2022 was a landmark year. After nearly two years of COVID-related border closures, Australia’s Prime Minister announced that from 21 February 2022 the country would reopen to the world — anyone who had received two doses of an Australian Government-approved vaccine and held a valid visa could purchase a flight and enter Australia immediately, with no entry exemption required. Equally, foroverseas migration applicants, it wasa positive new beginning.
After Australia gradually reopened its borders towards the end of last year, New South Wales, the ACT, and several other states progressively opened their state nomination programmes to overseas applicants. Before COVID, the state that offered the most options to overseas applicants wasSouth Australia, which yesterday announced a major development!
Yesterday, South Australia opened 259 occupations to overseas applicants!
The South Australian Government, as announced, opened its state-nominated skilled migration programme to a broader pool of overseas applicants on 16 February,adding a further 259 migration occupations to the list — bringing the total, including the 100-plus already open, to nearly 400 occupations!
While states such as New South Wales and the ACT had previously opened some occupations to overseas applicants, the sheer number available there was far smaller than what South Australia has now offered,and in terms of occupation numbers alone, this South Australia opening has essentially restored the scale last seen in the pre-COVID 2019 financial year.Before COVID, South Australia was the go-to hub for overseas skilled migrants, offering generous quotas and a wide range of occupations.
The following is a selection of occupations commonly pursued by overseas migration applicants,with relatively modest English requirements,requiring an IELTS score of 6 or 7, an EOI score of 65 points, and 8 years of relevant work experience — with some occupations requiring only 5 years of relevant experience to lodge an ROI.
Today,an overseas skilled migration applicant has received an official invitation — a true breakthrough moment!
As many of you will know, since COVID-19 the only consistently open pathway for overseas skilled migrants in Australia has beenthe Northern Territory MINT programme,and over the past two years Newstars has had overseas clients successfully receive invitations through it. MINT is a long-term Northern Territory programme that must be lodged by a Panel agent;if you have the budget and want to obtain a Subclass 190 permanent residency in one step, please get in touch!
Meanwhile, the traditional points-based skilled migration pathways — such as the Subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa and state nomination — were forced to close their doors to overseas applicants due to border restrictions, a situation that lasted nearly two years.
And today, a Newstars Beijing client has secured a formal South Australia Subclass 491 nomination!
The nominated occupation is:133611 Supply and Distribution Manager. South Australia extended an offer to overseas applicants in late September 2021, selecting candidates first through an ROI process before formal state nomination lodgement. The requirements were by no means low — IELTS 4×7.5 and eight years of relevant work experience — yet our client met all requirements, lodged an ROI with an EOI score of 90 points, successfully received a pre-invitation through the ROI, andtoday, 17 February, received the formal nomination!
Timeline:
28 September 2021 — ROI submitted
4 February 2022 — ROI invitation received
9 February 2022 — state nomination application lodged
17 February 2022 — formal Subclass 491 invitation received. This is the first overseas skilled migration invitation granted since COVID, outside of the Northern Territory MINT programme!
So this is 2022’s overseas skilled migration moment! A real one! An ice-breaking milestone!
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South Australia Advantages for Overseas Applicants!
Let’s now look at the advantages of South Australia state nomination for overseas applicants!
–A large number of occupations open to overseas applicants —historically ranging from 100+ to 200+ each year.
–A comprehensive range of open occupation categories, including engineering, IT, and trades occupations, as well as VETASSESS-assessed occupations commonly pursued by overseas applicants (marketing specialists, contract administrators, project administrators, advertising specialists, graphic designers, conference and event organisers, private tutors, architectural and civil drafters, insurance and finance-related migration occupations, and more).
– Each July when the new financial year commences, South Australia is one of theearliest states to open both domestic and overseas application streams.
– Before COVID, South Australia was the only state for overseas applicants that operated on a “speed over scores” approach — in other words, first come, first served.
If you’d like to find out more about South Australia state nomination,
or would like a professional assessment of your options,
please reach out via the contact details below!
【Selected South Australia State Nomination Success Stories — Newstars Beijing】
Success stories for other occupations:
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【South Australia State Nomination — Year-by-Year Review】
2017–2018 Financial Year
On 4 July 2017, South Australia opened its state nomination application, with the State Occupation List (SOL) featuringa total of 137 occupations. The requirements were that the migration occupation must appear on South Australia’s State Nominated Occupation List (SOL) with a status of Availability,the work requirement was at least one year of full-time experience within the past three years, with English requirements to be met in accordance with the nominated occupation’s specific conditions.
Common migration occupations for overseas applicants included: Customer Service Manager, Records Manager (Subclass 190 state nomination open this financial year), Economist (Subclass 190 open this financial year), Management Consultant (Subclass 190 open this financial year), Organisation and Methods Analyst (Subclass 190 open this financial year), Fashion Designer (Subclass 190 open this financial year), and Contract Administrator and Project Administrator, also with Subclass 190 open — all with an English requirement of only IELTS 4×6.
IT occupations required IELTS 4×7 and an EOI score of 70 points (including the state nomination bonus), as shown in the diagram below:
2018–2019 Financial Year
On 2 July 2018, South Australia opened its state nomination application as scheduled, with the SOL featuring a total of142 occupations. The requirements were that the occupation must appear on the SOL, with occupation status displayed under a “traffic light” system corresponding to Availability, Low Availability, or Special Conditions Apply (High Points),at least one year of full-time work experience within the past three years — or three years for certain occupations — with English scores to meet the nominated occupation’s specific requirements.Where a migration occupation’s status indicated Special Conditions Apply and the high-score invitation criteria applied, applicants were required to achieve an EOI score of at least 80 points (including the state nomination bonus) to be eligible to lodge.
The majority of occupations open to overseas applicants in that financial year were limited to the Subclass 489 Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa —this included all open IT migration occupations and trades migration occupations such as cooks, pastry cooks, and motor mechanics. These trades occupations required only IELTS 4×6 and two years of relevant work experience, and an EOI score of 65 points was sufficient to receive an invitation without needing a high score. The occupation list is as follows:
IT Occupations
TRA Trades
2019–2020 Financial Year
On 5 July 2019, South Australia opened its state nomination application, with the SOL featuring277 occupations. This financial year broadly maintained the state nomination requirements from the previous year. A select number of occupations for overseas applicants were open under the one-step Subclass 190 permanent residency visa, including Human Resources Manager, Customer Service Manager, Corporate Services Manager, Construction Project Manager, Film and Video Editor, Architect, Life Sciences Technician, and Earth Science Technician.
The majority of migration occupations were open for the Subclass 489 two-step pathway to permanent residency —including Real Estate Sales Representative, Property Manager, Insurance Agent, Insurance Broker, Contract Administrator, Swimming Coach, Web Administrator, Web Designer, Graphic Designer, Café and Restaurant Manager, Dance Teacher, and Music Teacher. These occupations required only an overall IELTS score of 7 or 4×6.5, and an EOI score of 65 points was sufficient to receive a state government invitation.
Occupations open for Subclass 190 are as follows:
A selection of occupations open for Subclass 489 are as follows:
2021–2022 Financial Year
South Australia’s state-nominated skilled migration programme was, outside of the Northern Territory MINT programme, the first state to publicly announce the opening of overseas migration occupations before Australia’s border restrictions were lifted.From 28 September 2021, South Australia took the lead by opening 70 overseas migration occupations, followed on 2 November by a further 24 engineering occupations for overseas applicants,operating under an ROI (Register of Interest) system — an invite-first approach — due to limited quotas, selecting only the strongest candidates.
For a full list of open occupations, please refer to the official government website:
https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-09/70-offshore-occupations.pdf
https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-10/Engineering-Occupations-List-November-2021.pdf
During this financial year, on 11 February 2022, the South Australian Government announced again that from Wednesday 16 February a further 259 occupations would be opened to overseas applicants — as mentioned above.
“Prepare now and seize the opportunity!
South Australia’s overall state nomination policy post-COVID differs from what it was previously. Before, South Australia operated a direct invitation system: if an applicant’s occupation was on the SOL with a status of Available or Low Available, and the applicant met the required English score, work experience, and — for certain occupations — points threshold, they could lodge an application and await a Subclass 190 or Subclass 491 state nomination invitation from the state government.Now, however, all overseas applications are processed through an ROI mechanism. Applicants must first lodge an ROI (Register of Interest) and, after receiving an invitation from South Australia, submit the required supporting documents for the state nomination application. Once the state nomination is received, the final step is to lodge the federal visa application.
This July, as Australia’s 2022–2023 financial year begins, we expect further migration opportunities to be opened to overseas applicants.For overseas applicants who want to migrate to Australia through a cost-effective, standard skilled migration pathway,the key is to start your skills assessment and work towards the required English score as early as possible,the earlier you lodge the better — take every state nomination opening opportunity as it comes.
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Applications Now Open! South Australia State Nomination — Overseas, 259 New Occupations Added, 389 in Total!
Applications Now Open! South Australia State Nomination — Overseas, 259 New Occupations Added, 389 in Total!
We witnessed New South Wales’ surprising yet understandable flood of Subclass 491 invitations in February — what comes next?
Multiple states open overseas state nomination streams — hundreds of occupations available!
Multiple states open overseas state nomination streams — hundreds of occupations available!
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