My Global Talent visa journey in Australia — Cyber Security
Background:
Working in cyber security in financial industry for almost 8 years before coming to Australia. Currently working in a Technology company in Cyber for the last few years. I am not a PHD or a master’s student nor a computer science student. I don't have publications nor impressive background. I presented in few conferences and have personal blog posts,etc. N.B: For privacy reason i am not going to share my identity.
Timeline:
Mid-Oct-2020: Submitted EOI.
Oct-2020: After a couple of days received UID.
End-of-Oct-2020: Submitted application.
1st week of Nov-2020: After a few days received response from Home affairs to get health examination and PCC. Health examination i completed very quickly but overseas PCC took almost 6 weeks so i believe that caused the delay in the next step.
Mid-Jan-2021: Granted GTI visa.
Cost: approx 11k (4k visa fee + 7k agent fee)
Nominator:
I got my supporting letter from my supervisor and another colleague of mine. During the lodge of application it was only my supervisor. My agent mentioned to include at least 2–3 nominator during the submission of the application.i.e after receiving UID.
Sample supporting letter
1 Dec 2021
To: Global Talent Processing
Department of Home Affairs
Subject: Nominator for Global Talent Independent Visa — Alex Reaves
Dear Global Talent Team,
It is with great pleasure that I am writing to support and endorse Alex Reaves in his application for permanent residency under the Global Talent Independent program.
My name is xxxx and I am an xxxxx at xxxxxx. I have worked across ….. Academic achievements, publications, etc.
Alex and I worked together as …………
Alex undertook …………
Alex experience in………
Explain why Alex will be a great asset to Australia….
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.
Kind regards,
John Doe
Nominator title
Process:
I applied through a migration agent. I feel it helped me a lot. There are lot of information available on the internet forums that are helpful. But for GTI i found we don’t have enough information in the public domain. For example: format and content of the supporting letter, who can be a good candidate for the supporting letter, how you can structure your resume, salary, etc so you are more likely to get accepted. This is only my personal opinion. I am sure there are lot of people who can manage to do all on their own.
Alternative PR Pathways:
I applied for 189 and 190 like everyone else since July 2020. After spending lot of resources (time and money) in PTE, NAATI, ACS (that’s a story for another day) i just didn't have enough points!!! There are people who has more points than me and they are still waiting. That future looks a bit bleak to me.
Closing thoughts:
I get the feeling, immigration is looking for individuals who can contribute to the economy, i.e: pay fair bit of tax to the government. Hence they might not be so interested if you have impressive academic background or publications. If you are in Australia and have a job which pays more than 150k you already have a pretty decent chance. So the higher your salary from the threshold it might mean more chances. For folks outside Australia i feel they scrutinize those candidates more but it seems they are still sending out invites to those special talents as well.
My advice apply for all PR pathways, yes the usual 189/190/491 route is a waste of money and resources. It’s not a smart system but have all your options open. Apply via all routes if possible GTI and normal routes and pray for the best.
