News

New EASIER Skilled Immigration Points System, effective from 16th Nov 2019 Australia Immigration     MAJOR CHANGES:   Marital Status (Single) = Get EXTRA 10 points*. OR  Spouse is a Permanent Resident/Citizen of Australia = Get EXTRA 10 points*   Marital Status (Married) = Get EXTRA 5 points* (Total = 10 points), if Spouse has +ve Skills Assessment and

Victoria – New Regional Subclass 491 Provisional visa Victoria welcomes nomination applications under the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) which allows points-tested skilled workers and their families to live, study and work in designated regional areas of Australia for a period of 5 years.   Information on Victoria’s Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass

Queensland SKILLED PROGRAM 2020: BSMQ is planning to open the entire skilled program for Queensland State Nomination in the coming weeks – including the: Skilled Nominated (Permanent) visa (subclass 190) Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) The program will open with some occupations removed from the QSOLs due to occupation quotas being met. Please

South Australia Temporary closure of State Nominated 190 visa applications With the introduction of the new skilled regional visas on the 16 November 2019, Immigration SA will be temporarily closing the state nomination 190 application system from 11am on 15 November 2019 and will re-open early December (the date and time will be confirmed closer to the

Canberra Nomination Plan for subclass 190 / 491 in 2019 and 2020   ACT 491 nomination: The ACT is defined as regional for skilled migration purpose from 16 November 2019.  While potential applicants can complete the Home Affairs Skillselect EOI from this date, the 491 Canberra Matrix can only be submitted from 1 January 2020.

Occupation ceilings An ‘occupation ceiling’ might be applied to invitations issued under the independent, skilled regional (provisional) visas. This means there will be a limit on how many EOIs can be selected for skilled migration from an occupation group. This ensures that the skilled migration program is not dominated by a small number of occupations.

State and Territory nominations State and Territory nominations 2019-20 program year Nominations by State and Territory Governments – September 2019 The number of intending migrants who received nominations from State and Territory Governments in September 2019 is shown in the table below: Visa subclass ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas. Vic. WA Total Skilled Nominated

Invitations issued on 11 October 2019 The table below shows the number of invitations issued in the SkillSelect invitation round on 11 October 2019. Visa subclass Number Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) 1,500 Skilled Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 489) 0 No invitations are being issued for Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489), due to the introduction of the

New road safety regulations in Victoria could leave many temporary visa holders, including foreign students, unable to drive using their overseas licence if they do not get a local driver licence within six months of moving to the state. New driving laws commencing this week make it mandatory for all visa holders, including international students

Perth in Western Australia and the Gold Coast in Queensland are set to be classified as ‘regional’ for immigration purposes once changes are introduced in November this year. Longer 485 Graduate Visas The Western Australia and Queensland State Governments requested for Perth and the Gold Coast – respectively – to be classified as ‘regional’ in