Hello!
I began some outside-of-work engagements in September 2023 (via mentorships, publishing & conference speaking) and am continuing to do so at present. What do you think will be a good time to apply for Global Talent Visa so that I don’t get disqualified based on “work done too close to the application date or solely for the purpose of application”? How much time should I ideally wait?
Thank you!
I can understand your concerns on this, however, you need to remember that your application is considered as a whole and not just your volunteering will be considered. it is advisable to use evidences acquired at least 6 months from your application
Thank you for your reply @sodiqotijani! 
Yes I understand & I have other non-volunteering evidences as well.
Just one last question - when you say “use evidences acquired at least 6 months from your application”, does this mean that if I did some work in Jan & have evidence for it, I should apply AFTER June (i.e. let 6 months pass before applying?) Could you please explain me what you meant?
Thank you so much for your help!
I responded specifically based on what i understood your situation was. I inferred that you did not have any volunteering or mentorship work before now and you just started doing that. if that is the case, you should wait 6 months before using any of those pieces of evidence. Please do not convince this with a case where there has been previous evidence to be combined with new ones (say you have mentorship evidence from 1 year ago and another from 1 month ago). Hopefully this answers your question
There is is no specific timing but applying within six months off volunteering may be considered close to the timing of your application. For volunteering it has to be a structured programme. What you need to be sure is that your application as a whole shows you have a track record if contributions. Most successful applications have made significant contribution across different years.