Early on the morning of 19 September, Victor LIN, Head of Newstarsec’s Canberra and Perth offices and a MARA-registered migration agent, attended the MIA ACT Chapter breakfast event, where the A/g Director of ACT Migration – Donny shared the latest data and plans for the ACT (Canberra) state nomination programme.

Together with the new round of Matrix invitations Canberra issued last Friday, 15 September, let’s take a closer look.

Where things stand now—

The latest Matrix invitation round on 15 September:

Offshore applicants:

43 Subclass 190 invitations and 130 Subclass 491 invitations were issued

General onshore applicants:

50 Subclass 190 invitations and 54 Subclass 491 invitations were issued

Onshore Small Business Stream:

4 Subclass 190 invitations were issued, with a minimum invited score of 100 points

2 Subclass 491 invitations were issued, with a minimum invited score of 75 points

Some of our clients’ invitation results are as follows:

Cafe or Restaurant Manager — invited for Subclass 491 at 105 points

External Auditor — invited for Subclass 491 at 105 points

External Auditor — invited for Subclass 190 at 115 points

System Administrator — invited for Subclass 190 at 105 points

Developer Programmer — invited for Subclass 190 at 125 points

Externally reported cases also include Accountants invited for Subclass 190 at 145 and 150 points

The round on the 15th was the state government’s first invitation since receiving its quota, and it is still trying to balance everyone’s competing interests — so this round can still be seen as “testing the waters”.

From the start of the financial year to now—

The position as at 19 September

– Already used:

564 places, or 47% of the total, of which 312 Subclass 190 and 252 Subclass 491

– Remaining places:

288 Subclass 190 places, or 48%; 348 Subclass 491 places remaining, or 58%

– Although it may look like more Matrix invitations are being issued to offshore applicants, the acceptance rate — that is, the share who go on to receive a formal nomination after document assessment following a Matrix pre-invitation, thereby using up a place — is not that high.

At present, the nomination acceptance rate for onshore Canberra applicants is around 60–70%, and the approval rate for onshore Subclass 190 is around 85%

For offshore applicants, the acceptance rate is below 50%, and the approval rate for offshore Subclass 190 is around 75%

–Going forward, one round of Matrix invitations will continue to be issued each month, and the state government expects the minimum invited Matrix score to keep rising.

What’s planned next—

Policy changes:No changes will be made before 1 January 2024, and even after 1 January there will not necessarily be any policy adjustment; if there is one, it is more likely to be a temporary narrowing of the occupation list

Offshore Stream:The state government has no plans for now to close the Offshore Stream, but intends to essentially only invite very niche occupations offshore, or occupations for which there are almost no onshore applicants.

Many people at the meeting also suggested temporarily closing the Offshore Stream this year to first retain local international students

Small Business Stream:The state government indicated that it will continue to issue invitations, but in smaller numbers each round.

Many people present also offered the suggestion that more Small Business invitations should be issued (given that these applicants are local and make a real economic contribution to the local economy, among other reasons), and the state government said it would consider this.

Want to learn more about the ACT (Canberra) state nomination programme for this financial year,

or how to prepare for the next financial year?

Add our client service team below and we’ll arrange it for you

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Recommended in 2023

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The Department launches skills assessment reform! Victoria’s Subclass 190 policy stays in place — open as before!

Australia records net overseas migration of over 454,000, driving 81% of population growth!

Victoria’s Subclass 190 policy and occupation list remain unchanged — offshore applicants can still apply! Now open!

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