The Global Talent Independent Program is a fairly new visa program that was announced last year by the Australian Government. We have written a step-by-step guide for the GTI visa to help you learn more about the various eligibility requirements.
One of the key requirements for the GTI visa is having a nominator who is also internationally recognised in your field. This nominator must be an Australian PR, citizen or Australian organisation.
What to look for in a nominator for GTI Visa?
A number of factors may be considered to gain insight on the nominator’s reputation, which may attribute to the credibility of the nominator’s attestation to your achievements. These factors may include the nominator’s:
- solid track record of achievements;
- evidence of high calibre;
- leadership in the relevant field of expertise;
- professional associations with lead organisations and industry bodies;
- current and previous employment history;
- their participation at conferences both in Australia and internationally; and
- their contribution to a number of international journals which would be utilised by researchers, academics and organisations undertaking work in the same field of research.
Is someone associated with a reputed national organisation a good nominator?
The answer is yes. In assessing the national reputation of a nominator, Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) will consider your nominator's professional associations with organisations / industry bodies renowned in the field. For example, an individual employed as a lecturer at a university recognised internationally for teaching excellence and cutting edge research would be taken to have satisfied requirements around national reputation. An individual nominator employed by a lead ICT company as an ICT professional would be assessed as having a national reputation if that company is a multi-national technology company, one of the world’s largest employers, or a leader in creating technological innovations.
What if the nominator is an Australian PR or citizen living abroad?
If a nominator has a leading international reputation that would be of national significance to Australia this would be considered acceptable. This broad interpretation of ‘national reputation’ ensures that the program is not excluding quality Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen nominators living abroad. For example, a nominator living abroad would be considered to have satisfied the requirement to have a national reputation if they have a strong international record of achievement thereby making them reputable at a national level.
Which organisations can act as nominators for GTI Visa?
The term ‘Australian organisation’ may be given a broad interpretation and includes any organisation registered in Australia or authorised to carry on business in Australia. It also includes an Australian organisation operating outside Australia.
Organisations operating a business in Australia will have an Australian Business Number (ABN) that is registered with the Australian Business Register. Officers can conduct a simple search on the ABN Lookup website at https://abr.business.gov.au/ to determine the existence of the organisation.
Australian organisations which operate both in and outside Australia will have an ABN. If the organisation only operates overseas but not in Australia, they must have been established by an Australian parent company, or an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident who continues to operate the business, in order to be considered an Australian organisation.
Australian Computer Society (ACS) as a nominator for applicants with a predominantly technology focus
For most applicants who have a predominantly tech background, Australian Computer Society (ACS) is a good option for a nominator.
DoHA accepts GTI nominations from ACS and considers it as an organisation with a national reputation in the following target sector groups under the GTI program:
- Cyber Security
- Quantum Information/Advanced Digital/Data Science/ICT
- FinTech (candidates with a predominantly tech focus)
- MedTech (candidates with a predominantly tech focus)
- AgTech (candidates with a predominantly tech focus)
Drawback of using ACS as a nominator
- Long wait time – Lately, it seems that due to the high number of applications that ACS has received for GTI nomination, it can take 4-5 weeks to get a nomination from them.
- Costs money – Another disadvantages is that it costs around AUD 500 to get a nomination from ACS. You can potentially save this amount by reaching out to your network and finding someone who has a national reputation in Australia.
Engineers Australia as a nominator for applicants in Engineering fields
Recently, Engineers Australia (EA) announced that the Department has accepted it as a nominating organisation for the GTI Program. EA is a peak body for almost all engineering related professions. Until now Australian Computer Society (ACS) was the only option for most applicants who did not personally know a reputed Australian individual or organisation. With EA in the mix, there are now more nomination options.
The nominaiton request process for EA is slightly different from ACS. Engineers Australia may consider nominating candidates in all the ten priority sectors for GTI if they fulfil requirements and can provide evidence of their excellence. The candidate must first complete a self-assessment to check if they are eligible for GTI nomination assessment. If they are eligible then they can apply to Engineers Australia to support their nomination.
Should you look for a nominator before submitting EOI?
Having a nominator is strongly recommended at the EOI stage. At Wisekangaroo, we always like to submit a decision ready application. This means that, we encourage our clients to have a nominator ready before they even start the EOI preparation process.
Can you pay someone to nominate you?
In September 2021, the Department released a newsletter where they mentioned the following about paying someone to nominate GTI candidates:
Nominators
We anticipate that candidates with internationally recognised records of exceptional and outstanding achievement will have contacts within the sector in Australia willing to attest to their achievements, and anticipate that a nominator would draw from a professional relationship with the applicant.
The evidentiary value of a nomination may be lower if the nominator is unfamiliar with the applicant’s achievements, or has received a payment for completing Nomination for Global Talent Form 1000 (216KB PDF).
Australian peak bodies may charge an administration fee. We may accept a nomination if satisfied that the organisation has conducted appropriate enquiries to verify that the candidate has an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in the sector in which the peak body has a national reputation.
Agents are strongly discouraged from recruiting and paying nominators who are unfamiliar with the achievements of Global Talent visa applicants.
The language used in the newsletter is indeed quite strong. Does this mean that if you do not have a professional relationship with an Australian nominator then you have no chance of getting the GTI visa? .. Not quite.
The newsletter guideline does not prohibit you from approaching nominators in Australia whom you may not have worked with professionally. It simply states that the value of such a nomination may be lower as compared to a nominator with a history of having worked with you.
If you are having trouble looking for a nominator for your GTI Visa in your own network or would like to get some advice on the eligibility of your chosen nominator, get in touch with us so that we can help you.
Can you please advise me on whether an applicant could change nominator after submiting EOI in which the name of initial nominator has been provided? Thanh you!
Dear Tam
That’s a good question. The Department website states that you cannot change the nominator after submitting your “VISA” application. No such restriction is placed for the EOI application. I assume you can simply send a new signed Form 1000 and nomination reference letter along with your new nominator’s details and it should be fine.
Cheers,
Atul.
Hi
My wife submitted her EOI application since March 25th under PhD stream. She has published over 60 articles in reputable journals,. 9 conference papers,3 books chapter, her Google scholar citations is around1,100. She’s working as Research officer in a university. She’s offshore and has submitted Form 1000 along with her application. She has not received any positive response and what could cause the delayed?. Does she has chance to get this visa?
Hi,
Thanks for your question.
Without looking at the specific details of her profile, it is difficult to say why she may not have received an invite for her EOI application.
GTI timelines can vary significantly depending on the sector and priority area under which you have applied. As long as she has not been refused, she still has a chance of getting invited.
Feel free to get in touch via email if you would like to discuss her specific case in more detail.
Cheers,
Atul.
Thanks you sir for your quick response.
She applied under education before, but she later knows that she fall under resources and send email to Gti to change her sector from education to resources. She had PhD in chemical engineering. Most of her research was on plant medicinal chemistry and food chemistry. Her research is a multidisciplinary and it’s also related to health sector. Can gti place her into the right sector by themselves? Thanks
Yes, if the GTI officer evaluating her profile fees that another sector would be more suitable for her, they will try to place her in that sector by themselves.
Her publications are more on the medicinal chemistry which falls under health sectors. I was told that health sector was priotize than other sectors. If indeed they have accessed her EOI she previously submitted under education sector, by now I think they should have transferred her case to the officers working on health sector EOI before know. It will b eight months now on the 25th October. What could be the exact waiting time? Since, they are still processing October or they have completed EOI application. Thanks
It is difficult to say how long an EOI application would take to get processed. This is because the Department seems to be hand picking the best applications irrespective of the application date. If they find something unique in an application they quickly send an invite, otherwise the application just remains in the queue forever.
Of late I’ve heard that they are contacting applications who have been waiting for over 1 year in the queue to ask for additional information. Once you get an RFI for additional info, your application is decided one way or the other within a few weeks.
Thanks for your contributions
How long it takes to get EA nomination response normally? 4 weeks? 5 weeks?
Sir,
can my real brother who is AUstralian citizen and in same field nominate me ?
Dear Rishi,
It is best that the nominator be someone whom you have a professional relationship with. Family members may not be suitable nominators for many reasons:
1) they may not be in the same sector as you
2) they may not have a strong national reputation
3) they may not have worked with you in professional settings and so may not be abe to vouch for your professional accomplishments
If you need any assistance with finding a nominator, feel free to reach out on atul@wisekangaroo.com
Regards,
Atul.
Dear Mr. Atul Pandey,
Thank you for sharing all this information. I am interested in this program and trying to find a nominator. May I know what information should be in the “statement of nominator’s national reputation in your area of expertise” requirement? I really appreciate any help you can provide.
Dear Rezgar,
You can demonstrate your nominator’s national reputation by providing information about their professional achievements. This could include documents such as their CV, links to websites mentioning your nominator, any awards or recognitions won by your nominator etc.
If you need further assistance, please reach out to me on atul@wisekangaroo.com
Regards,
Atul.
Hi dears
Any advice regarding Nominator for a specislist physician (Adult genrral medicine ) , currently working in Gulf
Regards
I have completed my PHD. from India this year am I eligible for this GTI visa.Right now I am residing at Australia. How to find a nominator ? As I don’t know personally anybody here.
Dear Anuja,
Please email me on atul@wisekangaroo.com to book a consultation if you would like to discuss your eligibility for GTI.
Regards,
Atul.
My professional expertise lies in Civil Engineering. However, I currently lack connections in the same field in Australia.
Nevertheless, we have relatives, who have been Australian citizens for the past 23 years and are retired high school educators. Despite their background in a different field, can they nominate me for GTI visa for my field?
Dear Rini,
Nominators must be nationally reputed in the same field as yours. They should preferably be working with you or would’ve worked with you closely in the past.
Your relatives who are in a different field do not seem to meet this criteria and would not be suitable to nominate you for GTI.
Regards,
Atul.