GTIP Distinguished Talent Visa (858, 124) - Australian Permanent Residency

If you are aspiring to apply for the Distinguished Talent Visa (858 - onshore or 124 - offshore) leading to Permanent Residency in Australia, I have tried to compile some of the relevant information below, being a recipient of 858 myself as a researcher with a PhD.

For more information about the new talent program, visit the official website.

Unlike the point-tested stream for skilled migration, the aim of this visa is to 'quickly' grant permanent residency visas to those who are doing well in the various technology sectors, with an advantage to those in research or pursuing tertiary education. There is a quota of 5000 grants for this visa to be filled by June 2021.

The application process is divided in two stages:

EOI (Expression of Interest) Stage

You first need to fill the Global Talent Contact form online to express your interest. This does not involve any fee. The primary requirements are:

1. Nomination - You will need to find an Australian citizen or permanent resident or an Australian organisation to nominate you for this visa. Your nominator needs to be someone prominent in your area of expertise. For example, for PhD/Masters students, your supervisor can be a nominator. 
   
   
   For the EOI stage, no documents are required from the nominator but it might be good to tell them what all you need throughout the process. Check the second stage details for nominator's document requirements.
   
   
2. High Income - One needs to show that they are capable of earning ~148K in Australia. However, this is not a requirement if you are a recent PhD/Masters graduate from the target sectors.
   
   
3. CV/Resume
   
   
4. Degree Details - Attach proof of your qualifications including a degree certificate and transcripts if you already graduated. If you are studying currently, attach an official document from University stating your timeline to finish along with the details of your degree.

   
   
5. Details of Awards and Achievements - This is at the core of your EOI's success. You will need to list down all the awards and achievements that are relevant to your profile:

• Best paper awards, scholarships, prizes, medals, special projects that you have been part of etc. 
• Research Publications and Patents. 
• Any first-of-its-kind things you might have developed.
• International conferences you have attended and presented your research work at. 
• Links to media articles, videos, or printed articles where you have been featured by name or visually. 
• Any High-Profile Collaborations.
• A job offer or a contract of employment.
• If your partner is also in research or is highly skilled like you, add their details as well, indicating that you both would be an asset to Australia.
• Conclusion stating that your achievements well justify the needs of this visa program and are relevant to the target sectors. 

Visa Lodgement Stage (COMING SOON!)

Timelines

www.expatforum.com is serving as a great platform for sharing information regarding this visa and getting help for your doubts and queries (see the first entry in Relevant Links below).   It has been the major source of information for many initial applicants (and has more than 100 pages of posts as on 24 May 2020). Most of the timelines presented below have been sourced from that forum (with links to the public source), ordered by recency of visa grants:

EOI

Method

ITA (UID)

Lodgement

RFI

Medical Appt

Medical Done

All Docs in

Grant

Onshore/Offshore

Sector

Nominator

Notes

18 Dec 2019

OCF

14 Jan 2020

18 May 2020

9 May 2020

13 May 2020

18 May 2020

21 May 2020

Onshore

Other (Robotics)

Professor

Self

2 Feb 2020

12 Mar 2020

22 Feb 2020

23 Mar 2020

01 May 2020

04 May 2020

4 May 2020

5 May 2020

Onshore (Perth)

Data Science

a4arunav, Source

23 Mar 2020

6 Apr 2020

8 Apr 2020

09 Apr 2020

30 Apr 2020

4 May 2020

5 May 2020

Onshore (Perth)

AgTech

trienchieu12, Source

22 Feb 2020

27 Feb 2020

30 Mar 2020

30 Mar 2020

31 Mar 2020

Gunath, Source

17 Feb 2020

GTO Direct

27 Feb 2020

28 Feb 2020

05 Mar 2020

25 Mar 2020

26 Mar 2020

ev12, Source

15 Jan 2020

31 Jan 2020

26 Feb 2020

06 Mar 2020

12 Mar 2020

18 Mar 2020

Onshore

Organization

scborty1612, Source

22 Feb 2020

27 Feb 2020

5 Mar 2020

5 Mar 2020

11 Mar 2020

16 Mar 2020

18 Mar 2020

Onshore

shelley_Aus, Source

28 Jan 2020

OCF

7 Feb 2020

11 Feb 2020

21 Feb 2020

28 Feb 2020

17 Mar 2020

Onshore

amigaur, Source

14 Feb 2020

18 Feb 2020

28 Feb 2020

4 Mar 2020

Onshore

MedTech (PhD)

Employer + Supervisor

aduktus, Source

GTO Direct

12 Feb 2020

18 Feb 2020

Onshore (Melbn)

sayan12, Source

08 Dec 2019

GTO Direct

18 Dec 2019

29 Dec 2019

20 Jan 2020

(Partner) Offshore

perception30, Source

1 Apr 2020

8 Apr 2020

27 Apr 2020

25 Apr 2020

Friend

21 Feb 2020

28 Feb 2020

4 Mar 2020

3 Apr 2020

10 Apr 2020

Offshore (China)

jason2002628, Source

11 Mar 2020

18 Mar 2020

12 Apr 2020

12 Apr 2020

25 May 2020

Onshore (Brisbane)

DS/ICT (PhD Last Yr)

Abdulk084, Source

Legend:

EOI: Expression Of Interest

ITA: Invitation To Apply

RFI: Request for Further Information

GTO: Global Talent Officer

OCF: Online Contact Form

FAQs

1. Do you receive any confirmation or acknowledgement after submitting an EOI?
   No.
   
   
2. Can a Global Talent Officer be your nominator?
   No.
   
   
3. Can you send additional documents after submitting an EOI?
   Yes, send them to GlobalTalent@homeaffairs.gov.au and the auto-reply will be the only confirmation/acknowledgement that you will receive.
   
   
4. For how long is the UID and invitation (ITA) valid?
   There is no validity period defined as such.
   
   
5. Does your nominator need to provide you employment?
   No.
   
   
6. Can you change your nominator?
   You can change after the EOI stage and before the visa lodgement but not after the visa lodgement.
   
   
7. Is PhD mandatory for this visa?
   No. If you have research publications/patents through industrial research and (or can) earn 148K AUD, you are very much eligible for this visa.
   
   
8. Can your PhD supervisor be your nominator?
   Definitely.
   
   
9. Can you lodge the visa applications through ImmiAccount?
   Yes. While the EOI has to be done either through the online contact form or by contacting a Global Talent Officer (GTO), it is not compulsory to lodge the visa application via the online contact form.
   
   
10. Is Form 47SV and 80 mandatory when lodging visa via ImmiAccount?
    No.

Tips

1. It is usually possible to get your health assessments done before lodging the visa through Health Declarations service available via ImmiAccount. Currently, it is under the status: 'discontinued' (probably due to COVID-19) but this may change in future.
2. If your wait is too long for the medical examination, you have an option to ask the provider (Bupa) about the cancellations and rescheduling of your appointment while you are waiting, although avoiding spamming them.
3. To save time, before you lodge your visa, you can start arranging proofs for functional English for all the applicants and also start processing your Australian Federal Police (AFP) clearance and Overseas Police Clearance / Police Clearance Certificate (PCC).
4. IMO, lodging your visa application via ImmiAccount is a much smoother and simplified option than the web-based online contact form.
5. For your Overseas Police Clearance, if you are from India, keep in mind that it is not mandatory to submit your passport to VFS. You can instead submit an attested copy, for example, in Queensland, Australia, you can search for a JP here to get attestation done, generally free of cost.

Relevant Links

1. Expatforum.com:  https://www.expatforum.com/expats/australia-expat-forum-expats-living-australia/1490564-global-talent-independent-program-subclass-124-858-query-eligibilty.html?amp=1
2. Recent News: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/tech-migrants-shun-australias-new-fast-track-permanent-residency-visa-548177
3. Blogpost on Indian PCC Process: https://www.aussian.com/getting-indian-pcc-for-australian-citizenship/

This post is not meant to be an immigration advice. The information is correct to the best of my knowledge and understanding and will be updated as and when necessary. The aim of this blog post is to help the applicants with additional information which might otherwise require hours of online searching. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please comment below, especially if any information seems wrong as things might have changed since the publication of this post.

It would be great if you can share your timeline of the process (even for a successful EOI and definitely for successful grants) in comments, so that others get the latest idea about the waiting periods and can thus reduce their anxiety levels.

Hope this helps! All the best!

China Airlines Checked Baggage Allowance is 40 Kg

Setting the Scene

If you were booking a flight with China Airlines using any third party website and are muddled by the discrepancies between baggage allowance mentioned on the China Airlines website and your ticket, please continue reading. Else, you can still read and it might solve any other related query. ;)

The ISSUE

China Airlines has a clear mention about the Baggage Allowance on its website as shown below which states that Economy tickets have a Checked Baggage Allowance of 30 Kgs without any limit on the number of units. However, any single bag should not exceed 32 Kgs even if extra luggage allowance is purchased. (I am not considering the Americas, USA and Canada trips.)

Image Source - https://www.china-airlines.com/au/en/fly/prepare-for-the-fly/baggage/baggage-rules

Reality Check

Now, most of the travel websites will actually show a Checked Baggage Allowance of 40 Kgs for Economy and Premium Economy Bookings through China Airlines.  The allowance is real and indeed great, but how do you know for sure?

EaseMyTrip DisturbedMySleep

I had booked my ticket from New Delhi to Brisbane through EaseMyTrip website. After several failed attempts to get in touch with EaseMyTrip Phone Customer Care followed by some email exchanges, they gave a final word that my Checked Baggage Allowance is 40 Kgs but limited to only 1 unit. Despite quoting the 32 Kg rule and the 30 Kg allowance from the official website, EaseMyTrip customer care representative decided to stick to his final verdict of Single 40 Kg unit.

Skype - The Saviour

Finally, the query was resolved when I made a Skype Call to China Airlines headquartered in Taipei. And they confirmed that the allowance was indeed 40 Kgs without any limit on the number of units, though they didn't confirm why their website has gone nuts.

Reflection

I think all the tickets booked in India for China Airlines are somehow the "Special Price" tickets and have this extra Checked Baggage Allowance. The fact that it is nowhere explicitly stated whether it is a Special Price Ticket or some other Business Gimmick Ticket along with its corresponding effect on the Baggage Allowance, it became too hard to figure out what the actual allowance was.

Verdict

China Airlines immediately needs to update their website with proper details.
EaseMyTrip needs to revisit its HR policy and employ people who might actually care for the customer.

Note

If you landed here and it proved useful, please add a comment.

Any suggestions, corrections, doubts, concerns and queries are most welcome.

Have an Awesome Journey! Cheers!

TransferWise - Best money transfer portal

TransferWise is a recent startup that works on a peer-to-peer based money transfer method. The reason for posting about this is 'mutual benefit'. I personally like it and use it for my international transfers. It made sense to put its unique features which I appreciate here and along with that put my referral code to share the benefits.

• Mid-Market Rate: It offers rate which is generally displayed on Google and other websites and is called mid-market rate. This is the best rate usually available on any website.
  
• Transparent Service Charge: There is no other hidden fee and they charge a fixed amount for the transaction and you can do the maths after the transfer to see that no extra charges deducted unlike banks and other websites.
  
• Easy to use: It is very easy to use offering both the web and mobile app service. Hence, once you get a hang of it, it is only a few clicks away to make the transfer.
  
• Exchange Rate Fluctuation Control: This is more like a safety measure. The service allows you to put an x% cap on the allowable fluctuation in the exchange rate. If the exchange rate falls below the cap you choose, the transfer will not happen and wait for 5 days for the rate to fall, else will cancel the transfer automatically.
  
• Guaranteed Exchange Rate for 24 Hours - Recently, Transferwise started providing a 24 hour guarantee period for the exchange rate subject to reception of money from your bank account or debit/credit card.
  
• Accessible and Available: The transfer service is available in all the major countries and the count is continuously increasing.
  
• Safe: It is safe to use this website and there are enormous other review websites that verify the fact that it is one of the popular choices.
  
• Referral Benefits: The company offers you certain gift amount if 3 people use your referral code to sign up and make a transfer. You choose the currency you want the reward in. This is also the point where I share my referral code and the purpose of this post is therefore met. But why should you do it? Because it gives you first transfer free of service charge which means that you don't pay any extra charge and get a transfer done at the mid market rate.
  
  Use this link to sign up and get free first transfer- https://transferwise.com/u/72c7b6
  
  Happy Transacting!

Applying Online for Australian Visa through ImmiAccount

I am writing this to get and give more information related to the online application of the Australian Visa. I tried searching for the same, but unfortunately couldn't gather much information for the doubts I had.

I had applied for the Student Visa: Postgraduate Research Sector Temporary Visa (Subclass 574) for my PhD studies in Australia from India. But most of the things mentioned here are in general applicable to all the visa classes.

Depending on which country you are applying from, there are different ways for making the application. In India, one can apply directly to the Australian High Commission, through an agent, through VFS or through ImmiAccount. The last two aren't same though are online methods (I wanted to apply through VFS which I thought earlier to be referring to the ImmiAccount and both being the same thing, but that wasn't the case).

Applying through ImmiAccount, as mentioned on the DIBP website, is handled with top priority while paper based application being the last. The other methods of online application are faster too, that is, through a registered agent or through VFS but it is just that they take some consultation charges. VFS is quite cheap in that sense, while agents can ask for any charges they feel like based on the scale of their organisation/company. ImmiAccount doesn't need any such charges as one handles his application by himself without any third party. The charges being mentioned here are not related to the Visa Fees but just the consultancy charges.

For applying through ImmiAccont, all by yourself, you will be going through these steps:

• Find the exact Visa you will have to apply for your purpose of visit. The tool is available on the official website.

• Register yourself on ImmiAccount and start an application.

• Complete the application and submit it with the corresponding Visa Fees.

• You will be assigned a case officer and he will send you the document checklist.

• Upload the required documents in the ImmiAccount portal under correct heads/categories.

• Complete health requirement test (status for that is directly available in your ImmiAccount).

• Once the checklist is complete, you can press the "Complete Request" button and then confirm.

• It will then show the status of your application as "Assessment in Progress" which earlier would have been showing "Request for Information".

• I am currently at the above step, so I will be updating the post as time passes.

• Now you have to wait for the case officer to respond back or the notification of acceptance of visa.

The average processing time for TU 574 subclass visa is 14 working days through ImmiAccount with Assessment Level 1. It has taken longer than that for me, and might take more than month varying from case to case.

The information I have provided, part of it and details of most of it is available on the official website. But there are certain things which are not known prior like:

• The response time for an email is 7 days for onshore and offshore email addresses for querying about visa and it might take longer than that.

• Sending email to the department in India guided me to connect to the onshore case officer.

• Sending emails to the department (SVCSA offshore) returns with an automatic reply with all the necessary details, and also implying that only thing I can do is wait for them to respond instead of spamming them with query emails.

• Australian High Commission in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi cannot help you with information regarding your visa, so no need to waste time going there. I couldn't also get any of my phone calls received there.

• Making phone calls at onshore (Australia) office also didn't help as no one picked the call.

• The average processing time as experienced by one of the consultant companies is 2-4 weeks for student visas.

The above efforts were made after the average processing time had passed. Querying before that might or might not get entertained.

Things might have been simpler if I would have applied via VFS or an agent, but it was worth exploring. However, I was least interested in throwing away money for agents, but VFS is definitely a good option. Their services as experienced while contacting them initially over phone seemed absolutely fine.

I hope I added some useful information on the www, if there is any suggestion, correction or doubt please do comment. I seek more information and personal experience of applicants.