This week’s migration news round-up

Migration Weekly

1. Coasting your way from 491 to PR? Good news — but stay cautious

2. The 485 extension is now law — check whether you qualify for 2 extra years

3. Visa fees surge: 190/491/189 up by AUD 400; citizenship and AAT fees rise too!

4. Tasmania hints at new financial-year policy? Some NSW 491 applications can be retained!

5. Weekly round-up: grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing progress

1. The long-awaited big win for 491 — good news, but stay cautious

Good news has finally reached 491 — the long-awaited income requirement for converting to 191 that everyone feared might climb to 70,000 (rather than staying at 53,900),in the end the Department of Home Affairs announced this week that the income requirement is 0 — you only need to provide NOAs for three financial years!So the requirements for converting 491 to 191 are now:

– holding a 491 visa for at least three years

– providing NOAs for three relevant income years

–complying with the 491 visa conditions while onshore —for example, settling in a regional area; working or studying (if applicable) in a regional area; and notifying the Department of Home Affairs within 14 days of any change to your address, work address or contact details, and so on

Notices of Assessment (NOA)Each financial year, this is the document confirming that you, as an Australian tax resident, have lodged a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office. In Australia you don’t necessarily need wage income to lodge a return — income can come from many sources such as interest or rent, and you don’t even necessarily need any income to lodge.

That said, we’d still remind everyone:

1. If income appears on your NOA — for example, wage income — you’ll still need to provide the relevant supporting materials and demonstrate that the person is working in a regional area

2. In principle, the 491 condition on work location is satisfied as long as the place where the visa holder physically works regularly is in a regional area.So what about working from home (WFH) — say, someone in Wollongong working for a Sydney employer; or someone in Canberra working for a Gold Coast employer (both regional areas) — is that acceptable? Everyone may have their own interpretation; the point to note is that there are no successful 191 case studies yet, so you’ll need to use your own judgment

3. Can you stay overseas the whole time and simply lodge a tax return each year for three financial years?Leaving aside whether this is feasible in practice, it certainly goes against Australia’s intent in granting you this visa. If it turns out not to be workable after three years, the remaining 2 years of your 491 leave you no second chance — so we recommend staying on the right track.

For more FAQs, see:Zero income requirement for converting 491 to 191! Can you really “coast” for three years and get PR? A full explainer on the 491-to-PR questions!

Earlier, on Friday the Migration Institute of Australiaalso confirmed that the 491 primary or secondary applicant, if they meet the requirements to convert to 191, can each convert to 191 independently (or swap primary and secondary applicant)

In the end, the 0 income requirement certainly takes a lot of pressure off visa holders — especially as 491 suits many people overseas, for whom finding work soon after arrival isn’t easy. Now there’s more breathing room! We hope everyone has an easier time staying on the right track,This financial year, most occupations can take the 491 route on a bare score (gathered on your own) of 50-65 points and stand a strong chance of an invitation. Popular pathways include NSW, WA, SA and Canberra, and so on — most have no work-experience requirement, and the language requirement is the lowest, just four 6s!

Recommended 491 pathways this financial year

NSW 491 — very friendly to both offshore and onshore applicants

– language at four 6s

– EOI at 65 points

– occupation on the list with a positive skills assessment

No work-experience requirement — you can lodge.Invitation scores this financial year have been very low — popular occupations such as ICT and engineering can stand a chance of an invitation on a self-gathered 50-60 points

NT 491 — better suited to offshore applicants

– language at the minimum four 6s (PTE accepted)

– EOI score at 65 points

– settled overseas

– occupation on the list with a positive skills assessment

– at least one year of relevant work experience in the nominated occupation

You can take the priority-occupation pathway (priority occupations include accounting and various ICT and engineering roles, conference and event organisers/contract administrators, design and vocational training teachers), the regional family-relationship pathway, or the job-offer pathway requirements (all federal migration occupations may apply)

Canberra offshore 491 — better suited to offshore applicants

– language at four 6s

– EOI at 65 points

– one year of work experience in the nominated occupation

– occupation on the list with a positive skills assessment

Canberra uses matrix scoring — the EOI only needs a self-gathered 50 points, and offshore 491Matrixscores have been very low; 50-65 points can already secure an invitation

WA 491 — better suited to those relocating to WA locally

– language at four 6s

– EOI at 65 points

– no Job offer required

– occupation on the list with a positive skills assessment

WA’s invitation EOI scores are also very low — for most occupations this financial year, most of the time only 65-80 points are needed. However, for non-local graduates, WA favours people who have already relocated within the state

SA 491 — suited to offshore applicants

1. Standard pathway

Applicants are selected based on work experience, language ability and EOI score

2. Highly Skilled and Talented pathway

– EOI 65 points

– language four 7s

– annual salary of 80,000 and working at least 30 hours per week

– evidence of holding a senior or executive role at an internationally renowned company, or at a multinational with operations in SA, or having highly sought-after skills and experience in SA’s critical priority sectors

491 visa holders can access Australia’s universal healthcare (Medicare), and in most areas their children can attend free public compulsory schooling. The 491 will be even more popular in the new financial year — you’re very welcome to arrange your skills assessment and a tailored 491 pathway early!

2. The 485 extension is now law — check whether you qualify for 2 extra years

This week’s second major piece of news is that the 485 extension (subsequent 485) is now formally law. The fact that holders of designated qualifications can gain 2 extra years of the 485 PSW visa was confirmed months ago. This legislation, for one, makes it official, and for another, fills in who can lodge and how.

–Designated qualifications at master’s and bachelor’s level include early childhood education, nursing, IT and engineeringand so on; for doctoral holders, all qualifications qualify for 2 extra years. On top of holding a designated qualification:

–If you lodge a 485 PSW visa for the first time after 1 July 2023, you’ll be granted the 2 extra years directly.

Bachelor’s is 4 years, master’s is 5 years, doctoral is 6 years. The 485 visa fee is payable

– ifyou currentlyhold a 485 PSW, 485 replacement or 485 regional, you can gain 2 extra years on top of your original visa duration —in this case it isa free extension

If you previously held a 485, but currently hold another visa such as 408/500, it cannot be extended. You must hold a 485-class visa at the time of lodgement.

You don’t need to wait until your 485/485 replacement is about to expire to apply — you can arrange your visa early and start preparing now. If this is your first 485, we recommend lodging as soon as possible: after 1 July, visa fees will rise sharply, and a 485 primary applicant will pay AUD 165 more! It’s the final week — get in touch quickly to lodge!

3. Visa fees surge: 190/491/189 up by AUD 400; citizenship and AAT fees rise too!

Each year after 1 July, visa fees rise in line with CPI. At Budget time we already knew that, owing to inflation, next financial year’s increase would be larger than the usual rise. But we didn’t expect that, once the legislation for the new visa fees came out, they’d be even higher than previously stated.

All visa fees rise by +3.25% CPI, and on top of that:

visitor visas/462/417/short-term work or activityand similar rise 21%,that is,a rise of 24.25%‍

investor classrises 46%‍,that is,a rise of‍ 49‍‍.25%‍

485/500/491/190/189/482all others rise 6%,that is,a rise of 9.25%‍

Earlier, citizenship application and AAT appeal fees also rose.Citizenship feesrise from AUD 490 to AUD 540,AATwhile appeal fees rise from the current AUD 3,135 to AUD 3,374!

Another reminder: from 23 June to 1 July, you can’t use BPAY to pay official Department of Home Affairs fees such as visa fees; other payment methods remain available.

We’ve put together a table summarising the common categories,Is the government “cashing in” this time on the pretext of inflation? Here’s hoping that, now everything’s this expensive, processing speeds can keep picking up!

4. Tasmania hints at new financial-year policy? Some NSW 491 applications can be retained!

Tasmaniathis weekis still issuing invitations and processing formal nominations(see the data summary below for details). It also held its final information session of the financial year, revealing other potential changes for the new financial year

1. The TOSOL occupation list will be adjusted,but if you’ve already started work before 1 July, even if your occupation is removed at that point, you won’t be affected

2. Adjustments to priority levels —see the chart below

State nomination applications this financial year won’t close, but there are expected to be a few days at the start of the financial year for adjustments to update policy. As of yesterday, around 50 places remained. Applicants in Tasmania can speed up their lodgement — you’re welcome to contact our consultants below:

NSW 491has also wrapped up. At first we worried that NSW, which holds the most 491 places, wouldn’t use up its quota — but they proved it took just 3 months, with over 95% of the quota used by the end of May. The remaining month of June is just a few RDAs trying to finish processing.This week these RDAs also announced their quota is used up. If you’ve lodged but your application hasn’t been processed, you have two options:

one is toapply for an immediate refund, and the other is toretain your application,but it will be processed under the new criteria (if any) in the new financial year, and you may be asked for further documents

This is fairly considerate,and combined with the new zero-income-requirement policy for converting 491 to 191,more people will consider NSW 491 in the new financial year.This financial year a bare score of 50-65 points picked up common occupations such as ICT/engineering/finance/marketing/project management — get in touch to discuss your options~

5. Weekly round-up: grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing progress

A round-up of Newstarsec’s recent visa grants and invitations across categories:Press and hold below to view — the page is updated continuously, so we strongly recommend saving it!

State-nomination invitation / GTI invitation statistics

Canberra state nomination

The following are formal nomination approvals

lodged 18 Jun 2023, invited 19 Jun 2023 — ACT 190 (PHD stream), Botanist

lodged 2 Jun 2023, invited 20 Jun 2023 — ACT 190, Landscape Architect

lodged 1 Jun 2023, invited 20 Jun 2023 — ACT 190, Electronics Engineer

lodged 31 May 2023, invited 20 Jun 2023 — ACT 190, Accountant (General)

lodged 2 Jun 2023, invited 21 Jun 2023 — ACT 190, Developer Programmer

lodged 1 Jun 2023, invited 21 Jun 2023 — ACT 190, Multimedia Specialist

VIC state nomination

None this week

Tasmania state nomination

The following are formal nomination approvals

lodged ROI 22 Jun 2023, Nomination invited 23 Jun 2023 — (Developer Programmer – 261312) 75+5, with chef work experience

The following are pre-invitations

lodged ROI 22 Jun 2023, 491 Nomination invited 23 Jun 2023 — (Massage Therapist- 411611) 65+15

lodged ROI 22 Jun 2023, 190 Nomination invited 23 Jun 2023 — (Developer Programmer – 261312) 75+5, with chef work experience

NSW state nomination

None this week

SA state nomination

None this week

QLD state nomination

pre-invitation received 14 Jun 2023, QLD 491 formal nomination obtained 21 Jun — Multimedia Specialist, 75+15 points

WA state nomination

None this week

NT state nomination

None this week

GTI invitation

invitation code received 20 Jun 2023 — field: financial services and FinTech

This week’s visa-grant progress and analysis

189 Skilled Independent migration

None this week

190 State-nominated skilled migration

lodged 30 Nov 2022, granted 21 Jun 2023 — priority occupation

491 new regional / 489 old regional sponsored visa

None this week

887/191 regional permanent residence visa

lodged 26 Aug 2022, granted 19 Jun 2023 — hongkong stream

Employer sponsorship

None this week

Investor migration / GTI

None this week

600 visitor visa

lodged 7 Jun 2023, granted 20 Jun 2023 — offshore application

14 Jun 2023 offshore lodgement of 600 visa, granted 17 Jun 2023

14 Jun 2023 offshore lodgement of 600 visa, granted 23 Jun 2023

09 Jun 2023 offshore lodgement of 600 visa, granted 21 Jun 2023

602Medical Treatment

lodged 2 Jun 2023, granted 21 Jun 2023 — 602 (PR’s spouse wishing to enter Australia to give birth)

500 Student visa

None this week

485 Graduate Work visa

lodged 20 Jun 2023, granted 20 Jun 2023

lodged 10 May 2023, granted 22 Jun 2023

19 Jun 2023 onshore lodgement of 485 visa, granted 19 Jun 2023

lodged 12 Jun 2023, granted 20 Jun 2023

lodged 14 Jun 2023, granted 20 Jun 2023

lodged 20 Jun 2023, granted 23 Jun 2023

lodged 13 Jun 2023, granted 21 Jun 2023

Partner migration

lodged 801 on 20 Jun 2022, granted 21 Jun 2023

lodged 801 on 6 Jun 2022, granted 22 Jun 2023

lodged 820 in May 2020, 801 granted 23.6.23

Parent migration / visa / child visa

lodged 870 on 4 Jan 2023, granted 22 Jun 2023

lodged 103 on 25 Oct 2012, lodged 864 on 2 Sep 2022, granted 21 Jun 2023

obtained 870 sponsorship eligibility 14 Nov 2022, lodged early December, granted 23 Jun 2023

lodged 870 sponsorship eligibility application 21 Apr 2023, approved 21 Jun 2023

408 visa

lodged 7 Jun 2023, granted 23 Jun 2023

lodged 21 Jun 2023, granted 22 Jun 2023

lodged 21 Jun 2023, granted 24 Jun 2023

lodged 22 Jun 2023, granted 25 Jun 2023

155 visa

lodged 21 Jun 2023, granted 21 Jun 2023

Citizenship application

lodged 21 Dec 2022, approved 21 Jun 2023

lodged 21 Mar 2023, approved 19 Jun 2023

This week’s skills-assessment processing progress

CA (accounting-related)

lodged 11 May 2023, result issued 19 Jun 2023 (expedited)

ACS (IT-related)

lodged 19 Apr 2023, approved 20 Jun 2023 — ICT BA

lodged 31 Mar 2023, approved 19 Jun 2023 — ICT BA

EA (engineering-related)

lodged 19 Apr 2023, result issued 22 Jun 2023 (not expedited)

VETASSESS

lodged 11 Apr 2023, result issued 23 Jun 2023 — China qualification recognition

lodged 5 Apr 2023, result issued 23 Jun 2023 — China qualification recognition

lodged 4 Apr 2023, result issued 21 Jun 2023 — China qualification recognition

lodged Jun 2023, approved 21 Jun 2023 — Statisticians (the same work experience had been refused at skills assessment twice before; choosing a different occupation turned the case around successfully)

Catch up on past articles

The 485’s extra 2 years is now formally law! Effective immediately from 1 July!

Official! A profile of 49,000 mainland-China skilled migrants over the past four years is out!

Zero income requirement for converting 491 to 191! A full explainer on the 491-to-PR requirements

Migration news sharing group

2023

Step 1: press and hold to add our consultant

Step 2: once added, please

Study abroad, migration, visas — we’re the professionals

Attention!Please verifythe genuineNewstarsec consultant!

Study-abroad and migration consultation — consultants by location

Sydney

Melbourne

Canberra

Brisbane

Adelaide

Hobart

Beijing

Guangzhou

Follow the Newstarsec official account

On the official account, replythe numbers below or any keyword (not in the comments at the bottom of the article),to get the most timely and professional migration news!Reply [A] to view the index (covering all topics)!

Reply: 0000 → view the 16 Nov policy update (491 + skilled migration points)

[Australia Migration Weekly No.290] 491 set to be the next migration hit — low-points pathways rounded up! Your 485 could gain 2 extra years! Visa fees up hundreds per person after 1 July!

The 485’s extra 2 years is now formally law! Effective immediately from 1 July!

Official! A profile of 49,000 mainland-China skilled migrants over the past four years is out!

Zero income requirement for converting 491 to 191! A full explainer on the 491-to-PR requirements

Quick Links

Popular Services

Our Offices

Follow Us