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.
What were the changes on 14 November 2020?
On 14 November 2020, the Department passed legislation that removed the offshore Subclass 124 visa and made some major amendments to the onshore Distinguished Talent Subclass 858 visa application.
Importantly, these changes allow for Distinguished Talent Subclass 858 visa applicants:
- to be either inside or outside Australia;
- who are in Australia to be either the holder of a substantive visa, or a Bridging Visa A, B, or C; and
- have access to a health waiver.
Who do these changes affect?
These changes are significant as this affects people who:
- held Bridging Visas and were pending a decision on a further substantive visa (common for individuals applying for further Student visas, Graduate visas, and/or Partner visas) – previously the Department declined to issue invitations to individuals on bridging visas;
- were onshore but had family members offshore – who were unable to apply for the onshore Distinguished Talent Subclass 858 visa and had to either apply without their family members, or lodge offshore Distinguished Talent Subclass 124 visas to include their family and travel offshore for visa grant; and
- had health issues and could not access the waiver.
Hannan Tew welcome these changes as they provide increased flexibility for applicants and simplified the process.
Any questions?
Please feel free to contact us by email at [email protected] or phone +61 3 9016 0484 if you have further comments or queries or would like some guidance.
