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Visas, Immigration and Refugees

Professionals and other Skilled Migrants

What's New? Recent Changes in General Skilled Migration

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Minister's announcement on GSM visas – 8 February 2010

On 8 February 2010, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced the following changes to the General Skilled Migration program:

  • the outcomes of a review of the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)
  • the replacement of the current Skilled Occupation List (SOL) in the second half of 2010
  • offshore GSM visas made before 1 September 2007 would be capped and ceased
  • priority processing arrangements
  • skills assessment requirements for GSM applicants nominating a trade occupation.

More information is available on the department's website.
See:
Changes to the General Skilled Migration Program (362KB PDF file)
Outcomes of the Migration Occupation in Demand List Review – Frequently Asked Questions (373KB PDF file)
Onshore International Students (435KB PDF file)
Changes to Offshore General Skilled Migration Visa Applications Received Before 1 September 2007 (409KB PDF file)
Changes to the Current Skilled Occupation List (368KB PDF file)
Revoking the Critical Skills List (337KB PDF file)
Changes to Priority Processing Arrangements – Frequently Asked Questions (406KB PDF file)
General Skilled Migration (GSM) Points Test Review (377KB PDF file)
Changes to the Skills Assessment Requirements for GSM Applicants Nominating a Trade Occupation (417KB PDF file)

1 January 2010 legislative change – suitable skills assessment as a validity requirement for onshore GSM visas

Pre 1 January 2010, applicants applying for permanent migration based on one of the onshore General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa subclasses were required, at time of application, to provide evidence that they had applied for a skills assessment by the relevant assessing authority. At time of decision, a suitable skills assessment was required.

From 1 January 2010, applicants applying for one of the following onshore GSM visa subclasses will be required to have obtained a suitable skills assessment prior to applying for migration in order for the application to be valid and assessed by the department for a decision:

More information is available online.
See: Skills Assessment Criterion as a Validity Requirement from 1 January 2010 for Onshore GSM Visas( 49KB PDF file)

1 January 2010 legislative change – amendment to the skills assessment criterion for certain onshore GSM applicants nominating a trade occupation from 1 January 2010

From 1 January 2010, onshore applicants applying for permanent migration in a trade occupation will be required to demonstrate that they are  'job ready' as part of their skills assessment. The Job Ready Program has been developed by the relevant assessing authority, Trades Recognition Australia (TRA), for this purpose and will include a workplace assessment by a TRA approved assessor. This was previously referred to as the JobReady Test. This new job ready requirement will affect applicants applying for Subclass 487, 885 and 886 visas (but does not affect subclass 485 and 887 visa applicants).

Applicants for a Subclass 485 visa will still be required to obtain a suitable skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority before the Subclass 485 visa can be granted. For trade occupations, TRA will still issue skills assessments suitable for applying for a Subclass 485 visa.

More information is available online.
See: Amendment to the skills assessment criterion for certain onshore GSM applicants nominating a trade occupation from 1 January 2010 ( 44KB PDF file)

1 January 2010 legislative change – Australian Study Requirement and offshore GSM visa applicants

From 1 January 2010, applicants nominating a trade occupation under one of the offshore GSM visa subclasses are no longer able to meet the Australian Study Requirement when seeking to migrate to Australia. This change impacts on the following visa subclasses:

Applicants applying for one of the above visa subclasses and who are nominating a trade occupation can only seek to satisfy the work experience criterion. This criterion requires the applicant to have at least 12 months work experience in a skilled occupation in the 24 months immediately prior to applying.

The option for offshore applicants to apply based on meeting the Australian Study Requirement remains open to all other occupations contained on the Skilled Occupation Demand List (SOL).
See: Skilled Occupation List (SOL) and Employer Nomination Scheme Occupation List (ENSOL) (124KB PDF file)

More information is available online.
See: Changes to Offshore GSM Applicants Seeking to Meet the Australian Study Requirement from 1 January 2010 ( 31KB PDF file)

Changes to English language requirements from 1 January 2010

On 12 May 2009, the Minister announced changes to English language requirements for onshore GSM applicants from 1 January 2010.
See: Changes to English language requirements for GSM visas from 1 January 2010 (43KB PDF file)

Changes to VETASSESS assessment requirements for General Occupations from 1 January 2010 – 29 October 2009

VETASSESS have announced changes to the assessment requirements for General Occupations. These changes will apply from 1 January 2010. More information is available on the VETASSESS website.
See: VETASSESS

New priority processing directions for certain skilled migration visas – 23 September 2009

The Minister has set a new priority processing direction which comes into effect on 23 September 2009 and applies to certain skilled migration visas.
See:
Updated Priority Processing Effective from 23 September 2009 – Frequently Asked Questions ( 58KB PDF file)
Critical Skills List ( 41KB PDF file)
Nomination by State/Territory government
Is your occupation in demand?

Submissions welcomed in response to the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) Review second Issues Paper

The second issues paper as part of the MODL Review to assess the central skills targeting mechanism for the General Skilled Migration (GSM) program is now available.

The evaluation process will be a major step in constructing a framework for migration which will meet Australia's longer term economic, social and demographic needs.
See: Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) Review second Issues Paper

Capital investment scheme for pre-1 September 2007 GSM visa applicants

The capital investment scheme for GSM visa applicants who applied prior to 1 September 2007 will remain open to applicants who have been requested to deposit a capital investment by the department.  Applicants are advised to contact the South Australian Government Financing Authority as soon as possible.
See: Frequently Asked Questions – Capital Investment Scheme

Overpayment of Visa Application Charge

The department is in the process of contacting specific General Skilled Migration applicants who may have paid a Visa Application Charge greater than the amount prescribed by Migration Regulations. Letters have been sent to affected clients informing them of this situation and of the procedure they will need to follow to process a repayment. It is important that clients only send requested information to the address specified in the letter.

Students and General Skilled Migration

Important new information is available for students about the General Skilled Migration program.
See: Students and General Skilled Migration

Changes to Trades Skills Assessments for offshore skills assessments

Some trade occupations on the Skilled Occupation List have both Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) and Vocational Education Training and Assessment Services (VETASSESS) listed as the assessing authority. Currently VETASSESS, working in a consortium with a number of Australian registered training organisations, is the assessing authority for certain skilled trade occupations if the applicant is a resident of the United Kingdom, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa or the Philippines.

From 15 May 2009, applicants from other countries who are willing and able to be assessed in one of these five countries can choose to be assessed by the VETASSESS consortium, or can continue to apply to TRA for their skills assessment.

Police checks for online lodged General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa applications

If you are lodging an online onshore GSM visa, you do not need to provide the transaction ID for your Australian Federal Police (AFP) check with your GSM visa application.

The AFP has advised that the transaction ID can only be provided when the check is completed. It is not necessary to contact the AFP to obtain the transaction ID in order for you to lodge your GSM visa application.
Note: You must have already submitted the request for an AFP check before you lodge your GSM visa application.

When you have received your police check, it should be forwarded to the department.
See: Professionals and other skilled migrants visas