This Week in Migration

Migration Weekly

I. Victoria reopens state nomination and keeps most of its policy and lists!

II. The Subclass 407 is once again an excellent option for renewing your stay and bridging to state nomination / Subclass 482 migration

III. Skills assessment reform officially begins — across seven fronts?

IV. Working holiday visa applications are NOT closed — lodge yours without delay!

V. A weekly round-up of grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing

I. Victoria reopens state nomination and keeps most of its policy and lists!

This week the state-nomination spotlight falls on Victoria, a state many applicants have been waiting for. Because Victoria had the lowest requirements and the largest allocation last year, many expected it to tighten its criteria this financial year. After some deliberation, however, Victoria has decided to keep last financial year’s policy. Its Subclass 190 policy and lists remain entirely unchanged — only the priority sectors have been revised. The Subclass 491, on the other hand, reverts to the policy in place at the start of last financial year: onshore applicants must work and live in regional Victoria, so any ROI from last financial year must be re-lodged.

Victoria’s Subclass 190 requirements this financial year

– EOI of 65 points

– Use the Department’s occupation list and hold a corresponding skills assessment

– English of 6 in each band

– May be lodged from within Victoria or from overseas

– Remains open to both overseas and onshore applicants

– Those who lodged an ROI last financial year need not lodge again

– However, if your salary or partner points have changed, you must withdraw the original ROI and re-lodge

Victoria’s invitations

Candidates are not selected by EOI score but rather on the criteria set out in the ROI — see the details below

– Salary is not a mandatory requirement

– Among onshore candidates, preference goes to applicants on higher salaries, working in a relevant role in Victoria, with longer work experience;

among overseas candidates, the focus is on long work experience, strong English and a skilled partner

– This financial year’s priority occupations are:

Health

Social services

ICT

Early childhood and secondary school teachers

Advanced manufacturing

Infrastructure

Renewable energy

Services and tourism (Subclass 491 only)

Victoria has now opened ROI lodgements, and this week we have already helped many clients submit theirs. We expect competition within the same occupation to be far stronger than last year, and much will depend on how much weight the state government gives to priority occupations, which in turn determines how many places are left for other occupations.The timing of the next invitation round has not yet been confirmed. The state government has also indicated that the entire state-nomination programme will close in early 2024, again owing to the limited allocation.

For more detailed analysis, see:Victoria officially confirms its Subclass 190 policy and lists are unchanged — now open! ICT, infrastructure and related occupations are priorities, so lodge now!

Places are limited — give it a go, but manage your expectations. If you’d like to learn more about Victorian state nomination, add our consultant below:

This Friday someone shared that Canberra had issued new Matrix invitations. Our results include:

Cafe or Restaurant Manager — invited for the Subclass 491 with 105 points

External Auditor — invited for the Subclass 491 with 105 points

External Auditor — invited for the Subclass 190 with 115 points

System Administrator — invited for the Subclass 190 with 105 points

Developer Programmer — invited for the Subclass 190 with 125 points

We have also seen external reports of Accountants invited for the Subclass 190 with 145 and 150 points. No further reports have surfaced yet; even common but less sought-after occupations have now passed 100 points, while Accounting has always been the most extreme case — with far more applicants than places, scores this financial year are bound to stay high.

II. The Subclass 407 — a strong option for renewing your stay and bridging to state nomination / Subclass 482

Thanks to a range of favourable policies and priority processing, the Subclass 482 has been extremely popular from the end of last financial year through to now. Many enquirers, however, find the cost too high for their employer, or that their own work experience falls short. In that case it’s worth considering the more affordable cousin of the Subclass 482 — the Subclass 407 Training visa.

If you currently have a job in Australia, the Subclass 407 can:

help you solve the problem of having no visa to renew once your Subclass 408 ends

It can also help you keep building work experience to meet the requirements for a skills assessment, state nomination, points or the Subclass 482

The Subclass 407 requires an eligible employer willing to provide training to the employee

The process: employer sponsorship approved → employee nomination → employee visa granted

The employer must mainly satisfy the following

– Be a lawfully registered Australian entity with the standing to sponsor and nominate

The employer must provide basic company information — such as organisational structure, ASIC details and relevant company financial statements such as the BAS and income statement

– Provide the applicant with a detailed training plan

A thorough, tailor-made training plan prepared for the individual applicant is the heart of a Subclass 407 application

The employee must mainly satisfy:

1. English at functional level — that is, an overall IELTS score of 4.5 or equivalent

2. Within the two years before lodging the Subclass 407 application, have either:

① one year of full-time work experience in the nominated occupation (part-time work may be converted and combined); or

② one year of full-time study relevant to the nominated occupation

Hundreds of common occupations are eligible, and none of them requires a skills assessment. These include, but are not limited to:

Compared with other employer-sponsored options, the Subclass 407 also has the advantage of low cost. Among the third-party fees (2023–24 financial year prices):

the employer sponsorship application fee is AUD 420

the employee nomination application fee is AUD 170

the primary applicant’s visa fee is AUD 405

For a more detailed overview, see:A low-cost, versatile option to renew your stay → build experience through full-time work and bridge to the Subclass 189 / state nomination / Subclass 482. Hundreds of occupations are eligible — marketing, property, engineering, IT, accounting and more!

If you’d like a specific assessment based on your current job, please contact our consultant below to arrange one:

III. Skills assessment reform officially begins — across seven fronts?

Remember the biggest migration reform in 30 years proposed by the Labor government? One of its key projects — reform of the skilled-migration skills assessment — has now made fresh progress. The government has formally opened public consultation on reforming skills assessment, and in its discussion draft has set out seven guiding principles for improvement:

One: a good user experience

Two: a reasonable fee structure

Three: fair, reasonable and highly relevant assessment standards that remain forward-looking

Four: fair and impartial assessment

Five: efficient and timely delivery of outcomes

Six: assessment outcomes that translate into practice

Seven: operational integrity and transparency

Among them are indicative proposals on fees, the requirements and rules for assessment, and the processing workflow and timeframes. Public consultation is generally the opening stage of any major Australian reform, and there is still a long way to go before anything is finalised. The reform has begun — now we wait for the outcome.

For more information, see:Official: reform of Australia’s skilled-migration skills assessment has formally begun! Focusing on fees, processing speed, workflow and more, it will be reformed across seven fronts!?

IV. Working holiday visa applications are NOT closed — lodge yours without delay!

From last week until now there have been claims that the WHV working holiday visa can no longer be lodged. This is in fact inaccurate — lodgements can still be made through the system.
It’s true that the link to the Australian Embassy in China’s notice page on the Subclass 462 currently won’t open, and the Department’s website shows the WHV for China as “suspended”.

However, the pre-application website has not closed, and these information pages do not affect lodgement. Once you have registered an ImmiAccount, you can still submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through your account

Below is an Expression of Interest we successfully lodged on 12 September:

The Subclass 462, which Mainland China applicants can apply for, continues to use a ballot system this year. The lodgement date and conditions have no direct bearing on whether you are selected, and so far no ballot has been held this financial year.

So the current status of the working holiday visa for Mainland China applicants is:lodgement is open and a sizeable backlog of EOIs has built up, but no ballot has been held yet

If you’d like help lodging yours, add our consultant below

V. A weekly round-up of grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing

A summary of Newstarsec’s recent grants and invitations across all categories:Press and hold below to view — the page is updated continuously, so we strongly recommend you save and bookmark it!

State-nomination and GTI invitation statistics

South Australia state nomination

Formal nomination invitations

Lodged 28 April 2023, approved 14 September 2023. Occupation: Civil Engineer

Lodged 27 April 2023, approved 11 September 2023. Occupation: Retail Buyer

Canberra (ACT) state nomination

Matrix invitations

Lodged 4 Sep 2023, invited 15 Sep with 105 points — Cafe or
Restaurant Manager (Excluding positions in Fast Food) (Subclass 491)

Lodged 22 Aug 2023, invited 15 Sep with 105 points — External
Auditor (Subclass 491)

Lodged 24 Aug 2023, invited 15 Sep with 115 points — External Auditor (Subclass 190)

Tasmania state nomination

ROI pre-invitations

Lodged a TAS Subclass 491 ROI on 25 August 2023, received a TAS Subclass 491 pre-invitation on 14 September 2023. Engineering

Technologist

Lodged a TAS Subclass 190 ROI on 25 July 2023, received a TAS Subclass 190 pre-invitation on 28 July 2023, lodged TAS Subclass 190 state nomination on 8 August 2023, TAS Subclass 190 nomination approved 14 September 2023. Software
Engineer

Northern Territory state nomination

Formal nomination

Lodged 19 July 2023, approved 11 September 2023. NT Subclass 190 state nomination (non-MINT). Community Worker

Lodged: 22/03/2023; invited: 15/09/2023. MINT programme Subclass 190 migration application EOI invited. Occupation: Marketing Specialist

GTI Global Talent invitations

Lodged: 10/03/2023 invited: 15/09/2023; lodged: 10/03/2023 invited: 15/09/2023

This week’s grants — progress and analysis

Subclass 189 Skilled Independent

Lodged 30 June 2023, granted 13 September 2023. Occupation in shortage

Lodged 20 June 2023, granted 13 September 2023. Medical Laboratory Scientist

Lodged 19 June 2023, granted 13 September 2023. Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher

Subclass 190 State-Nominated Skilled

Lodged Subclass 190 (ACT) onshore on 13 Dec 2022, granted 11 Sep 2023 — Web Developer

Lodged 6 January 2023, granted 14 September 2023. Secondary School Teacher

Lodged 31 March 2023, granted 11 September 2023. Subclass 190 Community Worker

Lodged 30 June 2022, granted 11 September 2023. Subclass 190 Accountant

Lodged 28 May 2023, granted 11 September 2023. Community Worker

Lodged 26 May 2023, granted 11 September 2023. Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher

Lodged 24 April 2023, granted 11 September 2023. Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher

Lodged 17 April 2023, granted 13 September 2023. Retail Pharmacist

Lodged 15 December 2021, granted 14 September 2023. Occupational Therapist

Lodged 30 August 2022, granted 14 September 2023. Accountant (General)

Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional

Lodged 18 November 2021, granted 13 September 2023. Occupation: Accountant

Subclass 887 / 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional)

Lodged Subclass 191 on 22 August 2023, Subclass 191 granted 15 September 2023

Employer-sponsored

Nomination approved 20 May 2023, Subclass 186 (Direct Entry) granted 12 September 2023. Chef

Business and investor migration / GTI

Lodged Subclass 858 on 18 February 2022, granted 12 September 2023

Partner migration

Lodged 20 June 2023, Subclass 820 granted 14 September 2023

Lodged 29 June 2023, Subclass 820 granted 12 September 2023

Lodged Subclass 801 on 22 October 2022, Subclass 801 granted 13 September 2023

Subclass 600 Visitor

Lodged Subclass 600 offshore on 06 Sep 2023, granted 12 Sep 2023

Lodged 23 August 2023, granted 15 September 2023. Subclass 600 — PR holder’s parents

Lodged 1 September 2023, granted 15 September 2023. Subclass 600 — PR holder’s parents

Lodged 8 September 2023, granted 15 September 2023. Subclass 600 — visitor visa overturned

Lodged 6 September 2023, granted 14 September 2023. Subclass 600 — PR holder’s parents

Lodged 6 September 2023, granted 12 September 2023

Lodged 24 August 2023, granted 14 September 2023

Lodged 29 June 2023, granted 14 September 2023

Subclass 500 Student

Lodged Subclass 500 onshore on 19 Jul 2023, granted 14 Sep 2023

Lodged 26 July 2023, granted 14 September 2023. Higher education

Lodged 20 July 2023, granted 14 September 2023. Higher education

Lodged 19 July 2023, granted 14 September 2023. Subclass 500 — higher education

Lodged 31 August 2023, granted 14 September 2023

Lodged 20 July 2023, granted 15 September 2023

Subclass 485 Graduate Work

Lodged Subclass 485 onshore on 20 Jul 2023, granted 14 Sep 2023

Lodged 5 July 2023, granted 12 September 2023

Lodged 18 July 2023, granted 11 September 2023

Lodged 20 July 2023, granted 13 September 2023

Subclass 408

Lodged Subclass 408 onshore on 01 Sep 2023, granted 13 Sep 2023

Lodged 1 September 2023, granted 11 September 2023

Lodged mid-March 2023, granted 11 September 2023

Lodged 6 March 2023, granted 11 September 2023

Subclass 155

Lodged 11 September 2023, granted 11 September 2023

This week’s skills assessment processing

VETASSESS

Lodged 8 August 2023, approved 12 September 2023. Occupation: Graphic Designer

Lodged: 04/08/2023 passed: 13/09/2023. Occupation: Project Administrator

Lodged: 08/08/2023 passed: 13/09/2023. Occupation: Architectural Draftsperson

Lodged: 08/08/2023 passed: 11/09/2023. Occupation: Marketing Specialist

Lodged: 07/08/2023 passed: 11/09/2023. Occupation: Corporate Services Manager

Lodged: 08/08/2023 passed: 11/09/2023. Occupation: Marketing Specialist

Lodged: 08/08/2023 passed: 12/09/2023. Occupation: 224999 Information Organisation Professional

Lodged 15 August 2023, approved 11 September 2023. Occupation: Management Accountant review

Lodged 30 August 2023, approved 15 September 2023. External Auditor

Lodged 29 August 2023, approved 15 September 2023. Accountant

Lodged mid-July 2023, approved 12 September 2023. Taxation Accountant

Lodged 22 August 2023, approved 12 September 2023. Finance Manager
Lodged: 22/08/2023 passed: 13/09/2023. Accountant (General)

Lodged 17 August 2023, approved 12 September 2023. Electrical Engineer

ACS

Lodged 15 June 2023, completed 12 September 2023. Software Engineer

Past articles worth revisiting

A low-cost, versatile option to renew your stay → build experience through full-time work and bridge to the Subclass 189 / state nomination / Subclass 482!

Aged-care and disability-care workers in China have a chance to migrate to Australia!

Victoria’s Subclass 190 policy and lists remain unchanged — overseas applicants can still apply, and it’s now open!

Migration news WeChat group

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[Issue 303 · Australia Migration Weekly] The Department launches skills assessment reform! Victoria’s Subclass 190 reopens unchanged! Is the low-cost “employer sponsorship” right for you?

A low-cost, versatile option to renew your stay → build experience through full-time work and bridge to the Subclass 189 / state nomination / Subclass 482!

Aged-care and disability-care workers in China have a chance to migrate to Australia!

Victoria’s Subclass 190 policy and lists remain unchanged — overseas applicants can still apply, and it’s now open!

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