New Skilled Occupation List (SOL) Announced

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has announced a new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) for the
General Skilled Migration (GSM). The new SOL does not apply for non-GSM visas, such as ENS, RSMS or Subclass 457.

The new SOL can be found here and is proposed to commence 1 July 2010.

The new list comprises 181 occupations. The old SOL had 408.

The new SOL is based on ANZSCO (Australian & New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations) and not ASCO (Australian Standard Classification of Occupations).

Some of the occupations which are no longer on the SOL include: Cook, chef, Hairdresser, Pharmacist, Graphic Designer.

Some of the retained occupations include: Accountant, Architect, Engineers, Medical Professionals, Motor Mechanic, and many building trades.

As previously announced, the new SOL does not apply to GSM applicants who, on 8 February 2010:

• Held a Subclass 485 (skilled graduate) visa or had a pending subclass 485 visa application; and who
• Apply for a permanent or provisional onshore GSM visa by 31 December 2012; or at the date of the
announcement had a pending GSM visa application.

Transitional arrangements will apply to international students who, on 8 February 2010:

• Held a subclass 572 (vocational education and training sector), subclass 573 (higher education sector);
or
• Held a subclass 574 (postgraduate research sector) student visa.

These students can apply for a subclass 485 (skilled graduate) visa using the current SOL as long as they lodge
their subclass 485 application by 31 December 2012.

As the new SOL is based on ANZSCO, the names of occupations and tasks associated with occupations need to be
carefully checked.

Also available is a new SOL FAQ, a fact sheet on the List and a fact sheet for those unable to apply for
independent GSM.
For further enquiries regarding the new SOL or anything else which you need answered, please contact Emigrate
Australia Pty. Ltd. via email – david@emigrateaustralia.com.au or phone 61 (0)7 55314140.

Should you require information regarding your current visa options, please complete our FREE VISA ASSESSMENT,
available on our home page.

Australian General Skilled Migration Reforms

Senator Evans, the Minister in charge of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), as per a previous entry to our blog site confirms, on the 8th February, made some sweeping changes to the GSM for Australia.

I have down loaded part of his speech to hilight several points I believe my clients may be interested in.

• Amendments to the Migration Act will be introduced this year to give the Minister the power to set the maximum number of visas that may be granted to applicants in any one occupation if need be. This will ensure that the Skilled Migration Program is not dominated by a handful of occupations.
• Individual state and territory migration plans will be developed so they can prioritise skilled migrants of their
  own choosing. This recognises that each state and territory has different skills requirements. For example, Western Australia may have a shortage of mining engineers while Victoria may have a requirement for
  more architects.
• Under the new priority processing arrangements, migrants nominated by a state and territory government under their State Migration Plan will be processed ahead of applications for independent skilled migration.

I believe a most important point which clients should take note of is:-

“The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, said the new arrangements will give first
priority to skilled migrants who have a job to go to with an Australian employer. For those who don’t have an Australian employer willing to sponsor them, the bar is being raised.”.

Senator Evans then went on to say:-

“There are plenty of occupations where there is an adequate supply of young Australians coming through our schools,
TAFE colleges and universities to take up new job opportunities. They must be given the opportunity to fill these
vacancies first. There are some occupations where there will be high demand for skills. Hospitals can’t go without nurses, country towns can’t do without a local GP and the resources sector increasingly needs skills.”.

Senator Evans believes “These latest changes will continue reforms already implemented by the government and result in a more demand-driven skilled migration program that attracts highly skilled migrants to Australia to work in areas of critical need.”.

Senator Evans admits there is a down side to these changes – “The government recognises that the changes will affect some overseas students currently in Australia intending to apply for permanent residence.”.

As mentioned in a previous entry in our blog site, we mentioned that the MODL (Migration Occupations in Demand List), as well as the CSL (Critical Skills List) have both been discontinued as at 8 February 2010 and that the SOL was to be revised and a new SOL was being releade in July 2010.

This is Senator Evans response to this:-

“Those international students who hold a vocational, higher education or postgraduate student visa will still be
able to apply for a permanent visa if their occupation is on the new Skilled Occupations List. If their occupation
is not on the new SOL, they will have until 31 December 2012 to apply for a temporary skilled graduate visa on
completion of their studies which will enable them to spend up to 18 months in Australia to acquire work
experience and seek sponsorship from an employer.”.

The changes will in no way impact on international students coming to Australia to gain a legitimate qualification
and then return home.

Should you require further information regarding this entry, or have an enquiry regarding some other matter regarding Emigration to Australia, please contact us via email or complete our FREE VISA ASSESSMENT available on our homepage. We will respond within 48 hours and give you the best advice from the information you provide.

General Skilled Migration – visa applications suspended

For some months now, we have been guiding our clients, and those who are just making general enquiries regarding
their best chance of Emigrating to Australia, away from the “175″; 176″ & “475″ skilled visas.

Some time ago, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), made the announcement they had suspended
reviewing these visas. They MAY commence reviewing them again around the end of 2011.

Recently, DIAC made the announcement they were no longer going to review applications which had been lodged prior to 01 September 2007 and would be refunding the Visa Application Charge (VAC).

It seemed evident to us that if the queue commenced at 01 September 2007, to join this queue now would mean a
wait of at least 2.5 – 3 years, on top of the “end of 2011″ – i.e. mid to end 2014.

This we believed was not the most satisfactory result for our clients and therefore we have been recommending
other visa sub-classes.

Even more recently, DIAC made the announcement that they had discontinued the MODL and the CSL and intended, through consultation with Skilled Australia, to release a new SOL in early July 2010. Those applying prior to this date could still use the old SOL (Form 1121i – available from their website).

Now, today (07 May 2010), the Minister has announced a temporary suspension of certain general skilled migration
visas.

The move hopes to ensure that all offshore general skilled applications made after today are in accordance with
the occupations included on the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL), to be released later this month.

The Minister has not indicated when the suspension will be lifted, however it will be no earlier than the
announcement of the new SOL.

The Minister has announced that his Department will not accept applications for the following visa subclasses
from 8 May 2010 until further notice:-

• Subclass 175 – Skilled Independent;
• Subclass 176 – Skilled Sponsored; and
• Subclass 475 – Skilled Regional Sponsored.

Therefore, any applications received by the Department after 8 May 2010 for one of the above visa subclasses will
be returned and the visa application charge refunded.

Please note that this suspension does not affect International Students applying for Onshore General Skilled
Migration visas.

 

For further information or clarification of this announcement and to pursue your best option to obtain a visa to
Emigrate to Australia, please contact the writer or complete our FREE VISA ASSESSMENT application on our Home Page.