These are times for the history books. Coronavirus has affected the entire world. Within Australia, the Government is only letting in Australian Citizens and Residents into the country. After arriving, go through a mandatory 2 week quarantine. So what does this mean for Global Talent Applicants?
Onshore Visa Grants
The Onshore Visa Grant is proceeding as usual. Which means if you and your family are already in Australia with a positive Expression of Interest outcome, the next step is to apply for the 858 Onshore Distinguished Talent Visa through an ImmiAccount. There are slight delays in getting Medical appointments because of enforced social distancing. The anecdotal average grant time after the submission of all documents is 2 weeks.
Offshore Visa Grants
If you or any of members of your family unit are offshore, then you’d have to apply for the 124 Distinguished Talent Visa. There are reports about how there is a marked delay for Visa grants under this category. There’s no report of any visa grants for the 124 Visa in the last 3 months. The GTI Officers are giving a higher priority to Expression of Interests and Applications from onshore candidates.
However, this only seems temporary and could persist till the end of 2020. If you are an Offshore candidate, still submit an Expression of Interest. Whenever the situation gets better, the Department will definitely contact all the deserving candidates.
If you are in a Covid-19 affected area, stop the spread by staying home, wearing a mask and washing your hands. Together, we can defeat it.
