Australia has demonstrated a commitment to attracting the world’s best and brightest by allocating 15,000 permanent visas to be granted in the 2020-2021 Financial Year under the Global Talent Scheme. We expect that this figure will increase in the upcoming 2022 Financial Year.
The Global Talent scheme represents an excellent pathway to permanent residency for highly skilled individuals who work for organisations represented by members of the Venture Technology Group.
Essentially, there are two pathways to permanent residency under the Global Talent Scheme.
Global Talent Independent (GTI):
The GTI scheme is a streamlined visa pathway for highly skilled professionals (including those in the life science, research and development, and health industry spheres) to work and live permanently in Australia. Places are also available to PhD graduates, and certain PhD students who are nearing completion of their thesis, who can demonstrate their exceptional talent and international recognition.
To be granted a GTI visa, applicants must demonstrate they have an internationally recognised record of achievement in one of the Department’s 10 target sectors. The target sectors include:
- Resources
- Agri-food and AgTech
- Energy
- Health Industries
- Defence, Advanced Manufacturing and Space
- Circular Economy
- DigiTech
- Infrastructure and Tourism
- Financial Services and FinTech
- Education
The first step in the process is submitting an Expression of Interest (EoI). To have the best chances of being invited to apply for a GTI visa, it is essential that the EoI is expertly composed and submitted.
To date, Integrate Legal has assisted numerous individuals obtain permanent residency under the GTI scheme. This includes applicants who initially did not consider that they would be deemed eligible in one of the target sectors. For example, our most recently received invitation was issued to an individual who worked in public relations with a focus on promoting Australia’s health industry to the world.
Global Talent Employer Sponsored (GTES):
The GTES program allows Australian employers to sponsor overseas workers for highly skilled, niche positions that cannot be filled:
- by Australian workers
- through other standard visa programs – in particular, the Short-term stream and Medium-term stream of the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa
The main features of the GTES are:
- trusted employers can access highly skilled roles – the roles are not limited to current occupation lists
- there are 2 streams – Established business and Start-ups
- the earning threshold for applicants is higher than under the standard TSS stream
- employers can negotiate variations to standard TSS visa requirements
- approved visas are valid for up to 4 years and provide a pathway to permanent residency
- employers can negotiate age requirements for the permanent residence pathway
- applications lodged via a GTES agreement receive priority processing by the Department
In summary, the GTES is an excellent vehicle for an established Australian business, or a start-up, looking to highly skilled sponsor workers with cutting-edge skills.
Applying for a visa under the GTI or GTES stream is a complex process and we strongly recommend seeking advice before proceeding as even a minor oversight can lead to an application being unsuccessful. In most cases, if any application is unsuccessful the applicant and/or their sponsor will not be entitled to a refund of the government charges.
If you have any questions concerning Australia’s Global Talent scheme or if there is any other immigration/visa related query we can assist with, please do not hesitate to contact our Senior Associate, Jeffrey Bennett ([email protected] or 0435 378 019).
Authored by Rita Chowdhury and Jeffrey Bennett of Integrate Legal, collaborative partners of Venture Technology Group
