Australia’s GTI program has an impressive performance one year after its introduction

Australia introduced the Global Talent Independent program (GTI) in November 2019 with an intention to bring the best talent from across the world, to the country. The GTI provides a streamlined and prioritized pathway for highly skilled and talented individuals from overseas to work and live permanently in Australia. GTI is specifically designed for attracting skilled migrants to the top future-focused fields to Australia. Under the new program, highly skilled migrants in certain selected industries will get fast-tracked processing for their Australian permanent residency. Who is eligible for GTI?

• Individuals with work experience in any of the seven future focused fields under the GTI
• They must earn a salary at or above $153,600 per annum in Australia. (This high-income threshold changes with every financial year).
• They must be highly qualified in their field and easily able to find employment in Australia
• They must be highly skilled in any one of the 7 key industry sectors which include:
• Energy and Mining Technology
• Quantum Information, Advanced Digital, Data Science and ICT
• AgTech
• Cyber Security
• Space and Advanced Manufacturing
• MedTech
• FinTech
• Applicants must prove that they have international recognition for their achievements and prove that they will bring benefits to Australia in their field of expertise if they are selected through GTI.
• Applicants must have a track record of having outstanding professional achievements which can be having patents, international publications, articles, professional awards, and working in senior roles.

  Other requirements Applicants who meet the requirements of the program will be required to have a nominator who will nominate them for the program. The nominator must be nationally reputed in his field and must be in the same professional field as the applicant. He must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident or he can be a citizen of New Zealand or belong to an Australian organization. The nominator can be from the same university as the applicant or be his employer or an industry peer or belong to an industry body. In the 15,000 places awarded to the GTI program in the visa allocation for 2020-21 the Department of Home Affairs received a total of 3,986 GTI Expressions of Interest. The increase in quota for the GTI has impacted the applications for other skilled visas like the Subclass 189 visa. The Subclass 189 visa has been a popular option among skilled applicants because it does not require a state nomination or employer sponsorship to get a permanent residency. But with more applicants every year it has become competitive and the chances of an individual getting this visa has become lesser. There has also been a decline in the number of places allocated to the Skilled Migration program which has made the GTI a viable alternative for skilled migrants.   Reasons to choose the GTI The GTI has fewer requirements when compared to the Subclass 189 visa except that the applicants must be highly skilled in their field. The GTI differs from the Subclass 189 visa in the following aspects:

• Does not require a skills assessment.
• Candidates are not required to meet the minimum points threshold.
• State/Territory nomination or employer sponsorship is not required.
• Candidates may be up to 55 years of age or older if they can demonstrate exceptional economic benefit to Australia.
• Recent PhD graduates in one of the 7 target sectors may be able to apply.
• There is no occupation list for the Global Talent Visa unlike the Skilled Independent Visa

  GTI review According to a review of the GTI program by the Department of Home Affairs had announced 15,000 places allocation to the GTI program for 2020-21 out of which 1,513 applicants submitted an EOI and have been invited to apply for the visa. This is a breakdown of the number of invitations that were issued in the period between July 2020 and December 2020 released by the Department of Home Affairs.

Month of Invite	EOIs
07/2020	280
08/2020	290
09/2020	287
10/2020	245
11/2020	299
Total	1401

  As for GTI applications that were withdrawn or refused during this period, 53 applications were refused and 142 applications were withdrawn. Invitations allocated per target sector According to the Department of Home Affairs the Quantum Information, Advanced Digital, Data Science and ICT was the target sector that received the greatest number of invitations. This is likely because this was the sector that received the greatest number of invitations during the time period described above. Number of visa applications lodged during this period

	Sector	Total
1	Quantum Information, Advanced Digital, Data Science and ICT	534
2	MedTech	319
3	Energy and Mining Technology	315
4	FinTech	172
5	Space and Advanced Manufacturing	125
6	AgTech	119
7	Cyber Security	81

  Number of visa grants per sector during this period  

	Sector	Total
1	Quantum Information, Advanced Digital, Data Science and ICT	521
2	Energy and Mining Technology	355
3	MedTech	345
4	Space and Advanced Manufacturing	121
5	FinTech	115
6	AgTech	114
7	Cyber Security	70

  As you can see the largest cohort of visas were allocated to those who worked in the quantum information, advanced digital data, data science, and IT fields. Qualification level of applicants The 2020-21 review of the GTI discovered that there is a variation in the highest qualification of the primary applicants. While some have PhDs, others have a master’s degree.  

Sector	Qualification	Total
AgTech	PhD	115
Space and Advanced Manufacturing	PhD	92
FinTech	Masters	65
Energy and Mining Technology	Masters	254
MedTech	PhD	330
Cyber Security	Masters	45
Quantum Information, Advanced Digital, Data Science and ICT	Masters	276

  The Global Talent Independent program continues to be a popularoption to migrate to Australia because:

• Speedy processing time
• Straight access to Australian permanent residency
• No requirement of a job offer in Australia to apply
• Gives access to Medicare in Australia

With more prospective immigrants choosing Australia, those who are highly skilled will definitely choose the GTI program.