Australia’s Global Talent visa program exploited

A talent visa program has been exposed as a farce, where migrants don’t need to speak English, have a job and are not required to work once in Australia.

Exclusive: It was set up to attract the best and brightest from around the world, but Australia’s Global Talent visa program has become a farce, attracting hairdressers instead of rocket scientists.

Immigration experts say the program, which is the fastest way to get Australian permanent residency, is laden with loopholes and being exploited.

Concerns about security are mounting following a huge influx of Iranians on the visas an thousands more of their countrymen on separate business innovation and skilled migrant visas.

In the past 10 months more than 7000 talent visas have been granted overall and documents under Freedom of Information (FOI) show almost 1500 visas were granted within 14 days and more than 1000 within four weeks.

Citizens of Iran have been granted the most talent visas, followed by Bangladesh, India and China.

Alarmingly, many of those approved did not have a dedication occupation.

Former Senior Immigration Department official, Abul Rizvi, told News Corp “it is a high-risk strategy.”

Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce. Picture: LinkedIn

Former Immigration official Abul Rizvi has warned the watering down of criteria for the Global talent Visas is high-risk.

Mr Rizvi, now with consulting firm Michelson-Alexander, said the Global Talent visa created 30 years ago was flexible and high-risk but easy to monitor because of the typically small number of applicants.

“It allowed Australia to attract the best in the world without much difficulty,” he said.

He warned that the visa, once it is granted, is permanent and has no cancellation provisions.

“It is raising alarm bells,” said Mr Rizvi.

“The problem is there are no rules to determine whether it is dodgy or not (the application). And there are no obligations or conditions once you get here.”

Global talent applicants do not have to speak English, can be any age, don’t need to have a formal skills assessment, and once in Australia don’t even have to set up a business, or even work in the field of their distinguished talent. They can even apply for a health waiver which would previously would have stopped them getting a visa.

A nominator is needed to say they are a “talent” in their field but there is no legal liability on the nominator to tell the truth – as it is only their subjective opinion.

The government is keen to attract star entrepreneurs like Dirk-Jan ter Horst and Gaurav Singhal — founders of Drive lah (Singapore) and Drive mate in Australia — who have been awarded talent visas.

The government is looking to attract entrepreneurs and distguished talents like Dirk-Jan ter Horst founder of Drive lah (Singapore) and Drive mate in Australia.

But migration agents say since the employer-sponsored 457 visas was cancelled, the popularity of the talent visa has skyrocketed but cite examples of talent visa holders working as hairdressers.

A Department of Home Affairs spokesman said they consistently “review risk settings to identify and address any potential fraud”.

“The Department and ABF have no tolerance for the exploitation of Australia’s migration system, and work with partner government agencies to investigate any identified instances of visa and migration fraud.”

FOI documents show after applicants lodge an expression of interest for a talent visa, Home Affairs is making decisions in record time with almost 1500 decisions made within 14 days.

There were 539 Iranians invited to take talent visas from January to September this year. A large proportion of Iranians are in Australia undertaking PhD studies. But almost 4500 Iranians living outside of Australia were also granted business and innovation and skilled visas at the same time.

The UK Home office has stated they have no way of obtaining criminal record certificates from the Iranian authorities and background checks for high-risk countries, including Iran and China, have been suspended since June.

CEO of Intelligent Risks Neil Fergus said Iran is a country that presents problems when checking backgrounds.

Neil Fergus, International Security Expert and head of Intelligent Risks said there are several countries regarded as having “uncheckable backgrounds” from a security perspective including Iran.

“There are checks and balances that the Department can and does apply to give it some assurance but it is also a known fact that the Government of Iran has previously deployed intelligence operatives into its emigrant and foreign student stream,” said Mr Fergus.

Melbourne-based migration agent Ranbir Singh from Global Migration said applicants have to be exceptionally bright. Picture: supplied

“The bottom line is … Iran is a country subject to serious international sanctions for good reasons, including its international espionage and foreign interference programs, so great care should be exercised to ensure Australia only issues visas to applicants with a verifiable background.”

Melbourne-based migration agent Ranbir Singh from Global Migration said talent might be approved in lightning-fast time, but applicants have to show an international reputation and have a sponsor with an international reputation.

He said the benchmarks are high and the applicant must also show they can earn upwards of $153,000.

Do you know someone here on a Global Talent visa? Contact [e-mail]

Originally published as Australia’s Global Talent visa program exploited