This Week’s Migration Update

Migration Weekly

1. Queensland eases requirements — get into the pool first!

2. MINT returns its first cohort’s capital plus interest; waiting list opens then is abruptly paused

3. Internal summary of August visa processing progress

4. Subclass 489 to 887 still offers a six-month residence concession — granted at lightning speed

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

1. Queensland eases requirements — get into the pool first?

Queensland unexpectedly updated its policy this week, and more surprisingly, the entry thresholds for all three Queensland streams are now even lower than last financial year. After wasting its allocation last year, the state clearly intends to make a strong showing this financial year.

Offshore Applicants Stream

Subclass 190 requires an EOI score of 75 points; Subclass 491 requires 65 points

All other requirements are identical for Subclass 190 and 491

-Use Queensland’s QSOL occupation list

-A minimum of 6 in each of the four English bands (unless registration or licensing for the occupation requires more)

-Meet the occupation’s work-experience requirement — for most occupations this is 3–5 years (for the same occupation, the work-experience requirement is the same for Subclass 190 and 491)

The QSOL list includes a large number of common occupations such as engineering, computing, contract administrators and project administrators, as shown below:

Local Graduate Stream

This is further divided into doctoral, master’s (STEM and agriculture majors, plus an other-majors stream) and bachelor-graduate streams, all of which can apply for Subclass 190 and 491. In other words, graduates of all fields can apply for Subclass 190, which is one of the areas relaxed compared with last financial year.All local-graduate streams use the Department of Home Affairs migration occupation list.

Here is a brief summary for the largest groups — bachelor graduates and master’s graduates in non-STEM, non-agriculture fields

Bachelor graduates:

-A GPA of 6 or above qualifies for the Subclass 190 stream

-A GPA of 5 or above qualifies for the Subclass 491 stream

-Hold a job in a Queensland nominated occupation or an ANZSCO Skill Level 1 occupation, working at least 30 hours per week (i.e. full-time)

Master’s graduates in non-STEM or non-agriculture fields

-A GPA of 6 qualifies for the Subclass 190 stream

-A GPA of 5 qualifies for the Subclass 491 stream

-Hold a job in a Queensland nominated occupation or an ANZSCO Skill Level 1 occupation, working at least 30 hours per week

*STEM and agriculture majors have no GPA requirement, but the work requirement is the same

Local Worker Stream

Requirements have been lowered on several fronts. The English score needed for Subclass 190 has dropped to 6 in each band, the EOI score has fallen from 80 to 75 points, and the work-experience requirement has been reduced from 6 months to 3 months.

For Subclass 190:

-An EOI score of at least 75 points; at least 70 points for trade occupations

-Use the Department of Home Affairs occupation list

-A minimum of 6 in each of the four English bands (unless registration or licensing for the occupation requires more)

-At least three months of relevant full-time work in the nominated occupation in Queensland, plus a full-time job offer in the nominated occupation for the next 12 months (30 hours per week). That is, 3 months of work experience plus a further year of ongoing work

For Subclass 491

-An EOI score of at least 65 points

-Use the Department of Home Affairs occupation list

-A minimum of 6 in each of the four English bands (unless registration or licensing for the occupation requires more)

-Currently in relevant full-time work in the nominated occupation in regional Queensland, plus a full-time job offer in the nominated occupation for the next 6 months (at least 30 hours per week) — that is, currently working in regional Queensland plus a further half-year of ongoing work

In addition:

-The small-business stream remains a state government priority, with no policy change this financial year

-Applicants taking part in this financial year’s state nomination must lodge a fresh EOI

-Where the assessing authority has deducted work experience, only the portion remaining after the deduction is recognised
-The first round of invitations will be at the end of September, with invitations issued at the end of each month thereafter

A few observations:

With its allocation reduced, Queensland has opted to ease requirements slightly, presumably to select the strongest candidates from a large pool. That said, the fact remains that there are only 900 Subclass 190 and 650 Subclass 491 places. At the same time, with other streams either unclear or narrowing, Queensland has widened its door this financial year, but competition is expected to be even fiercer. The list of eligible occupations looks extensive, but which ones Queensland favours and will actually invite will only become clearer once the first round of invitations is issued。

For more detail, see:Queensland policy released | Popular offshore-stream occupations need just 75 points for Subclass 190! Graduate and worker streams ease score, work-experience and English requirements!

For applicants, opportunities are fewer this year, so it is understandable to try wherever there is a chance. Getting into the pool early, while places are still relatively plentiful, is the only way to seize a lucky break. You are welcome to contact our consultants below for an assessment of Queensland state nomination.

2. MINT returns its first cohort’s capital plus interest; waiting list opens then is abruptly paused

MINT had three pieces of news in a row this week.

First:It started this Monday, when the first cohort of MINT applicants began to have the 80% of their investment held in state bonds returned together with interest, and several of our clients received emails confirming the return of their investment funds on the afternoon of 4 September.

The Northern Territory MINT programme has three streams —— purely offshore applicants, offshore business applicants and onshore business applicants — with no need to compete on points or English. With 60 plus 5 points you can be invited for Subclass 190, and most common occupations are eligible.

For more on the MINT stream, see:Today! On 4 September the first wave of 50 MINT applicants had their capital and interest returned! Onshore, offshore and former international students can all use MINT — do you know how it works?

But MINT also showed exactly what it means to act early and seize opportunities while you can.In August, MINT had already announced that its allocation for the financial year was exhausted, and many assumed they would have to wait until the next financial year.

Second:On 7 September, MINT announced that it was opening waiting-list applications for the financial year, with a total of 50 places. Applicants pay AU$7,700 upfront; if they are not subsequently placed, this amount is non-refundable. We immediately helped several clients lodge their applications

Third:Even so, the MINT stream was suddenly flooded with applicants, and on 8 September it announced it would pause the waiting list for now.

MINT can only be lodged by a Panel Agent. It is gradually becoming widely known and is increasingly the VIP channel for offshore applicants. We will continue to update MINT news, so please stay tuned if you are interested.

3. Internal summary of August visa processing progress

August is over, and most people probably only remember the news about state-nomination allocations. The sharp cut to state-nomination places was said to be a concession to clear the visa-processing backlog — so how did visa processing actually go in August, particularly for migration visas?

190：

General occupations: The bulk are still those lodged in September or October 2022 (with a fair number lodged in the second half of 2022 still not granted); no batch grants for general occupations have been seen

The four key groupsare progressing very quickly — we have clients who lodged in May/June 2023 who have already been granted

189：

General occupations: There have been a few sporadic grants among those lodged after being invited in October and December 2022, but not many

The four key groups: Processing is now concentrated on those invited in May 2023

491：

For general occupations, in July we saw quite a few of those lodged in early 2023 granted. In August the wave of grants paused again, and there are probably still some lodged in late 2022 awaiting news

The four key groupsdiffer less from general occupations within Subclass 491, because most of the four key groups go straight for PR, so fewer people apply for Subclass 491

191：

Subclass 191 began batch processing in early August and has already progressed to applications lodged in July 2023. Rather like Subclass 887, it is concentrating resources over a short period to clear the bulk of the backlog

Employer-sponsored:

Subclass 482 is the fastest of all skilled-migration categories, and it is getting faster still — sponsorship, nomination and visa processing are all quick, with many approved together. All occupations are treated alike, and from lodgement to grant, a result within 3 months is something most applicants can expect.

Subclass 186 (Direct Entry) is also accelerating, and over the past two weeks we have had a run of nominations approved that were lodged in October or November 2022

Parent migration:

Subclass 143 requests for further documents have reached applications lodged on 9 May 2017

Subclass 103: the queue date (QD) is now at payment notices issued in mid-September 2011

Subclass 870: sponsorship approval takes 1–2 months, with the visa itself 1–3 months each

For a fuller round-up, see:August summary! Actual processing progress for Subclass 189/190/491, parent and other visas! A snapshot of the latest state-nomination status!

4. Subclass 489 to 887 still offers a six-month residence concession — granted at lightning speed

The Subclass 408 COVID stream was the most representative concession during Australia’s pandemic period, but in fact many visas had time-limited concessions during that special time. Many people assume the pandemic period is over, yet the Concession period within these visas still applies and has not been removed, so many concession benefits can still be taken advantage of. Today’s example is Subclass 489 to 887.

Holding a Subclass 489 or a Subclass 489 bridging visa, and having been outside Australia during the concession period

-Lodging the transfer to Subclass 887 from offshore within the concession period reduces the required residence in a regional area by 6 months, to just 18 months

-Only 9 months of full-time work in a regional area is required (if you only want the work-period concession, you can lodge onshore)

This week we again had two clients who were in China during the pandemic and returned to Australia last year. Now, to take advantage of the residence concession, they departed Australia to lodge Subclass 887. They lodged the day they left the country, and the visa was granted the very next day.

So if you are in a similar position, contact us to lodge as soon as possible!

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

A round-up of recent Newstarsec grants and invitations across all categories:You can press and hold below to view it; the page is updated continuously, and we strongly recommend you save and bookmark it!

State-nomination invitation / GTI invitation statistics

South Australia state nomination

Lodged 6 June 2023; nomination formally approved。 on 6 September 2023Engineering Technologist

Canberra (ACT) state nomination

Matrix invitation received 14 July 2023; nomination formally approved 5 September 2023. Conference and Event Organiser, matrix score 70

Matrix invitation received 14 July 2023; nomination formally approved 4 September 2023. Conference and Event Organiser, matrix score 65

(This entry duplicates the next one; please ignore.) Lodged 6 September 2023; invited for ACT Subclass 190 in September 2023, Mechanical
Engineer

Matrix invitation

Lodged 4 Sep 2023, invited 6 Sep 2023 – Mechanical
Engineer (Subclass 190 PhD Stream)

Tasmania state nomination

Tasmanian ROI (GREEN pass) lodged 3 August 2023; invitation to lodge the nomination received 7 September 2023.

GTI Global Talent invitation

Lodged: 22 Feb 2023; invited: 8 Sep 2023; field: advanced manufacturing.

This week’s grant progress and analysis

Subclass 189 Skilled Independent migration

None this week

Subclass 190 State Nominated skilled migration

Lodged 3 February 2023, granted 5 September 2023; occupation in short supply

Subclass 190 (ACT) lodged onshore 22 May 2023, granted 06 Sep 2023 – Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher

Subclass 190 (ACT) lodged onshore 19 Dec 2019, granted 07 Sep 2023

Subclass 190 (ACT) lodged onshore 06 Apr 2023, granted 06 Sep 2023 – Student Counsellor

Lodged 16 February 2023, granted 5 September 2023, 65+5 points (Registered Nurse (Critical Care
and Emergency) – 254415) (lodged offshore, granted onshore)

Lodged 16 December 2022, granted 6 September 2023, 65+5 points (Finance Broker – 222112) (lodged onshore, granted onshore)

Lodged 23 May 2023, granted 6 September 2023, 65+5 points (Community Worker – 411711) (lodged onshore, granted onshore)

Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional state nomination

Subclass 491 (ACT) lodged onshore 28 Jul 2021, granted 07 Sep 2023 – Chef

Lodged 13 January 2023, granted 5 September 2023 (Subsequent
Entry)

Subclass 887/191 regional permanent residence visa

Lodged 3 August 2023, Subclass 191 granted 5 September 2023

Lodged 5 September 2023, Subclass 887 granted 6 September 2023 (lodged offshore, granted offshore)

Employer-sponsored

Lodged 4 September 2023, Subclass 482 granted 7 September 2023, Statistician

Business and investor migration / GTI

Lodged: 18/11/2022; approved: 04/09/2023, GTI Subclass 858 granted

Partner migration

Lodged 28 March 2023, Subclass 820 granted 6 September 2023

Subclass 820 lodged 21 April 2020, Subclass 801 granted 4 September 2023

Visa application lodged 12 March 2020, Subclass 820 granted 22 April 2021, Subclass 801 granted 6 September 2023

Parent migration / visa / child visa

Lodged 17 August 2023, Subclass 870 sponsorship approved 6 September 2023

Subclass 103 queued parent visa lodged 25 March 2015, Subclass 143 application lodged 14 April 2023, granted 4 September 2023

Subclass 143 application lodged 10 April 2017, granted 4 September 2023

Subclass 600 visitor visa

Granted 2 September 2023, and granted 8 September 2023 — international students’ parents attending graduation ceremonies

Lodged 31 August 2023, granted 6 September 2023

Lodged 1 Sep 2023, granted 7 Sep 2023

Lodged 26 May 2023, granted 6 September 2023 , onshore

Lodged 24 August 2023, granted 4 September 2023, offshore

Lodged 29 August 2023, granted 4 September 2023, offshore

Lodged 31 August 2023, granted 6 September 2023, offshore

Lodged 30 August 2023, granted 7 September 2023, offshore

Subclass 500 Student visa

Lodged 17 July 2023, granted 3 September 2023, higher education

Lodged 10 July 2023, granted 4 September 2023

Lodged 22 June 2023, granted 2 September 2023

Lodged 7 July 2023, granted 4 September 2023, onshore

Subclass 485 Graduate Work visa

Lodged 13 July 2023, granted 7 September 2023

Lodged 23 August 2023, granted 2 September 2023

Subclass 485 lodged onshore 13 Jul 2023, granted 05 Sep 2023

Subclass 485 lodged onshore 14 Jul 2023, granted 07 Sep 2023

Lodged 29 August 2023, granted 6 September 2023 (lodged onshore)

Subclass 408 visa

A large number of Subclass 408 grants this week; only some are listed
Lodged 31 August 2023, granted 6 September 2023

Lodged 31 August 2023, granted 6 September 2023

Lodged 31 August 2023, granted 4 September 2023

Lodged 31 August 2023, Subclass 408 granted 4 September 2023

Lodged 1 September 2023, granted 7 September 2023

Lodged 30 August 2023, granted 1 September 2023

Subclass 408 lodged onshore 31 Aug 2023, granted 06 Sep 2023

Lodged 31 August 2023, granted 6 September 2023

Lodged 1 September 2023, granted 7 September 2023

Subclass 155 visa

Lodged 30 August 2023, granted 6 September 2023

Lodged 30 August 2023, granted 7 August 2023 (less than 2 years’ residence in the past 5 years; lodged offshore, granted offshore)

Subclass 101 visa

Lodged 30 August 2022, granted 4 September 2023

Citizenship application

Lodged 13 April 2023, approved 7 September 2023,

This week’s skills-assessment processing progress

VETASSESS

Lodged: 04/08/2023; approved: 04/09/2023; occupation: Civil Engineering Draftsperson

Lodged: 04/08/2023; approved: 04/09/2023; occupation: Project Administrator

Lodged 2 April 2023, approved 7 September 2023, Hydraulic Engineer

Lodged 6 July 2023, approved 5 September 2023, Engineering Technologist

NAATI recertification

Lodged 30 August 2023, result received 4 September 2023

Past highlights

Can you change employers on a Subclass 482? Can you switch jobs? What happens to my PR if my employer runs into trouble?

Popular offshore-stream occupations need just 75 points for Subclass 190! All local streams ease their requirements!

Not subject to annual financial-year allocations — visa processing may speed up noticeably from here!

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

[Issue 302 Australia Migration Weekly] Queensland Eases Requirements — Get Into the Pool First? Formal Invitations from SA, Canberra and More! MINT News Times Three!

Can you change employers on a Subclass 482? Can you switch jobs? What happens to my PR if my employer runs into trouble?

Popular offshore-stream occupations need just 75 points for Subclass 190! All local streams ease their requirements!

Not subject to annual financial-year allocations — visa processing may speed up noticeably from here!

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