Professionals and other Skilled Migrants

What's New? Recent Changes in General Skilled Migration

On this page


Changes to Skilled – Graduate (Subclass 485) visa – effective 27 October 2008

Changes relating to the provision of evidence of English language ability for the Skilled – Graduate (Subclass 485) visa are being introduced from 27 October 2008. This date may be subject to change. People who have made an application for a Skilled – Graduate (Subclass 485) visa before 27 October 2008 will not be affected by the changes.
See: Changes to Skilled – Graduate (Subclass 485) visa

Closure of Capital Investment Scheme for pre-1 September GSM visa applications – 3 September 2008

The department is continuing to investigate options for applicants affected by the withdrawal of the States and Territories from the Capital Investment scheme.

Information on options which have been identified can be found at the ‘What’s New? Recent Changes in General Skilled Migration’ page.
See: Frequently Asked Questions – Capital Investment Scheme

General Skilled Migration Visas form changes for online applications

From 9 August 2008 the online application is changing to include additional questions on Health and Character. This will affect all online applications.

You may be required to complete the new Personal Particulars Form. If so, the form and the request to complete it will be automatically displayed on the page immediately after payment.

You are encouraged to complete your application with as much information as possible at time of lodgement. Applications with missing information may take longer to finalise.

Closure of Capital Investment Scheme - Health and Character Requests – 7 July 2008

The Department has been advised that in recent weeks, some applicants who have been affected by the Capital Investment Scheme are receiving letters from the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre (ASPC).
See: Health and Character requests for persons affected by the closure of the Capital Investment Scheme

New General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa processing centre opening in Brisbane - 1 July 2008

Following the Government’s announcement on 13 May 2008 that an additional 31 000 skilled migration places would be made available in the 2008-09 Migration Program, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced measures to improve the responsiveness of Australia’s skilled migration program including the creation of a second skilled migration processing centre in Brisbane.
See: Frequently Asked Questions (77KB PDF file)

Skilled – Graduate (Subclass 485) visa – 27 May 2008

The Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre (ASPC) has advised that a significant number of applications for the Skilled - Graduate (Subclass 485) visa, on prima facie, would have met the requirements for a permanent visa.

Applicants who believe they meet the requirements for a permanent General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa, are encouraged in the first instance, to apply for either a Skilled – Independent (Subclass 885) visa or a Skilled – Sponsored (Subclass 886) visa.

To ensure faster processing times, only those applicants who do not meet the requirements to immediately apply for a permanent GSM visa, should apply for the Skilled – Graduate (Subclass 485) visa.

Changes to the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) – 17 May 2008

The Minister has announced changes to the Migration Occupation in Demand List for applicants for General Skilled Migration visas.

Twelve occupations have been added to the MODL, including five Computing Professional specialisations, Electronics Engineer, Optometrist and Dental Technican, as well as the trade occupations of Binder and Finisher, Landscape Gardener and Tree Surgeon.  Computing Professional – specialising in Sybase SQL Server has been removed from the MODL.
See: Is your occupation in demand?

Changes to the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) – 26 April 2008

Seven trade supervisor occupations have been included in the offshore skills assessment regime being conducted by Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS).
The occupation of Seafarer – Ship's Surveyor (ASCO 2542–17) has been removed from the Skilled Occupations List (SOL).
See: Australian Skills Recognition Information

General Skilled Migration - applicants who applied on or before 31 August 2007

If you lodged an application on or before 31 August 2007, your application will be assessed against the requirements in place at that time.

Due to a large increase in visa applications received during August 2007, the department is experiencing delays in its application registration process. Every effort is being made to acknowledge applications as quickly as possible but there are currently delays of around 6 weeks for offshore applications.

To check how your application is progressing in the queue for receipting, acknowledgment or allocation to a case officer, please send an email to the processing centre.
Email: aspc.processing@immi.gov.au
Note: This information is updated on a weekly basis each Tuesday.