Interim visa nomination allocations and priorities

August – October 2020

What has changed?

The Department of Home Affairs has issued an interim allocation of subclass 491, 190, 188 and 132 visa nomination places to states and territories. These allocations will be updated after the 2020-21 Federal Budget is handed down in October.

The Department of Home Affairs has directed that until this time, all nominations must be justifiable in relation to their likely contribution to Australia’s economic recovery, and follow three priorities:

1. High quality subclass 188 and 132 (Business Innovation and Investment Program) nomination applications.
2. Applicants critical to supporting Tasmania’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including individuals providing critical or specialist medical services, critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services, or delivering services in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery.
3. Applicants currently in Australia who can demonstrate their capacity to meaningfully contribute to economic recovery.

What does this mean for applicants?

All new and existing nomination applications will be considered according to these priorities, with those in critical roles being nominated first.

Existing applicants who are not in critical roles will be considered only after priority applications for critical roles have been processed.

Decisions on non-critical role applications may not be available until October or later. Only those applicants with the most compelling claims will be nominated.

Imminent visa expiry is not sufficient to give priority to an application. If your visa is about to expire you should contact the Department of Home Affairs or a Registered Migration Agent about your visa options.

What does it mean for applications lodged before 1pm (AEST), Tuesday 25th August 2020 (Subclass 491 / Subclass 190)?

Migration Tasmania willemail all applicants who lodged their application, offering them an opportunity to either:

• request priority consideration on the basis that they are engaged in a critical role supporting the health system or the Tasmanian economy, or
• withdraw their application for nomination and receive a full refund of the application fee, or
• continue with their application in respect of a requirement to demonstrate that their nomination will lead to a genuine ongoing and meaningful contribution to Tasmania’s economic recovery.

Applicants who request their application continue to be considered for nomination will not receive a refund regardless of the outcome.

Applicants who are not employed in critical roles will not be nominated unless they can strongly demonstrate that their nomination will genuinely benefit economic recovery in Tasmania.

There is no guaranteed timeframe for an outcome and applicants in non-critical roles may not receive an outcome until October or later.

Migration Tasmania will competitively assess all existing applications in accordance with priorities established by the Department of Home Affairs.

With the very limited number of nomination places available, nomination cannot be guaranteed and only those in critical roles or able to provide the most compelling claims will be supported.

What does it mean for applications lodged after 1pm (AEST), Tuesday 25th August 2020 (Subclass 491 / Subclass 190)?

All new applications lodged after 1pm (AEST), Tuesday 25th August 2020 must meet the minimum requirements of their chosen nomination category and demonstrate that the applicant is critical to supporting Tasmania’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery.

Applicants must provide a letter of support from their employer clearly explaining how their role is critical to providing medical services, the supply of essential goods and services, or delivering services in sectors critical to Tasmania’s economic recovery. If an applicant cannot show that their role is critical, it will not be supported for nomination.

This requirement will be reviewed after the Federal Budget in October when full details of the 2020-21 nomination allocations and requirements are announced by the Department of Home Affairs.

What are critical roles?

The Department of Home Affairs provides guidance on critical roles or critical skills at https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/critical-skills-and-sectors#toc-1. For Tasmania these roles include those:

• directly assisting in Tasmania’s COVID-19 response directly engaged by Tasmanian Government
• providing critical or specialist medical services or delivering medical supplies potentially associated with COVID-19 response. This includes all general nursing and medical positions with the Tasmanian Health Service
• directly involved in the supply of essential goods and services (medical technology, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering and mining, supply chain logistics, agricultural technology, food production, and the maritime industry) including highly skilled and specialised roles in:
• infrastructure engineering and maintenance such as dams, large-/high-complexity bridges, irrigation schemes, transport logistics planning and maintenance
• agriculture such as artificial insemination technicians, wool classers, livestock pregnancy scanners
• the supply of essential goods and services which would be in jeopardy without the applicant.

*This does not include lower level positions such as retail workers, harvest labour, delivery drivers, or warehouse staff.

• delivering services in sectors critical to economic recovery such as financial technology, large scale manufacturing, film and television production and emerging technology which:
• must be high-value/highly-skilled/specialised roles
• would normally include a significant and recognised contribution to export income, significant flow-on employment and economic benefits, high-value national/ international exposure.

*This will not generally include small scale, locally-oriented operations.

In addition, Tasmania will accept new applications from people employed in:

• health and allied health occupations, including in private and not-for-profit sectors
• senior support workers/enrolled nurses/registered nurses in aged, disability and community care (minimum diploma qualified).

The scope of these priority areas may change as the needs of Tasmania’s economy evolves.

What is a genuine, ongoing and meaningful contribution to the Tasmanian economy?

Every nomination must be justified in terms of an applicant’s potential to contribute to economic recovery in Tasmania. The onus is on the applicant to demonstrate how they meet this requirement.

Supporting claims may include:

• employment in highly skilled, hard to fill roles
• high value skills or experience not readily found in the local community
• long-term high-value financial contribution to the local economy leading to additional employment outcomes for locals
• involvement in Tasmanian business or enterprise that is significantly reliant on the applicant’s ongoing presence in Tasmania
• a clear, plausible potential to live in Tasmania and contribute to the development of skills which are needed in Tasmania.

What does it mean for Subclass 188 and 132 visa nomination applications?

More information on interim business nomination program arrangements and priorities will be available in the near future.

Where can I find more information?

Further information about the interim program priorities and advice for applicants can be found here.