If you are interested in migrating to Australia, there have been some important changes to the law that you should know about. I have summarized them below, but if you have any questions about the impact of these changes on your situation, please send us an email at http://www.australianvisasnow.com/contact-us
Many changes to the Australian Skilled Visa program were announced on February 8, 2010, by the Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. In this post, I have outlined the three most important changes and their impact on the future of Skilled Visa applicants.
1. Revocation of the Migration Occupations in Demand List
The Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) was abolished. This will not affect skilled visa applications that are already pending with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. If you are a visa applicant and intend to claim the 15 bonus points for an occupation on the MODL, you will no longer be able to claim these points, if your application was not lodged prior to February 8, 2010.
It is still possible to obtain state sponsorship for an occupation that was previously included on the MODL, since many of the occupations in demand by a state government or territory mirror those former MODL occupations. We expect more visa applicants will be approaching individual Australian states and the two territories for sponsorship, as compensation for the loss of the 15 MODL points.
2. Introduction of a new Skilled Occupations List
It is expected that a new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) will be announced by April, 2010, and it will take effect around July, 2010. The new Skills Occupations List will have a “more targeted list of occupations to better meet the medium and long-term future skill needs of the Australian economy”. The new SOL will be designed to have more focus on high-value skills across more popular professions and trades. The new Skilled Occupations List should closely follow the former Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) and the current state sponsored occupation lists. It is our expectation that there will be occupations on the current SOL that will be excluded from the future SOL.
3. Points Test to be reviewed
The general skilled migration points test will be reviewed during 2010. Since it takes several months to complete the pre-application tasks such as getting a suitable skills assessment and taking the IELTS exam (English language test), our advice to those who currently score sufficient points http://www.australianvisasnow.com/skilled-visas/points-test is not to delay. Those who currently score sufficient points, for any of the general skilled migration visa classes, and who have an occupation on the present Skilled Occupations List http://www.australianvisasnow.com/skilled-visas/eligible-skilled-occupations, should get started on the process right away.
Changes in immigration policy indiscriminately open and close windows of opportunity and timing is critical. The entire world is currently experiencing an economic crisis and the changes announced in the Australian immigration policy reflect this fact. Australia is not closing the doors to general skilled migration, but rather adopting a more targeted approach to selecting migrants with the skills that best satisfy the demands of the new Australian economy.
Please contact us at http://www.australianvisasnow.com/contact-us if you have any questions or would like us to check your current eligibility for an Australian skilled residence visa.
