The National Innovation Visa (Updated: 30 October 2025) 858Global Talent IndependentInnovation

The National Innovation Visa (Updated: 30 October 2025)

On 14 May 2024, the Australian Government released the Federal Budget for the 2024/25 year, which included a raft of Immigration-related measures. Notably, it announced that a new National Innovation Visa (NIV) would be released in late-2024, to replace the Global Talent (Subclass 858) visa and the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP). On 6 December 2024, relevant legislation formally introduced…
Jordan Tew
30 October, 2025
How do I apply for a fast tracked Global Talent visa? (updated: 5 December 2024) global talentGlobal Talent IndependentGlobal Talent SchemeInnovation

How do I apply for a fast tracked Global Talent visa? (updated: 5 December 2024)

Note: This article is no longer current. As of 6 December 2024, the National Innovation visa (Subclass 858) has replaced the Global Talent visa. Please visit our National Innovation (subclass 858) blog here for more information. On 4 November 2019, the Global Talent Independent (GTI) program was officially launched to provide a streamlined, priority pathway for highly skilled and talent…
Jordan Tew
5 December, 2024
Global Talent Independent (GTI) program document checklist global talent858Global Talent Independent

Global Talent Independent (GTI) program document checklist

On 29 November 2024, the Department closed the GTI program and are no longer accepting new Expressions of Interest (EOI). Interest applicants should review the criteria for the new National Innovation visa. The Global Talent Independent (GTI) program is a streamlined immigration pathway to attract highly skilled migrants to work and live permanently in Australia. The program targets specific, high…
Mihan Hannan
8 June, 2022
What are the 10 target sectors for the Global Talent Independent (GTI) program? global talentGlobal Talent IndependentGlobal Talent SchemeInnovation

What are the 10 target sectors for the Global Talent Independent (GTI) program?

On 29 November 2024, the Department closed the GTI program and are no longer accepting new Expressions of Interest (EOI). Interest applicants should review the criteria for the new National Innovation visa. The Global Talent Independent (GTI) program is designed to attract highly skilled and talent individuals in 10 target sectors, offering them a streamlined pathway to Australian permanent residency.…
Jordan Tew
18 October, 2021
What is the impact of Direction No. 89 and the target sectors? global talent858Global Talent IndependentGlobal Talent SchemeInnovation

What is the impact of Direction No. 89 and the target sectors?

On 4 November 2019, the Global Talent Independent (GTI) program was officially launched to provide a streamlined, priority pathway for highly skilled and talent individuals to obtain Australian permanent residency. You can read more about this visa here. It was initially launched with 7 target sectors (largely related to technology) listed in Direction No. 85. However, on 17 December 2020,…
Jordan Tew
29 July, 2021
What is a Global Talent visa (formerly Distinguished Talent visa)? (updated: 7 August 2023) global talent858Global Talent IndependentImmigration

What is a Global Talent visa (formerly Distinguished Talent visa)? (updated: 7 August 2023)

The Global Talent visa is one of the more interesting and unique visas to Australia, offering permanent residency to individuals who have an “internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement” in an eligible area. The purpose of this visa is to attract highly skilled/talented individuals in their field to come to Australia, where they would elevate Australia’s standards internationally,…
Jordan Tew
28 May, 2021
What were the 14 November 2020 changes to the Distinguished Talent visa? global talent858Global Talent Independent

What were the 14 November 2020 changes to the Distinguished Talent visa?

The Distinguished Talent visa aims to attract individuals who have an “internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement” in either a profession, sport, the arts, or academia and research. The Distinguished Talent visa previously held two visa subclasses - the offshore Subclass 124 visa, and the onshore Subclass 858 visa application.  You can read more about this visa here.…
Jordan Tew
20 January, 2021
Common Mistakes made by Global Talent Independent (GTI) applicants global talent858Global Talent Independent

Common Mistakes made by Global Talent Independent (GTI) applicants

The Global Talent Independent (GTI) program is one of the most in demand at the moment, due to the simplified visa process and priority processing that it receives. You can read more about this program here. Having spoken to hundreds of prospective applicants and assisted numerous individuals through both the Expression of Interest (EOI) and the visa application itself, the…
Jordan Tew
20 January, 2021
Australian government announces new changes to the Business Innovation and Investment Program child migration australia132188Global Talent IndependentInnovationInvestor Visas

Australian government announces new changes to the Business Innovation and Investment Program

In line with an overarching goal to use Australia’s migration program to maximise economic value to Australia, on 17 December 2020 Acting Minister Tudge announced changes to the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) to come into effect from 1 July 2021. In 2019-20, 6,862 visa places were allocated to the BIIP, representing 6.3% of the skill stream of the…
Mihan Hannan
18 December, 2020
Global Talent Independent Program: Interview with a Global Talent Officer (Nedra Kelaart) global talent858Global Talent Independent

Global Talent Independent Program: Interview with a Global Talent Officer (Nedra Kelaart)

Under the Global Talent Independent (GTI) program, the Department of Home Affairs (Department) has appointed Global Talent Officers (GTOs) in London, Shanghai, Singapore, and Washington DC to promote the program. They now perform this role from within Australia due to COVID-19. We are very fortunate to have one of the GTOs, Nedra Kelaart, answer some of our questions regarding the…
Jordan Tew
14 October, 2020
Visas for Innovation – Our recommendations for the 2020/21 Migration Program Year 858Global Talent IndependentImmigration

Visas for Innovation – Our recommendations for the 2020/21 Migration Program Year

On 6 October 2020, the Australian Government is expected to announce its 2020/21 budget, which amongst other things, will include the planning levels for the migration programme year. Hannan Tew Lawyers (Hannan Tew) anticipates that along with a greater push for regional migration, innovation will feature heavily under the “skilled” stream of the migration programme year as part of a…
Jordan Tew
1 October, 2020
Australian Government announces special visa arrangements for Hong Kong Global Talent IndependentImmigrationStudent

Australian Government announces special visa arrangements for Hong Kong

On 9 July 2020 the Australian Government announced that it will introduce new measures for students, temporary graduates and skilled workers from Hong Kong who want to live, work and study in Australia (see here). Specifically, the Prime Minister stated that: Temporary graduate and skilled workers will be offered an additional 5 years of work rights in Australia on top…
Mihan Hannan
15 July, 2020