Wednesday 3 July 2013

AUSTRALIA – SKILLED MIGRATION UPDATE

AUSTRALIA – SKILLED MIGRATION UPDATE
With the new migration program year (2013-2014) starting on 1st July 2013 the Australian Department of Immigration has confirmed that there will be no major change in the planned migration intake.
The Immigration Minister has stated that Australia's migration program would be maintained at 190,000 places "to help fill skills shortages and reunite Australian families".
This is likely to see a continued focus on state sponsored migrants in the skilled migration categories
Since the launch of the SkillSelect application system 12 months ago, state sponsored migration has now become a very important component of the migration program.
Indeed from July 2012 to May 2013, nearly 8,000 nominations for permanent residence (visa subclass 190) were made by state / territory governments. The most popular states for nomination were New South Wales, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia.
For the same period, over 18,000 applicants were invited to apply for Independent migration (visa subclass 189) by SkillSelect.
The Pass Marks for both Independent and State Sponsored migration has remained constant at 60 points. State Sponsored migrants can receive 5 or 10 points to reach the required 60 points.
The most popular occupations currently being processed include Accountants, ICT Professionals, Engineers, Nurses and Teachers.
The most popular countries of origin for skilled migrants are;
India, UK, China, Pakistan, the Philippines, Iran, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Ireland, Bangladesh, South Africa, USA.
The SkillSelect system has been able to impose “occupation ceilings” – i.e. to limit the number of invitations that can be issued from an occupation group.
In the migration year, 2012-2013 the following occupation groups reached their “occupation ceiling”;
  • Chemical and Materials Engineers
  • ICT Business & System Analysts
  • Electronic Engineers
  • Telecommunications Engineering Professionals
  • Other Engineering Professionals
  • Software and Application Programmers.
The new migration program on July 1st allows all these occupations to become eligible again.
Also, on July 1st all state / territory governments will release their updated occupation lists for state sponsorship. These lists are crucial for many applicants who do not qualify for Independent migration. State sponsorship is now a major route of entry and this trend is likely to continue.
Another development to take effect on July 1st is a change in the Federal Skilled Occupation list with some occupations now being removed. These are; Hospital Pharmacist, Retail Pharmacist, Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Avionics), Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Mechanical), and Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Structures).
Would you like to migrate to Australia in 2013-2104? What visa subclass is best for you? How does the new migration program affect you?
If you are interested in applying for migration to Australia, then please contact us so that we can check your eligibility.
Australia info page;

No comments: