New Skill List Announced

On 17 May 2010, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced the list of occupations included in the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL). The introduction of a new list of occupations is part of a package of reforms that reflects the Government"s commitment to a labour market demand-driven Skilled Migration Program.

The new skill list can be found at: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/whats-new.htm

 The new skilled occupation list will apply to General Skilled Migration applications from 1 July 2010. The exception to this is GSM applicants who at 8 February 2010 come under the following transitional arrangements:

• If you held a subclass 485 (skilled graduate) visa or had a pending subclass 485 visa application and you apply for a permanent or provisional onshore GSM visa by 31 December 2012.
   
• On the date of the announcement you had a pending GSM visa application.
   
• If you are an international student who on 8 February 2010 held a subclass 572 (vocational education and training sector) or subclass 573 (higher education sector) or subclass 574 (postgraduate research sector) student visa you will not come under the new skilled occupation list. If you are a student in this situation you can apply for a subclass 485 (skilled graduate) visa using the current SOL as long as you lodge your subclass 485 application by 31 December 2012.

State Migration Plan - Australian Capital Territory

Date: 14/11/2010

New migration points test to better address Australia"s skills needs. The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, announced on 11/11/2010 a new points test to assess independent skilled migrants as part of the Gillard Government’s ongoing commitment to reforming the skilled migration program to deliver the skills Australia needs.

Mr Bowen said the new points test will emphasise the importance of English, work experience and high level qualifications, and is designed to ensure no one factor guarantees migration.

‘These changes to the points test are an important next step in the series of reforms to the skilled migration program announced by the Government in February 2010.

The new points test will ensure that the best and brightest people from a large pool of potential migrants are selected.’

The new test will also continue to recognise the additional value that Australian education offers.

The new points test will complement the new skilled occupation list, which came into effect on 1 July 2010, to deliver migrants with a mix of the skills and attributes needed to contribute productively in Australia.

It is important to note that the points test only applies to one component of the skilled migration program. Employer-sponsored visa categories are not affected by changes to the points test.

The new points test is proposed to take effect from 1 July 2011, subject to the commencement of supporting legislation. It will apply to anyone lodging an application from 1 July 2011.

Source: DIAC website: www.immi.gov.au

For further and more information about the new points test or to check your eligibility under the present points test or the new points test, please contact Global Visa Hub Team soon before the changes affect you. act now ..... act soon.

Date: 13/12/2010

Western Australia & Tasmania State Migration Plans Launched

Following on from the announcements of other Australian states & territories, Western Australia and Tasmania have now published their own State Migration Plans, thereby indicating their readiness to accept new skilled migrant visa applications.

So if you are interested in moving to this beautiful location of Western Australia or Tasmania, contact us soon.

The Western Australia SMP contains a substantial list of skilled occupations, as well as outlining the region"s strict criteria for state sponsorship. WA has one of the fastest growing economies within Australia, so there is a keen interest in attracting good quality new settlers to feed its hi-tech industries.

For further information on these State Migration Plans and on emigration to Australia in general, please contact the Global Visa Hub Team.

Date: 17/12/2010

Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, and Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Senator Chris Evans, announced on 16/12/2010 a review of the student visa program, along with a package of measures for the international education sector.

‘These measures support the government’s recent reforms to enhance the integrity of the student visa program and refocus the skilled migration program to deliver the high value skills the Australian economy needsover the medium to long term.’

These measures include:

·         Reducing the student visa assessment levels from April 2011 as indicated in the recent assessment level review conducted by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). As part of this decision, the higher education visa assessment levels for applicants from China and India will also be reduced.

·         Refining the rules to further enable pre-paid boarding fees to be counted toward students" cost of living requirements in their visa application.

·         Improved information exchange between the government and the international education sector, including provision of a quarterly statistical publication on the student visa program that will soon be available from the DIAC website to allow the sector to track emerging student visa trends.

·         Enabling assessment level 4 vocational education and training (VET) students to undertake a package of certificate level courses to meet visa requirements.

For more information on this news, please contact Global Visa Hub team or visit the department of Immigration and Citizenship website: www.immi.gov.au

Source: Minister of Immigration and Citizenship website.

July 1, 2012

SkillSelect is an online service that enables skilled workers interested in migrating to Australia to record their details to be considered for a skilled visa through an Expression of Interest (EOI). Intending migrants can be found and nominated for skilled visas by Australian employers or state and territory governments, or they could be invited by the Australian Government to lodge a visa application.

For further detailed information visit : www.immi.gov.au   or contact us and we would be able to assist and guide you with the process.

July 1, 2012

 Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship announced changes to the pass mark for the new SkillSelect Visa.

The pass mark for the new SkillSelect visa subclasses 189, 190 and 489 will be adjusted to 60 points. 

 July 10, 2012. New Priority processing for Australia skilled migration visas:

New priority processing arrangements for certain skilled migration visas, including new skilled visa subclasses introduced in the skilled migration reforms, have recently been set by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen MP.

From July 1, 2012, processing priorities (with highest priority listed first) are applications from people who:The priority processing arrangements allow the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to consider and finalise visa applications in an order of priority that the minister considers appropriate. The new arrangements apply to visa applications for the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS), Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) and certain points basedskilled migration.

• are sponsored under the RSMS program
• are sponsored under the ENS program
• are nominated by a state or territory government agency
• have nominated an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List – Schedule 1 effective form July 1, 2012
• all other applications

Regional employer sponsored visas continue to be given the highest processing priority. Applications for visa subclasses 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, or 489 which are lodged through SkillSelect will be given the highest priority within each priority processing group.

According to the DIAC, the new arrangements are aimed at solving the needs of industry by targeting skills in demand across a number of sectors, while ensuring that the Skilled Migration Program is responsive to the current economic climate and the needs of the Australian economy. These arrangements do not change visa eligibility criteria.

The new priority processing arrangements apply to current applications, including those in the final stages of processing.

The skill lists for various states keeps on changing frequently based on the occupations in demand and the ceiling levels.

For more updated details please contact our specialists and we would be able to assist you with your query.

Email us at : info@globalvisahub.com.au