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Visas, Immigration and Refugees

General Skilled Migration - Visa Applications

System Outage, Maintenance and Technical Issues

For detailed information about systems outage, planned maintenance or current technical issues including known system errors.
See: System Outage, Maintenance and Technical Issues


Changes to English language requirements for offshore applicants from 1 July 2009

On 1 July 2009, changes to the minimum English language requirement for General Skilled Migration applicants came into effect. These changes affect applications for subclasses 175, 176 and 475.

Important: The eVisa lodgement process does not automatically identify these changes or prevent lodgement for clients whose English language levels no longer meet the minimum requirements for these visas. Applications lodged without providing evidence of meeting the new English requirements will not meet the criteria for grant of a visa. Clients using the eVisa system who are claiming Concessional Competent English may also be affected by these changes. More information is available on the department’s website.
See: Changes to English Language Requirements for Offshore Applicants

Important – Third Party Authorisation

A number of clients are experiencing problems completing the email to authorise a third party from within the electronic General Skilled Migration visa application. This is a technical problem with the department’s systems and we are working towards resolving this issue.

The Third Party Authorisation allows the applicant to authorise a recipient for all written communications relating to the application that would otherwise have been sent to the applicant. Where the person entering the application is not known to the department and the link to ‘Complete email to Authorised third party’ is selected, a ‘Server 500’ error message is displayed. 
Note: This error will not prevent the lodgement of the visa application.

Known users will not be experiencing this problem.
Example: Migration Agents

How to authorise a third party as an unknown user

Users who have experienced the above problem can download the Form 956 - Appointment of a migration agent or exempt agent or other authorised recipient. You will be required to complete the form, print it out, scan and save it as a document and attach it to the electronic General Skilled Migration visa application.
See:
Form 956 (149KB PDF file)
Attaching Documents to a General Skilled Migration Visa Application

How to become a known user

Information on how to become a known user is available in immi.gov.au
See:
eVisa Services
eVisa Services for Agents

We apologise for any inconvenience, and will advise further once we have rectified this fault.

Priority processing arrangements

Priority processing arrangements for General Skilled Migration applications apply and will affect when applications are finalised. Further information is available on the department's website.
See: What's New? Recent Changes in General Skilled Migration

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