth through the Internet of Things (IOT) has been identified as an area for further explanation, with big advantages to flow for the agriculture industry.
FinTech is a growing field worldwide, including in Australia.
We have seen the rise of a range of:
Modern banks such as Up, Xinja and 86,400
Investing platforms such as Raiz, eToro and Spaceship
Payment platforms and digital financial products, including AfterPay
Regtech and many many other FinTech products in Australia
To develop cutting edge technologies which will function in not only the Australian financial market, but which can be exported to overseas markets, Australian FinTech startups and companies need the highest level of talent.
If you are a developer, computer scientist or financial expert with a background in FinTech, a permanent move to Australia through the GTI program could be the way to go.
There is innovation globally in the medical technology field, using technologies both existing and developing.
From a range of industries to create technologies that better serve the health needs of patients.
In Australia, there are big opportunities in developing new and better medical devices, implants and bionics.
There is work to be done in designing, building and quality assurance on new implants and body augmentations
to help those with serious health problems to live a better life.
Key foundation competencies are needed in engineering and product design in the MedTech field.
Cyber Security
Cyber Security is very important to many businesses and government Departments, ensuring that data, personal information, commercial information and funds remain secure.
There are a range of interesting startups already underway, looking at microsatelites and other services in the space and space-adjacent industries.
Applicants who have experience working with the development of sensors, advanced materials, robotics and augmented/virtual reality systems
will have skills which are highly valuable.
One of the advantages of operating in Australia, especially in the advanced manufacturing industry, is the access to nearby asian countries.
Timezones, close proximity and existing networks make Australia a positive environment.
If you are a global talent in the advanced manufacturing industry, this program might be a suitable way for you to obtain a permanent Australian visa
and work for an established company or establish your own.
Quantum Information/Advance Digital/Data Science and ICT
There is a lot of research taking place in advanced computational systems and the field of “big data”.
There is demand for high level talent with experience and aptitude in the area to make big breakthroughs.
Global talents are sought by universities, government research organisations and private industry to develop and apply quantum information/advance digital/data science and ICT.
Global Talent Employer Sponsored (GTES) (TSS subclass 482 visa)
The GTES is an option for businesses to sponsor highly skilled workers who do not fit neatly into atarget sector. It has been open for applications since 1 July 2018.
One success story is Daniel Tan, the founder of Pencil Rocket who has obtained a SISA visa in connection with ecosystem provider Flinders New Venture Institute.
