This Week in Migration — Summary

Migration Weekly

I. NSW Subclass 190 New Year’s First Round — More Occupations, Lower Scores Invited!

II. Home Affairs Processed 4.3 Million Visas in Seven Months, Clearing Old 190 & 491 Backlogs; Employer Groups Urge TSMIT Cap

III. Australian Passport — Visa-Free Access to 185 Destinations

IV. Working Holiday Work-Restriction Exemption Extended to Mid-Year

V. Weekly Grants, Invitations, Skills Assessment & Citizenship Processing Roundup

I. NSW Subclass 190 New Year’s First Round — More Occupations, Lower Scores Invited!

NSW followed Victoria in issuing its first round of Subclass 190 pre-invitations for 2023. The reason this round attracted particular attention is that it isthe first invitation round after NSW officially removed the minimum points and work-experience requirements for all occupations,and it brings many notable changes:

– More invitations issued, covering a wider range of occupations

–Accountingreceived more invitations than before, but scores must still be arounda base score of 95–100(with isolated reports of lower-scoring invitations);Auditingis slightly lower,with multiple base-score 90 invitations

–IT occupationsalso saw invitations across many sub-fields, with scores arounda base score of 85–90

–Engineeringin popular occupations has dropped more noticeably,with multiple 85-point or lower-scoring invitations

–Offshore applicantsreceived a greater share of invitations, with many less-common occupationsinvited at 65–70 points

–Many everyday occupations on the NSW list received invitations this round,including copywriter / marketing specialist / HR manager / interior designer, among others,andat scores around 65–85.

See Newstars internal data below:

For more complete NSW 11 January invitation data, see:NSW Subclass 190 — First Round After Removing All Occupation Pre-requirements! More Invitations, Wider Occupations, Minimum 65 Points, Most Occupations Scoring Lower!

NSW (Sydney) Subclass 190 Submission Requirements

– Onshore (or offshore) applicants must have resided in NSW (or overseas) for at least 6 months

– EOI score of at least 65 points

– No mandatory job offer or work experience requirement

– English language score of at least 6 in each band

The vast majority of common migration occupations are eligible to apply

Contact our team for a free eligibility assessment

II. Home Affairs Processed 4.3 Million Visas in Seven Months, Clearing Old 190 & 491 Backlogs; Employer Groups Urge TSMIT Cap.

The Department of Home Affairs continues to accelerate visa processing.Over the past 7 months, the Department finalised 4.3 million visa applications in total — most are temporary visas, including 2.2 million visitor visas and 370,000 student visas. Aside from these fast-processed visas, there are also no quota restrictions,with a further 64,000 temporary skilled visas (primarily the Subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa) processed without financial-year quota constraints.

By end of last year, the Department had additionally hired400 new staff dedicated to visa processing. As staffing levels grow, approval rates have risen sharply —in the most recent six-week period alone, 150,000 visas were processed, with over 3,500 applications handled every day.。

This week,we had multiple Subclass 190 and 491 applications lodged in 2020 or early 2021 granted, many for offshore-only applicants — another wave of old backlog clearances. We hope everyone who has been waiting a long time receives good news very soon.

Employer representative bodies also submitted their migration reform recommendations this week. The Business Council of Australia contends that the TSMITshould not exceed $65,000, while the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) argues that$63000is already quite high, and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry considers a reasonable increase to be$60000。

For more details, see:Home Affairs Processed 4.3 Million Visas in 7 Months, 3,500+ Per Day Recently! “Retain 5 Million Programme but Raise Requirements” “$53,900 Should Not Be Increased Too Much.”

III. Australian Passport — Visa-Free Access to 185 Destinations

In the latest Henley Passport Index,the Australian passportallows holders to accessvia185 destinations via visa-free entry, visa on arrival, visitor permits, or ETA，ranking jointly with Canada and several other nationsat 8th place globally.。

Of the countries and regions accessible to Australian passport holdersvisa-free, 49 are in Europe. Oceania destinations are almost entirely accessible without restriction.In the Americas, 19 destinationsare visa-free for Australian passport holders,while in Asiaeasily accessible countries requiring no visa includeHong Kong (China), Malaysia, and the Philippines,among others.

Cambodia, Egypt, and Lebanonand more than 40 other countries or regions requireAustralians to hold a visa on arrival or visitor permit to enter,while popular destinations such asthe United States and Canadarequirean electronic travel authorisation (ETA).。

That leavesdestinations where Australian passport holders must obtain a visa in advanceor hold prior approval before obtaining a visa on arrival— still 42 such countries or territories —including mainland China, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, and India.

Current Australian citizenship processing wait times are shown in the chart below.

The backlog stands at close to 100,000 applications, with approximately 10,000 new lodgements per month.Once the federal assessment is complete, citizenship ceremonies are administered by local councils and vary by region. Check wait times at:

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/citizenship-processing-times/ceremony-wait-times

IV. Working Holiday Work-Restriction Exemption Extended to Mid-Year

During the pandemic, Working Holiday visa (WHV) holders couldwork for the same employer for more than 6 monthswithout notifying the Department or lodging additional applications. This week it was confirmed that this exemption has been extended to30 June 2023.。

Also related to pandemic-era work arrangements:the unlimited work rights exemption for Student visa holders was previously confirmed to continue until 30 June 2023.

Another visa many people are asking about —Subclass 408 — Temporary Activity visa(which allows full-time work) —currently has no confirmed end date.The Department has previously indicated that it will consult stakeholders thoroughly before making any announcement, and will not abruptly terminate the visa, as it is aware that many employers and employees currently rely on it.Furthermore, the previous requirement to work in a critical sector in order to apply for a 12-month Subclass 408 visa was quietly removed from the Department’s website,meaning that any work in Australia now qualifies to renew for a further 12-month Subclass 408.The prerequisite is that your previous visa must have carried work rights — for example, if your tourist visa expires, you cannot bridge to a Subclass 408.Currently,the visacan still be lodged up to 90 days before expiry or within 28 days after expiry, and approval times are very fast.

For advice on Subclass 408 renewals or other visa options, contact our team below.

V. Weekly Grants, Invitations, Skills Assessment & Citizenship Processing Roundup

A summary of recent Newstars grants and invitations across all visa types. The page is updated continuously — save it for easy reference!

State Nomination & GTI Invitation Data

ACT (Canberra) State Nomination

None this week

VIC State Nomination

Formal Nomination

See data above

TAS State Nomination

None this week

NSW State Nomination

Pre-Invitation

Registered Nurse (70+5) — offshore, single, 3 years overseas experience; EOI lodged 2022/12/21, pre-invited 2023/01/10

Engineering Professionals nec — 233999 (85+5), single, 1 year work experience; EOI lodged 2022/01/19, pre-invited 2023/01/10

Software Engineer 261313 (90+5) — offshore, single, no work experience; EOI lodged 2022/12/01, pre-invited 2023/01/10

Software Engineer 261313 (90+5) — onshore, with spouse, no work experience; EOI lodged 2021/05/21, pre-invited 2023/01/10

Civil Engineer (90+5) — onshore, single, less than 1 year work experience; EOI lodged 2022/12/07, pre-invited 2023/01/10

Invited 2023/01/11, Occupation: Statistician, 80 points

SA State Nomination

ROI lodged 2022/09/08, Nomination pre-invited 2023/01/11

Applied 2022/12/08, invited 2023/01/10, Occupation: ICT Support and Test Engineers nec

QLD State Nomination

None this week

WA State Nomination

None this week

NT State Nomination (MINT)

MINT Subclass 190 invited Occupation: Accounting Score: 65 points Lodged: 26/8/2022 Invited: 13/1/2023state nomination approved

MINT Subclass 190 invited, Occupation: Marketing Specialist, EOI score 65 points, state nomination lodged 2022/09/08, 2023/01/13state nomination approved

MINT Subclass 190 invited, Occupation: Financial Investment Adviser, EOI score 65 points, state nomination lodged 2022/11/29, 2023/01/13state nomination approved

Business & Investor Migration Invitations

None this week

This Week’s Visa Grants — Progress & Analysis

Subclass 189 — Skilled Independent

2022/12/10 lodged, 2023/01/10 granted (onshore
Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher)

2022/10/08 lodged, 2023/01/11 granted (onshore Early Childhood (Pre-primary School)
Teacher)

2022/10/07 lodged, 2023/01/10 granted — Subclass 189 Secondary School Teacher

2022/10/07 lodged, 2023/01/12 granted — Subclass 189 Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher

2022 10/05 lodged，2023 01/04 grantedthe visa (onshore)

2018 11/16 lodged，2023 01/05 grantedthe visa(offshore)

Subclass 190 — State/Territory Nominated

2022/04/26 lodged, 2023/01/09 granted — Subclass 190 VIC Registered Nurse (Aged Care)

2021 12/20 lodged，2023 1/12 grantedthe visa 190 Developer Programmer

2020/05/13 lodged, 2023/01/13 granted

2021/12/23 lodged, 2023/01/06 granted (offshore)

Subclass 491 (new) / Subclass 489 (old) — Regional Sponsored

2021/07/30 applied, 2023/01/13 granted, Occupation: Software Engineer, onshore

2021/02/06 applied, 2023/01/12 granted, Occupation: Finance Broker, onshore

2022/06/30 applied, 2023/01/12 granted, Occupation: Private Tutors and Teachers nec, offshore, with spouse and children

2021/03/15 lodged, 2023/01/12 granted — Subclass 491 Television Journalist

2020/10/26 lodged, 2023/01/12 granted (MINT)

Subclass 887 — Skilled Regional

None this week

Employer-Sponsored

2022/09/16 lodged Subclass 820/801, 2023/01/04 Subclass 820 granted

2022/01/21 nomination application lodged, 2023/01/04 approved (Quantity
Surveyor)

Business/Investor Migration / GTI

None this week

Subclass 600 — Visitor Visa

2022/12/12 lodged, 2023/01/09 granted, offshore application — PR parents

2023/01/10 lodged, 2023/01/11 granted, onshore application — PR parents

2023 1/10 lodged，2023 1/13 grantedthe visa

2022/12/08 lodged, 2023/01/09 granted

2022/12/21 lodged, 2023/01/04 granted (onshore)

2022/12/16 lodged, 2023/01/04 granted (offshore)

Subclass 500 — Student Visa

2022/12/21 applied, 2023/01/11 granted, onshore

2022/02/18 applied, 2023/01/11 granted, onshore

2022/02/18 applied for Subclass 590 Guardian visa, 2023/01/11 granted, onshore

2022/12/12 lodged, 2023/01/03 granted (offshore)

2022/12/23 lodged, 2023/01/04 granted (onshore)

2022/05/20 lodged, 2023/01/05 granted (offshore)

2022/12/22 lodged, 2023/01/06 granted (offshore)

Subclass 485 — Graduate Work Visa

2022/09/30 lodged, 2023/01/09 granted — Subclass 485

2022/05/10 lodged, 2023/01/03 granted (onshore)

Partner Migration

2021/12/20 lodged Subclass 820, 2023/01/10 granted

2022/08/16 lodged Subclass 820, 2023/01/11 granted

2022 09/16 lodged820/801, 2023 01/04 granted820

Parent Migration / Visa

2016/11 (late) lodged Subclass 143, 2022/12 (late) additional documents submitted, 2023/01/11 granted

2016/11/29 lodged Subclass 143, 2023/01/04 granted

155 — Resident Return Visa

2022/12/29 lodged, 2023/01/11 approved (family of three, offshore — residence requirement not met)

2022/10/14 lodged, 2023/01/05 granted

Subclass 408 — Temporary Activity visa

2022/12/23 lodged, 2023/01/09 granted

2023/01/03 lodged, 2023/01/10 granted

2022/12/27 lodged, 2023/01/03 granted

2023/01/04 lodged, 2023/01/04 granted

2022/07/28 lodged, 2023/01/06 granted

2022/04/09 lodged, 2023/01/06 granted

Citizenship Applications

None this week

This Week’s Skills Assessment Processing

Engineers Australia (EA) — Engineering

2023/01/05 lodged, 2023/01/10 nomination passed

Past Recommended Articles — Click image to read

NSW Latest Subclass 190 — Wider Occupations, Lower Scores, More Invitations!

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Home Affairs Processed 4.3 Million Visas in 7 Months, 3,500+ Per Day Recently!

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Reply with any keyword or number below in the Official Account (not in article comments) to get the most up-to-date, expert migration news!Reply [A] to view the full directory (all topic keywords).

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

Reply: 000 → Latest visa / citizenship processing wait times

Reply: 001 → Latest Subclass 189 EOI official report

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