Australian GTI visa a big draw for many highly skilled Indians despite pandemic

With the Australian government imposing strict travel restrictions and shutting its borders for several categories of international travellers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many Indians including business travellers and students are facing difficulties. However, for some highly skilled Indians, a new opportunity has emerged to move to the country with permanent residence benefits under the new Global Talent Independent (GTI) visa programme. With this programme, the Australian government is seeking to attract the best and brightest talent from across the world to help the country with post-Covid economic recovery.
The GTI programme, which was launched as a pilot in November 2019 with 5,000 places on offer, was ramped up by the government in the 2020-2021 Budget with 15,000 spots being the new target. Additionally, the government has demonstrated its commitment to the programme by setting up a global business and talent attraction taskforce in the second half of 2020 to attract high value global businesses and exceptional talent to the country Down Under to support post-Covid recovery and boost local jobs.
To be granted a visa under this programme, applicants have to be highly skilled in any of the ten target sectors -- agri-food and agrotech, energy, health industries, defence, advanced manufacturing and space, circular economy, digitech, infrastructure and tourism, financial services and fintech and education. Not only do candidates have to be highly skilled in any of these sectors, but should also be able to attract a salary that meets the high-income threshold of A$153,600. Furthermore, they have to prove they are internationally recognised with evidence of outstanding professional achievements. Places are also available to certain PhD students who are nearing completion of their thesis and can demonstrate their exceptional talent and international recognition in a target sector.
“The GTI programme will benefit some of the best and brightest migrants from India because it has more flexibility than all other traditional Australian migration programmes. The Australian government is committed to turbo charge economic recovery after the pandemic and wants to attract the best talent from across the world for its high value, priority and future focussed industries,” said Cherie Wright, special counsel in Sydney of global immigration law firm Fragomen.
What makes the GTI visa a far better option than all other immigration routes to Australia for Indians, according to Wright, is that it is not employer or state-sponsored and has a high upper age limit of 55, which can be eased further. The only requirement is a nomination from an Australian permanent resident, citizen or organisation with ‘national reputation’ in the same industry sector. The fact that applicants don’t have to qualify under an occupations list is also an advantage for Indians, with the GTI target sectors capturing very specific cutting-edge skills, added Wright.
“The GTI applicant can work for an employer of choice and the visa is streamlined with priority processing arrangements. The pathway to permanent residence is in a matter of a few months in several cases,” she said. Not surprisingly, India is among the top countries in interest for this visa programme along with the UK and the US. According to statistics from the Australian Department of Home Affairs, invitations issued for applicants to apply for a distinguished talent visa under GTI between January 1, 2020 and September 9, 2020 included 265 Indians.
Santosh Kumar (name changed on request) is a precision medicine specialist working on a cutting-edge project with a genomics research company in Bengaluru. He was nominated for the GTI programme by a professor and researcher in the same field at a leading Australian university two months ago and has already received the invitation from the Australian government for the Permanent Residence visa. He hopes to travel to Melbourne to join a research assignment by the end of May 2021.
There is a great deal of interest in the Australian GTI visa as an immigration option among highly skilled cyber security professionals in Bengaluru, although it’s a relatively new option. “Unlike investor visas, there’s no requirement to make big ticket investments and the path to permanent residency is streamlined and quick for the GTI visa. Some of our Indian clients with strong CVs have got their papers processed in as little as five weeks,” said Dominic Volek, a member of an executive committee and group head of private clients at residency and citizenship planning firm -- Henley & Partners.
The fact that there are no travel restrictions to Australia for Indian applicants who qualify for the GTI visa, even during the pandemic, is another big attraction. “Though Australian borders are closed to non-citizens, migrants under this category are able to travel without any restriction,” Wright said. “That’s the reason for this scheme drawing a lot of interest among Indians especially in the digitech sectors. It is also attractive for Indian expats living in Australia on other visas as well as those in other countries such as the USA.”