Australia's invitation-only permanent residence pathway for people with an internationally recognised record of exceptional achievement. We assess your profile honestly, build the case, and coordinate the work with MARA-registered professionals.
Last updated: 12 June 2026 — reviewed against Department of Home Affairs program settings for 2025–26.
Free National Innovation Visa Assessment — find out whether your profile is strong enough to be put forward before you invest in an Expression of Interest.
Get Assessment| National Innovation Visa — Subclass 858 (Permanent) | |
|---|---|
| Governing authority | Department of Home Affairs, Australia |
| Visa type | Permanent residence on grant; no points test |
| Entry mechanism | Free Expression of Interest (EOI) → invitation → application |
| EOI validity | Held for consideration; expires if no invitation within two years |
| After invitation | 60 days to lodge the visa application |
| Nomination | Completed Form 1000 attestation required |
| Processing (Home Affairs guidance) | ~50% finalised in about 4 months; ~90% in about 7 months |
| As of | 12 June 2026 |
The National Innovation Visa is one of the most selective skilled-migration routes in the world, and it rewards a very specific thing: an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in an eligible field. We assist applicants based in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, Kuwait City, Muscat, Manama, and across India and Sri Lanka. Our role is to read your profile against the program honestly, then build a case that stands up to the Department's scrutiny.
This is a profile-fit pathway, not a capital-transfer one. The relevance is your research output, intellectual property, sector alignment and recognition — which is exactly what an assessment measures.
The National Innovation Visa (subclass 858) actively favours AI, biotech and renewable-energy talent in 2026: Critical Technologies, Health Industries, and Renewables & Low-Emission Technologies make up the Tier-One priority sectors that receive the largest share of invitations, according to Department of Home Affairs invitation-round data.
Working in a priority sector helps — but the visa is about recognition, not job title. You need evidence that your achievement is internationally recognised: cited research, granted patents, products in market, awards, or a track record investors and institutions point to. The honest read on whether your file clears that bar is the first thing we do. Find out where you stand — free assessment.
No employer or job offer is required for the National Innovation Visa (subclass 858) in 2026 — but you do need an Australian nominator. A completed Form 1000 must attest to your record of achievement, signed by an Australian citizen, permanent resident, eligible New Zealand citizen, or an Australian organisation with a national reputation in your field.
That nominator requirement trips up many strong-on-paper candidates: the attestation has to come from someone or some body with genuine standing in your discipline. Finding and briefing the right nominator is part of what we strengthen with you, alongside building the evidence file the Department expects. Message us on WhatsApp to talk it through.
The National Innovation Visa is invitation-only: you submit a free Expression of Interest first, and the Department of Home Affairs must invite you before you can lodge a subclass 858 application. An EOI is held for consideration and expires if no invitation is issued within two years of submission; once invited, you have 60 days to lodge.
Invitations follow a four-tier priority order, not a points test. Priority 1 covers global top-of-field award winners (think Nobel, Fields Medal, Olympic gold) and Priority 2 covers candidates nominated by an Australian government agency — both are invited as identified. Priority 3 (Tier-One sectors) and Priority 4 (Tier-Two sectors) are invited monthly. Where your profile sits in that order shapes everything, which is why we map it before you spend effort on an EOI.
"Internationally recognised exceptional achievement" for the National Innovation Visa means recognition beyond your employer or your home country — independent evidence that your field acknowledges you as outstanding, per the Department of Home Affairs guidance for subclass 858. High earnings and career seniority alone do not meet the bar.
The Fair Work High Income Threshold (AUD 183,100 for 1 July 2025–30 June 2026) is used by the Department as one benchmark indicator of exceptional talent, but the visa does not formally mandate this income, and clearing it does not guarantee an invitation. 2026 guidance emphasises sovereign-capability and skills-gap alignment. We build your file around provable recognition — citations, patents, products, awards — because that is what carries weight.
For the National Innovation Visa (subclass 858), the government visa application charge is from approximately AUD 4,985 for the main applicant, with additional charges of approximately AUD 2,495 per dependant aged 18 and over and approximately AUD 1,250 per dependant under 18 (charges set 1 July 2025). The Expression of Interest itself is free.
These are Australian Government charges set by the Department of Home Affairs and subject to annual change — they are not our fees. Our own professional fees are confirmed after we assess your profile. What we will tell you upfront is whether the application is worth lodging at all, so you are not paying a government charge on a file that was never competitive.
Yes — the National Innovation Visa (subclass 858) grants permanent residence on grant, with no temporary stage first, according to the Department of Home Affairs. Australian citizenship then becomes available under the general residence requirement: four years' lawful residence in Australia, including at least 12 months as a permanent resident.
Because PR is granted immediately, this is one of the cleaner permanent pathways for genuinely elite profiles — there is no two-step regional or employer-tied stage to clear afterward. Health and character requirements apply to you and all family members, whether or not they travel with you, so we sequence those checks early.
The National Innovation Visa is one of the most selective skilled-migration pathways in the world. In Q4 2025 only about 6.6% of EOIs led to an invitation — and an invitation is still not a grant. The visa rewards genuinely internationally recognised achievement aligned to Australia's priority sectors; high income or career seniority alone is not enough, and most strong-on-paper applicants are never invited. We position this route only for elite profiles, and we will be honest with you about your odds. We will never imply that an invitation or a grant is assured. If your file is not there yet, the more useful conversation is about what would strengthen it — and whether a different Australian skilled pathway fits you better in the meantime.
For India- and UAE-based applicants, the National Innovation Visa is a standard temporary-to-permanent migration route — not a citizenship-by-investment program. No Indian-citizenship renunciation, OCI, or LRS remittance issues arise at the visa stage, because nothing here turns on transferring capital. Indian nationals are among the largest applicant pools for Australian talent visas; what decides the outcome is profile fit — research output, intellectual property, and sector alignment — not money moved. Cosmos is a regulated consultancy, not a law firm; we provide assessment and case coordination, not legal representation.
Cosmos Immigration provides structured eligibility assessment, documentation preparation and case management for the National Innovation Visa. Our Australia practice works through MARA-registered professionals, including Andrew John Kerr, Registered Migration Agent (MARA, Australia). Where registered migration advice or representation is legally required, your case is coordinated with a registered migration agent so the regulated work sits with the right professional.
← View all skilled & talent visa pathways on the hub page.
Your record of achievement must be attested on Form 1000 by an Australian citizen, permanent resident, eligible New Zealand citizen, or an Australian organisation with a national reputation in your field, according to the Department of Home Affairs. The nominator needs genuine standing in your discipline — finding and briefing the right one is part of what we help you strengthen.
Home Affairs guidance indicates roughly 50% of applications are finalised within about four months and 90% within about seven months. Priority 1 and 2 candidates can move faster. Processing only begins after an invitation and a lodged application, so the EOI-to-invitation stage is the variable part of the journey.
There is no hard age limit, but applicants under 18 or over 55 must show exceptional benefit to the Australian community, and younger high-potential candidates are favoured. If you are over 55, the case has to make a stronger argument for the value you bring — which is exactly the kind of file we build around your evidence.
Yes — eligible family members can be included, and the visa grants permanent residence to those included on grant. Health and character requirements apply to you and all family members, whether or not they accompany you. We sequence these checks early so they do not delay a lodged application.
It is a permanent, invitation-only Australian visa (subclass 858) for people with an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement. It replaced the Global Talent Visa from 6 December 2024 and uses a four-tier priority order rather than a points test.
Cosmos Immigration is a regulated immigration consultancy founded in Dubai in 2014, working through CICC-, MARA- and IAA-registered professionals, with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hyderabad and Oakville. Our Australia practice works through MARA-registered professionals, including Andrew John Kerr, Registered Migration Agent (MARA, Australia). Don't take our word for it: the Australian Government's MARA public register independently lists Cosmos Immigration's Dubai head office as a business associated with him. Look him up by name, free, in about two minutes — and run the same check on anyone else you're considering. Verify Our Credentials
Cosmos Immigration is a private consultancy, not a government body. Program criteria and figures are set by the relevant governments and are subject to change; verified against official sources as of the date shown.
Start with a free assessment, not a sales pitch — or message us on WhatsApp. We'll tell you honestly whether your profile is strong enough for the National Innovation Visa, and what would strengthen it if it isn't.
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