National Innovation
Visa Report

The criterion, and what it is actually made of

The test sits in clause 858.212(2) of Schedule 2, and it is a composite of four things — not one. An applicant must:

• Have an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in a profession, sport, the arts, academia or research.

• Still be prominent in that area — a historical record is not enough.

• Be an asset to the Australian community.

• Be able to obtain employment in Australia, or become independently established in Australia, in that same area.

There are no “four target sectors” — there are nine, in two tiers

The Department describes the visa’s audience in four descriptive groups — global researchers, entrepreneurs, innovative investors, and athletes and creatives. Those are marketing categories, not criteria.

The priority sectors are a creature of Ministerial Direction 120, which revoked the earlier Direction 112, and there are nine of them in two tiers. They do not change eligibility — they set the order in which applications are considered.

A government agency nomination is assessed against a wider range of achievements. Direction 120 directs decision makers to have regard to a broader set of achievements for agency-nominated applicants — sports and arts awards, innovative business activities, entrepreneurship and exceptional community service. For everyone else the indicators are narrower. If an agency nomination is realistically available, it is worth pursuing for that reason alone, and not only for the priority position.

What the Direction tells decision makers to look for

Direction 120 opens its assessment clause with an instruction that shapes everything: “Decision makers should not use the factors specified in this Direction as a checklist.” The assessment is on balance, against all the specified factors and any other relevant information — and decision makers must consider other relevant information whether it helps the applicant or not.

Within that, the Direction identifies the indicators to have regard to, and it asks for multiple achievements rather than one:

• National research grants

• A PhD with high academic influence

• Recent keynote appearances — recency is part of the indicator, which ties back to the current-prominence limb

• Recognised intellectual property

• Earnings at or above the high income threshold

Earnings are a factor, not a requirement. There is no salary threshold criterion anywhere in Schedule 2 for Subclass 858. Earnings at or above the high income threshold operate only as an evidentiary indicator under the Direction. Anyone telling you the National Innovation visa has an income requirement is describing the old Global Talent programme’s guidance figure, which is not a criterion of this visa.

The nominator is a requirement, and their standing is assessed

A nominator must complete Form 1000, and the completed form is lodged with the visa application. The regulations call this being “attested by an eligible Australian party”; the Department calls it a nominator. Either way it is not a formality.

A nominator may be an Australian organisation, or an individual who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. By signing, they attest that the applicant has an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in their area, is currently prominent in it, will be an asset to the Australian community, and will be able to obtain employment or become independently established in that area here.

And they have to establish their own position. An organisation must describe how it has gained a national reputation in the same area as the applicant. An individual must do the same. Both must attach details of their own achievements in that shared area, alongside the applicant’s.

No fee may be paid to a nominator for completing Form 1000. The form says so. It also warns that if the nominator does not meet the eligibility requirements, the visa application may be refused — so the nominator’s own status is worth confirming before anything is lodged, not after.

The process, stage by stage

The mandatory attachments at EOI stage are short, and the shortness is misleading: a passport bio-data page, a résumé or CV, and evidence of the highest qualification. Documents must be in English or accompanied by English translations, must be PDF, JPG or PNG, and the Department cannot access documents stored on cloud platforms.

Where a government agency is nominating, the EOI must also carry a Form 1000 with Part A completed by the agency, and a supporting statement from the agency covering why it is nominating the applicant, how the applicant’s expertise is expected to make a significant contribution to Australia, and any previous or proposed collaboration.

An EOI is not a visa application — and you cannot add to it. Those two facts together are why the EOI is the document that decides the matter. It is short, it is final once submitted, it is what the invitation will be framed around, and clause 858.212(3) then locks the application to that frame. A thin EOI does not just risk no invitation; it risks an invitation built on the wrong record.

What the report does

Applications fail because the material is present but unargued. A CV lists an award; it does not explain what the award is, how selective it is, who else has held it, or where it sits internationally. A publication list is not a citation record in context. A patent number is not evidence of recognised intellectual property until someone explains what it covers and who uses it.

The report turns a body of evidence into a case, mapped to the criterion and to the Direction’s indicators.

• The field defined, and where the applicant’s work sits within it internationally

• Each award and prize with its selectivity, its standing and its position against Schedule A to Direction 120

• Qualifications, research designations and academic appointments, with academic influence addressed where a PhD is relied on

• National and international research grants, identified as the Direction’s own indicator

• Intellectual property — patents and innovations, with what is actually recognised and by whom

• Publications, citation record and recent keynote appearances, with recency drawn out

• Ventures, leadership roles and commercial outcomes

• Recognition in sport, the arts or culture where that is the field, and community service where an agency nomination makes it relevant

• Earnings evidence presented as the Direction’s indicator, not as a threshold

• Current prominence evidenced separately from the historical record, because they are separate limbs

• Asset to the Australian community, and the employment or independent-establishment limb, tied to what the applicant will actually do here

• The nominator’s own standing — their national reputation in the same area, and their own achievements

• A consistency check against the invitation, so the application produces the record the invitation named

What we do not do

Zeolla Solutions prepares research and evidence documentation. We are not a law practice and not a registered migration agent, and we do not provide immigration assistance or immigration advice. We do not advise on whether to lodge, on prospects, or on strategy, and we do not deal with the Department on anyone’s behalf.

The Department’s own guidance says an applicant can get help from a registered migration agent or legal practitioner, and that is right. Where you have one, we work to their instructions and the report forms part of their file. Where you do not, we can still prepare the evidence report — but the decisions about the application remain yours or your adviser’s.

Pricing

Quoted per case, because the volume of evidence varies enormously between applicants. Send the form and we come back within one business day with a fixed price and a delivery date. Where the case involves an innovative venture in Australia, a business plan or pitch deck can be added for A$1,150 incl GST.

The Department’s published visa pricing and processing times for Subclass 858 sit on its own estimator rather than in a fixed table, and the planning levels for this visa are not published separately — it sits inside the composite “Talent and Innovation” category, which was planned at 4,300 places in 2025–26 and includes the closed Global Talent and Distinguished Talent cohorts. We will point you at the current figures rather than quote stale ones.

General information, current at October 2026. This page explains clause 858.212 and Ministerial Direction 120 as they stand, and what we document. Zeolla Solutions prepares migration documentation, research and reports — we are not a law practice, we are not a registered migration agent, and nothing here is immigration assistance or immigration advice.