Registered to provide Australian Immigration advice MARN# 0532778, 0850840, 0854073

Blog

17 August 2010

General Skilled Migration Points Test to be revised

Applying for an Australian Visa under the General Skilled Migration program requires you to pass a Points test.
The Points you score are for range of different factors and the total is then compared to the pass mark. If you score 120 points you may be eligible for a Skilled Independant visa. The pass mark for Skilled-Sponsored and Skilled-Regional visas is currently lower than the pass mark for Skilled Independent visas, recognising the non-Points Tested value of such sponsorship, i.e. family support in Australia to achieve a quality settlement outcome and State/Territory sponsorship to meet regional skill needs.

We have provided an online points test calculator that allows you to assess our own score. This is to be used as a guide and is preliminary assessment for yourself. It is important to know that the migration regulations underlying each aspect of the points test are detailed and specific so before applying for an Australian Visa we recommend that you contact a Registered Migration Agent to accuarately assess your prospects.

In the future changes are expected to the points test as the current points has led to outcomes for the government that did not meet the economic demands and as a result on the 15 February the Department of Immigration and Citizenship invited discussion on the points test. This is likley to result in revised points test in the coming months as part of a comprehensive reform of the skilled migration program. The Government has agreed on the following important principles which should underpin a new Points Test:
. it should contribute to the selection of applicants who offer the most human capital and will therefore make the optimal contribution to Australia’s demographic and economic future;
. it should not preclude very good applicants from offshore or in Australia, including former international students;
. it should be able to operate flexibly under both current arrangements and any new arrangements for skilled migrant selection;
. it should enable applicants with high value attributes across a number of areas such as English language ability, academic qualifications and work experience, to achieve the maximum number of points; and
. it should not give undue weight to any one factor, so as to avoid distortions in the program arising from applicants seeking to meet that factor.

The revision to the points test followed the scrapping of the MODL the CSL and revision of the Skilled Occupation List.

5 August 2010

State Migration Plans

Australian Skilled Migration changed on 1 July 2010 when the New skilled occupation list (SOL) came into effect this list is also know known as Schedule 3. The list is greatly reduced from the previous version and the 181 occupations is down from the previous 402 occupations on the old SOL. The old SOL is also commonly now called Schedule 4. For many potential skilled migrants who become quite disillusioned when the occupation was removed from New Skilled Occupation List still do have some hope to nominate one of those occupations that are no longer on the new skilled occupation. The requirement is you need to be Sponsored by one of the States or Territories under a State Migration Plan.

A State Migration Plan is similar to the previous system which required a State/ Territory to nominate an individual under State Nomination scheme. Under a State Migration Plan the States impose their own criteria, which is often higher than DIAC’s requirements. The objective of the State Migration Plan is ’state migration plans are developed by State/Territory governments and include occupations that are in demand in each individual state and territory. Each state migration plan is approved by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.’

In order to take stock of where we are and get a better understanding of what each States standing is here is what the States are saying:-

. New South Wales – NSW have released their list of occupations but all of these are occupations also on the NEW SOL so this is not strictly a State Migration Plan. NSW are working on a SMP and this may be announced in the coming months.

. Victoria – The Victorian Government is currently developing its State Migration Plan. Information about the plan and new sponsorship eligibility lists will be available on their website when they are complete. Only occupations included on Victoria’s sponsorship eligibility lists will be considered for sponsorship. The new arrangements will be in place no earlier than August 2010. No further applications for Victorian Government
skilled visa sponsorship will be accepted from 1 July 2010, to allow for implementation of the State Migration Plan.

. South Australia- Immigration SA shut down their Online Sponsorship Application System from 15 May 2010 until further notice. While we are aware that occupations on the revised Skilled Occupations List released by DIAC on 1 July 2010 may be available for State Sponsorship, Immigration SA will not commence accepting new applications for State Sponsorship until the State Migration Plan (SMP) is implemented. Information about the SMP and the sponsorship eligibility list and any new criteria will be available on the Immigration SA website when they are finalised. There is no date set for the release of the State Migration Plan but this is not likely to occur before August 2010.

. Western Australia – All new applications have currently been suspended until further notice. The Government of Western Australia is currently finalising the State Migration Plan with DIAC. The new Plan will determine
the State’s priority occupations list and the requirements for State Sponsorship.

. ACT – The 2009/2010 ACT Skills in Demand List (SDL) is closed for applications from 30 June 2010. It is expected that the 2010/2011 ACT SDL list will be published in September 2010. In the meantime, the ACT
Government is able to accept 176/886 nomination applications from clients with occupations on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

. Queensland – A Queensland State-sponsored and State regional-sponsored Migration Plan is currently under development. Until the Plan is in place, Queensland may continue to nominate suitable applicants with an occupation on the current Queensland Eligible Skills Lists as long as the occupation is also on the Australian Government’s Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

. Northern Territory – There is no news on State Migration Plans by the Northern Territory Government

In summary most states have delayed in announcing the SMP, and it is anticipated all SMPs will come through by the end of the year. We therefore suggest you seek professional assistance to assess your prospects For a
Skilled Sponsored Visa under the State Migration Plan. Please contact us to assess your prospects.

27 July 2010

Election debate addresses Australian immigration issues

Australian Immigration was a topic in Sunday night’s leadership debate between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott in the lead up to the next federal election.

In a lead up to the upcoming elections the recent leadership debate addressed Australian immigration. The Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard debated a number of issues against Coalition party leader Tony Abbott but neither scored a convincing victory over the other. Tony Abbot has indicated he will cut in Australian immigration numbers and pledged to turn back a rising tide of asylum seekers arriving by boat. He has indicated that the a future Coalition government would cut Australia’s annual migrant intake from
300,000 to 170,000. The Labor party infact indicated that Mr Abbott is merely indicated cuts that the current government have already put into action and will be delivered on in the coming years. “So the trick here, and I think that Tony should really reveal the trick, the trick here is Tony today has promised the Australian people what I’m already delivering to the Australian people,” the Prime Minister said.

Approximately 25% of Australians were born overseas, including the Prime Minister and Tony Abbott who was born in the UK.

23 July 2010

Victorian Skilled and Business Migration – State Migration Plan Update

In a message from Victorian State Government . They have advised that due to the forthcoming federal election in Australia, the Victorian Government State Migration Plan will be implemented no earlier than 1 September 2010.

Once the plan is implemented, the new sponsorship eligibility list for skilled migrants and full details will be made available on their website. Only occupations included on Victoria’s skilled sponsorship eligibility list will be considered for nomination.

Note that applications for business visa sponsorship are still being accepted.

Migrate2oz is an independent consulting company specialising in assisting people and companies lodge their Australian Visa.

New Priority Processing Arrangements for GSM Visas

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has announced new priority processing arrangements for various general skilled migration visas. These new priority processing arrangements also apply to applications already lodged with the DIAC, even those that were previously in the final stages of processing. The following visas are covered by the new priority processing arrangements:

The following General Skilled Migration (GSM) visas are subject
- Skilled – Independent subclass 175
- Skilled – Independent subclass 176
- Skilled – Regional Sponsored subclass 475
- Skilled – Regional Sponsored subclass 487
- Skilled – Independent Regional subclass 495
- Skilled – Designated Area-sponsored (Provisional) subclass 496
- Graduate – Skilled subclass 497
- Skilled – Onshore Independent New Zealand Citizen subclass 861
- Skilled – Onshore Australian-sponsored New Zealand Citizen subclass 862
- Skilled – Onshore Designated Area-sponsored New Zealand Citizen subclass
863
- Skilled – Independent Overseas Student subclass 880
- Skilled – Australian-sponsored subclass 881
- Skilled – Designated Area-sponsored Overseas Student subclass 882
- Skilled – Independent subclass 885
- Skilled – Sponsored subclass 886.

The new Priority Processing priorities, which apply from 14 July 2010 are as follows:

1. Applications under the ENS and the RSMS schemes.
2. Applicants with a nominated occupation that is specified on that state or territory’s state migration plan (SMP) and sponsored by a state or territory a (please note that at the time of writing, none of the States or territories have yet released their State Migration Plans). Applicants that have already been or are nominated by a state or territory government agency in an occupation that is later specified in that state or territory’s state migration plan will receive processing under priority group 2. This means that applicants to eg, the ACT, which is currently sponsoring for occupations on the new SOL, will later be able to benefit from priority processing if the occupation they nominate gets taken up on the new SMP.
3. Applications from people who have nominated an occupation on the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) – Schedule 3, that came into effect on 1 July 2010
4. All other applications will be processed in the order in which they are received.

Certain GSM visas are exempt from these changes to the priority processing arrangements and will be processed in the order in which they are received:
- Skilled – Recognised Graduate subclass 476
- Skilled – Graduate subclass 485
- Skilled – Designated Area – Sponsored (Residence) subclass 883
- Skilled – Regional subclass 887.

Applications that have been remitted back to DIAC by the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) are also exempt from priority processing arrangements, as are applications for visas where DIAC can readily see that that the criteria for grant of a visa will not be satisfied and the visa will not be granted, and applications from subsequent entrants on an existing visa.

The advice for applicants with a nominated occupation that is not on the new SOL can only move into a higher priority group by lodging a new application with an employer sponsorship or a state or territory government nomination in an occupation specified under a state migration plan. Alternatively, applicants can only nominate a different occupation that is on the SOL – Schedule 3 by lodging a new application. It is not possible to change a nominated occupation or to change to an employer sponsored or state nominated visa category, unless a new application is lodged. A new application would require the payment of a new Visa Application Charge.

For advice about any aspect of the new priority processing arrangements, please feel free to contact us here at Migrate2oz.

9 July 2010

Queenslands State Migration Plan

A Queensland State-sponsored and State regional-sponsored Migration Plan has been developed, and will be put in place subject to agreement with the Australian Government.  Until the Plan is in place, Queensland may continue to nominate suitable applicants with an occupation on the current Queensland Eligible Skills Lists as long as the occupation is also on the Australian Government’s Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

 

2 July 2010

ACT – Sponsorship for offshore applications target date 1 August 2010

ACT are planning to publish the 2010 / 11 skills list on 1 August.  The announcement  of ACT’s State Migration Plan has also been delayed and they are now working to a 1 August start date. 

 

Northern Territory – Sponsorship for offshore applications target date 1 September 2010

The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship suspended accepting offshore General Skilled Migration visa applications from 7 May 2010 until 30 June 2010. Applicants will only be able to lodge an application after 1 July 2010 if they have been assessed for an occupation on the revised national Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

 

The Northern Territory will put in place a State Migration Plan and will publish a Northern Territory Occupation List with that plan. This list will contain a number of occupations that are not on the national SOL. The target date for the Northern Territory’s State Migration Plan is 1 September 2010.

 

Processing of all offshore sponsorship applications has been suspended until the Territory Migration Plan comes into effect.

All applicants for Northern Territory sponsorship will be required to demonstrate that they have positive employment prospects in the Northern Territory even if their occupation is on the shortage list.

30 June 2010

Annual DIAC fee increases

From 1 July 2010, the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) are amended to effect the annual adjustment of most fees and visa application charges (VACs).  Certain fees and charges under the Migration Regulations are increased by 1.8 percent, in accordance with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  The second installments of the VACs for Contributory Parent and Contributory Aged parent visas increase in accordance with the Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index (CPVCI), calculated by the Australian Government Actuary, which is 10.6 percent for the 2010-11 financial year.

 

28 June 2010

New Australia Prime Minister Flags Further Cuts To Immigration Quotas

JULIA Gillard has used her first major announcement to reassure disenchanted Sydneysiders she does not believe in a "big Australia" with a population target of 36 million.

The policy is clearly at odds with former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who announced the "big Australia" targeting 36 million people by 2050. Ms Gillard announced Labor would produce what is in effect a two-speed immigration policy to match Australia’s two-speed economy, but admitted it was "a very difficult problem". "Australia should not hurtle down the track towards a big population," she said.

 

Yesterday reached out to the people of western Sydney, whose number-one concern is asylum-seekers, according to internal Labor Party polling. The polling found Labor was in serious trouble in western Sydney, with its primary vote dropping as low as 30 per cent and the asylum-seeker issue overriding all others. "If you spoke to the people of western Sydney, for example, about a ‘big Australia’ they would laugh at you and ask you a very simple question: where will these 40 million people go?" Ms Gillard said.

 

She said the new policy was not intended to open an immigration debate. "This is not about bringing down the shutters in immigration," she said. "It is a debate about planning affected by many factors – water supply, open space, infrastructure, ensuring the appropriate tax base to support our ageing population, the need for skills and the need to preserve a good quality life. Parts of Australia are desperate for workers, but other parts are desperate for jobs; having a smart and sustainable population strategy coupled with the right skills strategy will help improve this balance."

 

She understood how important immigration was, but said arbitrary targets were not the answer. "I do not support the idea of setting arbitrary (population) targets of, say, ‘a 40-million-strong Australia’.

 

"I don’t want business to be held back because they couldn’t find the right workers. That’s why skilled migration is so important. "But I also don’t want areas of Australia with 25 per cent youth unemployment because there are no jobs."

 

 

Older Posts »

Filed under: Migration to Australia, visa application — Tags: , , — andy @ 9:56 am

Our services:

Links for Intending migrants:

Visas:

Copyright © 2010 Migrate2oz. All Rights Reserved
Home |Testamonials | Code of Conduct | Blog | Links | Payment | Disclaimer | Privacy | Terms

Registered Migration agent MARN# 0532778, 0850840, 0854073
Migrate2oz Pty Ltd (ABN 68 121 717 502)