Hello! I was rejected and would like some help with my appeal. Below is the response I received.
Regarding the Mandatory Criteria, there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate the applicant has been
recognised as a leading talent in the digital technology sector. The applicant has provided the required
letters of recommendation all from the same organisation. Normally, we would expect a broader set of
industry participants recommending an applicant as well as evidence of industry recognition such as
keynotes at high profile technology events, industry awards, interviews or media coverage. The
applicant has not met the requirements for the Mandatory Criteria.
Optional Criteria 2 requires recognition for work outside of the applicant’s immediate occupation that
contributed to the advancement of the sector. The applicant’s contributions within AAA
do not qualify for OC2, however the contributions to BBB do qualify. The applicant’s
contributions to CCC are unclear. Under the Promise criteria, we are able to award OC2.
Optional Criteria 3 requires that the applicant should have made significant technical, commercial or
entrepreneurial contributions to the field as a founder, senior executive, board member or employee of a
product-led digital technology company. The applicant’s contributions to XXX, YYY
and ZZZ meet the requirements for OC3.
Therefore, on the basis of the evidence provided, this application for the Global Talent visa cannot be
Endorsed.
I immediately see where I went wrong for MC. I supplied proof of a high salary and two pieces of evidence that proved I contributed to my company in a way that led to the product’s growth but I don’t think I did so in a way that showed industry recognition. For one of my OC I showed how my work was featured on a major US morning show and recently my work was briefly mentioned on a popular US business website. For my appeal I’d like to reference my OC that demonstrates industry recognition and share a link to the business website that recognizes the app I work on. Do you think that would be good enough for an appeal? I think it might be a stretch since I didn’t supply that info for MC originally. If my appeal is not accepted, do you think if I apply again, this time using these two publications mentioning my work as my MC I’ll have a better chance of being approved for MC?
Here’s one of the examples for the MC criteria:
You led the growth of a product-led digital technology company, product or team inside a digital technology company, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, or as evidenced by news clippings, lines of code from public repos or similar evidence.
It does not say the news clipping must be about the individual, though I’m sure that’s probably preferred.
I was approved for OC2 and OC3, but I’m considering pushing back on one thing: that my contributions to AAA does not qualify for OC2. AAA is an organisation where I was selected to mentor and teach students from across the world how to code. The issue is that this organisation is a licensee of my company, meaning they’re allowed to use the name of my company - so they’re called the school of AAA. They source their mentors from my company, but the organisation itself is a part of a larger institution that creates educational courses with brands. Even though this organisation shares a name with my company it is not a part of or an affiliate of my company. When it comes to yearly performance reviews my work with this company is not even included, because again it’s not a part of my company. I proved this by sharing my company’s affiliate list which does not have the school of AAA on it or the institution that formed it. I also shared the institution’s website where it explained that they are a separate entity that crafts courses inspired by certain brands. I think this is a hard one to get around due to naming, but would like to hear other thoughts.
I also plan to push back on the recommendations comment. I don’t believe they say anywhere on their site we can’t use recommenders from the same company. If absolutely needed I could get other recommendations, but wanted to use people who could give great detail for my recommendations.
Thank you for any and all feedback!