Skilled migrants to Australia face visa changes.
It looks as though the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship are using the blanket of red dust that is currently settling over Sydney to hide one or two changes they’ve made to the priority processing for Skilled Migration Visas that will affect many people immigrating to Australia as workers.
The changes were announced today with no prior warning. Nor were there any media releases from Senator Chris Evans’ Department or from the DIAC Newsroom.
The changes affect Skilled Australian Visas only and alters the priority processing procedure. However the changes will affect all those planning to immigrate to Australia as graduates and workers.
As from today, priority processing will apply to the following visas:
- Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS)
- Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS)
- General Skilled Migration (GSM) with the exception of:
- Skilled subclass 476 (Recognised graduate)
- Skilled subclass 883 (Sponsored residence)
- Skilled regional subclass 887
The order of priority has changed, with the highest priority now going to those visa applications that have employer sponsorship. After that priority is given to those whose occupations are on the critical skills list (CSL). Bottom of the priority list are family sponsored visa applications.
For Subclass 485 (Skilled – Graduate) the highest priority will be given to applications from people having completed an Australian PhD in an Australian institution.
For Business Skills (Provisional) visas, again priority is given to applications that have Commonwealth or government sponsorship.
The government hopes that that changes will ensure that Australia’s economy is boosted from the early processing of the highly skilled migrant applications. They state on the website that “This directive responds to the needs of the Australian economy.”
The new arrangements come into force today and affects all new applications lodged from today including those applications that are in the final stages of processing.
For new applicants who fit the criteria, it means a quicker processing time of 12 months, however others can expect to wait at least three years for their visa application to be processed.
Click on the links to find out more about the Critical Skills List (CSL) or the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL). If you have any questions to ask about the critical skills list or any aspect of visa applications, join our embrace community today and benefit from expert advice as well as support from our members.
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