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| News and Views | |
The Australian Government has decided on a major reform in the way Australia selects skilled migrants, the Skilled Migrant Selection Register (SkillSelect). SkillSelect will build upon and draw together the suite of reforms to the skilled migration program over the past three years. In doing so it will deliver the skills Australia needs by matching the best and brightest migrants to the available places in the migration program. Click here for details Announcement of New Points Test for General Skill Migration to be implemented 1 July 2011 The 1 July 2011 points test is designed to select the best and brightest skilled migrants who will make the optimum economic contribution to Australia. It does not give undue weight to any one factor and recognises a broader range of skills and attributes. Click here for more details. New Skills Occupation List to be implemented 1 July 2011 The Skilled Occupation List (SOL) will change from 1 July 2011, with 13 occupations to be added to the list and 4 occupations to be removed. Country Profile - South Africa
Discussion Paper - Review of the Business Skills Visa Program The Department of Immigration and Citizenship is conducting a comprehensive review of the Business Skills visa program to: For more details click here Processing priority groups for General Skilled Migration Priority processing arrangements apply to skilled migration applications. They determine the order in which the department considers applications. Applications accorded a higher priority under the arrangements will be processed ahead of lower priority applications, regardless of when the application is lodged. The following table details processing priorities for skilled migration applications.
Processing times – skilled migration applications affected by processing prioritiesThe below table describes the processing times for the following visa subclasses.
Relaxation of Exchange Control The Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, recently delivered his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. ACT announce their new State Migration Plan If you would like to migrate to Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and you have an occupation that is in demand in the ACT, the ACT Government may be interested in nominating your skilled independent migration application under the Skilled-Sponsored (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 176) or Skilled-Sponsored (Residence) visa (Subclass 886).
Click here for a copy of the ACT Skilled Sponsored list. Victoria announces their State Migration Plan The Victorian State Migration Plan for sponsorship under Subclasses 176, 886, 475 and 487 General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa applications has been signed and applications will open tomorrow, Wednesday 3 November 2010. Subclasses 176, 475 and 487 State Sponsorship Eligibility List Please note:
New SOL for GSM
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE NEW SOL - 17 MAY 2010 The highly anticipated new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) was released this morning, and is due for implentation on 1 July 2010. The list is considerably shorter than previous lists and is based on the ANZSCO (Australian and New Zeland Standard Classification of Occupations). There are 181 occupations on the new SOL as opposed to the 408 occupations on the old SOL. Some of the occupations that do not appear on the new SOL include Chefs, Cooks, Hairdressers and Pharmacists. The new SOL has a strong focus on the building trades as well as providing opportunities for Accountants, Engineers, Medical Professionals and Architects. The new SOL can be found by clicking here. If your occupation is not on the new SOL don't despair, you may still qualify for a State Sponsored visa once the State Migration Plans are implemented during the second half of 2010. For more detailed information on how the new list may or may not affect you, please call our offices on (011) 783 9440. If your occupation is on the new SOL then the time to act is now. The list will be reviewed on a regular basis and will be adjusted to the needs of the Australian economy. Please complete our Skilled Application Assessment form and we will contact you as soon as possible, or give Garry or Tracey a call on 011 783 9440. CHANGES TO THE BUSINESS SKILLS PROGRAM With effect from 19 April 2010 the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship announced the following changes to the business skills program. The definition of main business was amended, increasing the minimum business ownership percentage required by 160, 163, 845, 846, 890, 892 visa applicants. A transitional provision in the amending regulations provides that the higher percentage does not apply to certain onshore visa applicants who had purchased a business in Australia prior to 19 April 2010 and are applying for an 845, 846, 890 or 892 visa. The new minimum business ownership percentages are as follows:-
Changes to the subclass 160 Business (Provisional) visa Prior to 19 April 2010 the net value of the applicant and his/her spouse's personal and business assets was A$500,000. This has been amended to an amount of A$800,000 Changes to the subclass 163 (State / Territory Sponsored Business Owner) (Provisional) visa Prior to 19 April 2010 the net value of the applicant and his/her spouse's personal and business assets was A$250,000. This amount has been amended to A$500,000 that is available for the conduct or establishment of a business in Australia. Previously it was also possible to obtain a subclass 163 visa if you held a Senior Management position in a company. The provision has now been scrapped. Changes to the subclass 161 (Senior Executive) (Provisional) visa Previously the business and personal assets of the applicant, or applicant and his/her spouse, must have had a value of at least A$500,00. This has now been changed to A$800,000 Changes to the subclass 164 (State/Territory Sponsored Senior Executive) (Provisional) visa Previously the business and personal assets of the applicant, or applicant and his/her spouse, must have had a value of at least A$250,00. This has now been changed to A$500,000 We are expecting further changes to possibly be implement in July 2010, but we will keep you updated in this regard.
Old News MAJOR CHANGES TO THE GENERAL SKILLED MIGRATION PROGRAM As you know from a previous newsletter Garry has been back in Australia since early November last year gaining an insight into what it is like living in Australia since the GFC and visiting all the State capitals speaking with relevant State Gov Departments responsible for sponsored migration applications including skilled and business. In addition he visited the head office of the Deptartment of immigration late last week. He has certainly been keeping his finger on the pulse of migration and has done a lot of ground work to help our clients in their future endeavours to migrate to Australia. As of the 8th Feb there will be significant changes to Australia’s skilled migration program with later changes to take place midyear. These changes are summarised below with links to the relevant sections of the Department of Immigration’s web site giving more details on each of the changes. As you will see the major change with immediate effect is the abolition of the Migration Occupation in Demand List ( MODL ) and the points given to those applicants with occupations on this list. You will further note that this has no impact on those applications submitted to the Deptartment on or before the 8th Feb but clearly has a major impact on those applications not yet submitted and which rely on the MODL points to meet the current pass mark. Since this change is immediate then Tracey and I will , for the moment, focus our attention on those of our clients affected by this change contacting each client in turn, after which, when things become clearer with respect to the other projected changes, we will be speaking with all of you. Whilst some of the changes announced by the Department of Immigration are clearly ‘unfair ‘ to those offshore skilled migration applicants who made applications based on regulations in place at the time the Dept has always had the power to alter regulations at any time to suit economic/political needs even though it has a major impact on the life’s of those personally affected by the changes. All we can do as migration consultants is to look at other options for those so affected. An overview Abolition of the Migration Occupations in Demand List Onshore overseas students Pre-1 September 2007 offshore applications Changes to the Skilled Occupation List Revocation of the Critical Skills List Change to priority processing Points test review Changes to skills assessment rules regarding trades
As our existing clients will know, migration requirements and processing times are changing on an almost weekly basis at the moment. This is a result of the global economic crisis and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's reaction thereto. We endeavour to keep everyone updated on current changes, and also other news that may be of interest to migrants. 22 July 2009 Good news on the economic front with some positive news comming out: 13 July 2009 According to an article by Ross Gittins reported in the Sydney Morning Herald "This recession isn't looking as bad as we feared". Click here to read the full article. 23 June 2009 The current processing procedures in place look to be continued for at least the next year i.e. priority processing will first be given to Employer Sponsored visa applications, followed by applications with a State / Territory sponsored visa application, and then applications where the applicant's occupation is on the Critical Skills List (CSL). All other applications will be allocated case officers as and when the resources become available. Click here for full details and of course please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need any further info. Fees As of 1 July 2009 the government processing fees charged by the Department will be increased. In most cases the fee increase is only in the region of A$50, but the fee for general skilled migration applications will increase significantly from A$2,105 to A$2,525 - a rand equivalent of approximately R2,700. |
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