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Australia Migration Weekly #314 — Overseas IT Invited for Victoria 190! Queensland Invites QS Holders! A 189 Round Before Christmas?

Key points

What Canberra and Subclass 189 invitation plans were flagged at the end of 2023?

Canberra announced that invitations would be issued on 5 February 2024. The MIA says the Department may issue a round of Subclass 189 invitations before Christmas in 2023. If that round does go ahead, the number of invitations issued would be relatively small.

Published December 2023.

This Week’s Migration News Roundup

Migration Weekly

1. Victoria Invites Multiple IT Occupations — Work Experience and a “10-Point” Spouse Required

2. Queensland Delivers New Invitations on Schedule — Mostly Onshore, QS Included!

3. Canberra’s November Round Hits Record-High Scores — Next Round Pushed to February Next Year…

4. A 189 “Little Gift” Before Christmas?

5. Weekly Summary: Visa Grants, Invitations and Skills-Assessment Processing Progress

1. Victoria Invites Multiple IT Occupations — Work Experience and a “10-Point” Spouse Required

Victoria’s state nomination team pre-announced an ROI round early this week, then unleashed a flood of invitations by midday. The volume and the range of occupations were quite substantial, with some pleasant surprises, The chart below shows the data we collected as of Friday.

Collected Victorian ROI invitation data by occupation and points

For this Victorian round, based on the data we observed

– ICT occupations made up the majority

More striking than the scores was the work experience of invitees. Offshore applicants commonly scored 10 points for work experience, i.e. claiming at least 5 years of experience, while onshore applicants had very high salaries — annual income above AUD 100,000, as well as many offshore applicants had a Skilled partner (skills assessment + competent English — four 4s) adding another 10 points

– Some non-Victorian-priority occupations also received invitations this round, with comparatively higher scores

Auditor, Marketing Specialist, Public Relations Specialist, Management Consultant, Contract Administrator — mostly offshore, able to reach 85–95 points — such EOI scores typically reflect lengthy experience, Proficient (7) or Superior (8) English, plus a skilled partner

–Engineering and infrastructure-engineering occupations also received invitations this round, for example Civil Engineer, Architect, Quality Assurance Manager, with scores in the 80–90 range

Victoria has previously indicated that this financial year’s skilled migration program will close in early 2024. Although the exact month is unknown, we recommend submitting as early as possible. IT and engineering occupations with substantial overseas work experience and the 10-point allocation are well worth trying.

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2. Queensland Delivers New Invitations on Schedule — Mostly Onshore, QS Included

Queensland and Victoria released invitations on the same day, at almost the same time. Queensland had previously promised to run one round per month, with 200–300 invitations each, aiming to sustain this through to the end of the financial year — and so far they’re keeping their word.

The chart below shows data collected from our clients and external sources:

Queensland invitation data collected from clients and external sources

Queensland has now run 3 rounds in total, and overall the pattern is very similar to New South Wales and Victoria — favouring healthcare, education, IT and construction/engineering occupations, and favouring applicants with extensive work experience. Queensland simply issues fewer invitations, and has not set priority occupations.

Queensland only opened applications in late September, and everyone applying for this financial year had to resubmit their EOI. However, according to the state government, they already have tens of thousands of applications in the backlog, so competition in Queensland is also very fierce.

A relatively stable pathway remains the Small Business Owner (SBO) stream, which is one of the top choices for applicants in popular fields like Accounting who cannot reach high EOI scores.

3. Canberra’s November Round Delivers High-Score Invitations — Next Round Pushed to February Next Year…

Canberra released a new round of Matrix invitations early this week. Based on our invited clients, scores this round were relatively high, and some equally high-scoring applicants didn’t receive invitations. On Friday Canberra published the official report for this round.

The number of invitations was relatively small, and scores for popular occupations were quite high — Accounting and IT required Matrix 100+, and even Small Business applicants needed comparatively high scores.

We also contacted the state government, and they said they’re still constrained by this year’s quota — compounded by the fact that the first round of the financial year issued too many invitations (at the time, the 70% quota cut hadn’t yet been announced), so things are now a bit tight.

In addition, Canberra has pre-announced that the next round of invitations will not be issued until 5 February 2024. Although Canberra often issues invitations earlier than announced, since the pre-announcement already points to February, it will likely be late January or early February at the earliest.

4. A 189 “Little Gift” Before Christmas?

MIA notified members this week that the Department of Home Affairs may issue a round of 189 invitations before Christmas. If issued, the round would be relatively small.

It was previously mentioned that 189 would run a round by the end of 2023, primarily to invite the in-demand “Three Treasure” occupations (healthcare, teaching, engineering)。

Either way, 189 is a low-cost back-up — any invitation is a bonus. Please check in advance whether any of your documents have expired, and here’s hoping Home Affairs really does deliver a gift.

5. Weekly Summary: Visa Grants, Invitations, Skills Assessments and Citizenship Processing Progress

A roundup of recent NewStars visa grants and invitations across case types:Press and hold below to view — the page is updated continuously, so we strongly recommend bookmarking it!

Access to Newstars’ recent visa grants and invitations roundup

State-Nominated Invitation / GTI Invitation Data

Canberra State Nomination

Matrix Invitations

Submitted 19 October 2023; invited 29 November 2023 at 105 points — Software engineer (491)

Submitted 17 November 2023; invited 27 November 2023 at 100 points — Solicitor (491)

Submitted 16 October 2023; invited 27 November 2023 at 110 points — Registered Nurse nec (190)

Submitted 27 November 2023; invited 27 November 2023 at 125 points —  Cafe or Restaurant Manager (Excluding positions in

Fast Food) (190)

Submitted 19 September 2023; invited 27 November 2023 at 70 points — Recruitment Consultant (190)

Submitted 17 October 2023; invited 27 November 2023 at 95 points — ICT Business Analyst (491)

South Australia State Nomination

Formal Nominations

Submitted 16 November 2023; invited 27 November 2023. Occupation: Private Tutors and Teachers nec. 95 points

EOI submitted 21 November 2023; pre-invited 28 November 2023. Occupation: Private Tutors and Teachers nec. 80 points

This Week’s Visa Grants and Analysis

189 Skilled Independent

Submitted 9 December 2022; granted 29 November 2023. Occupation: External Auditor. 85 points

Submitted 14 December 2022; granted 29 November 2023. Occupation: External Auditor. 80 points

Submitted 9 December 2022; granted 29 November 2023

190 State-Nominated

190 ACT onshore application submitted 29 Oct 2021; granted 27 Nov 2023 — Resident Medical Officer

190 ACT onshore application submitted 05 Jan 2023; granted 29 Nov 2023 — Developer Programmer

190 ACT onshore application submitted 27 Apr 2023; granted 29 Nov 2023 — Retail Pharmacist

Submitted 23 January 2023; granted 29 November 2023. Occupation: ICT Support and Test Engineers nec. 70 points

Submitted 11 January 2023; granted 29 November 2023. Occupation: Landscape Architect. 80 points

Submitted: 05/01/2023 Granted: 29/11/2023 Marketing Specialist

491 Regional State Nomination

491 ACT onshore application submitted 11 Jan 2022; granted 29 Nov 2023 — ICT Business Analyst

Investor Migration / GTI

888A, submitted: 15/09/2021   granted: 01/12/2023, applicant onshore in Australia

Employer Sponsorship

Nomination approved 22 August 2023; 482 granted 28 November 2023 — Marketing Specialist

Parent Visas

Submitted 26 September 2023; 870 sponsorship eligibility approved 28 November 2023

Submitted 29 September 2023; 870 sponsorship eligibility 1 December 2023

Submitted 8 May 2017; request for further information received 16 November 2023; granted 28 November 2023

600 Visitor Visa

Submitted 27 November 2023; granted 30 November 2023.

Submitted 24 October 2023; granted 30 November 2023 — overturned after two prior refusals

Submitted 28 November 2023; granted 28 November 2023

Submitted 15 September 2023; granted 28 November 2023

Subclass 500 Student Visa

Submitted 7 September 2023; granted 28 November 2023

Submitted 19 October 2023; granted 30 November 2023 — Higher Education

Submitted 13 September 2023; granted 30 November 2023 — Higher Education

485 Temporary Graduate Visa (International Student Post-Study Work)

Large volume of 485 grants this week — only a selection shown below

485 onshore application submitted 17 Jul 2023; granted 27 Nov 2023

485 onshore application submitted 05 Oct 2023; granted 28 Nov 2023

485 onshore application submitted 07 Nov 2023; granted 29 Nov 2023

485 onshore application submitted 04 Oct 2023; granted 29 Nov 2023

Submitted 17 October 2023; granted 30 November 2023

Submitted 14 November 2023; granted 30 November 2023

Submitted 16 November 2023; granted 30 November 2023

Subclass 155 Resident Return Visa

Submitted 30 November 2023; granted 30 November 2023

This Week’s Skills Assessment Processing Progress

VETASSESS

Submitted: 17/11/2023 Approved: 26/11/2023 — Project Administrator

Submitted: 08/08/2023 Approved: 29/11/2023 — Flying Instructor

ACS 

Submitted 18 October 2023; approved 27 November 2023 — Software Engineer

Submitted 19 October 2023; approved 27 November 2023 — Software Engineer

Previous Featured Articles

This Study-Migration Pathway Is Trending Again — Skills Assessment Without English Test or Work Experience After Graduation!

Related reading on language and work experience exemptions for graduate skills assessments

Common Questions When Transitioning from 491 to 191 — A Rundown of Recommended-State Requirements for 491!

Related reading on moving from Subclass 491 to 191 and state nomination requirements

Employer Sponsorship Is Booming — You Can Even Waive the English Requirement? Under What Circumstances?

Related reading on language exemptions for employer sponsorship

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Reply in the Official Account with the numbers below or any keyword (not in the article comments at the bottom), for the most timely and authoritative migration news! Reply [A] to view the directory (contains all topics)!

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

Reply: 000 → Latest visa / citizenship processing times

Reply: 001 → Latest 189 EOI official report

Reply: 002 → 189 Skilled Independent

Reply: 003 → 190 State Nomination (all states)

Reply: 004 → 489 Regional State Nomination

Reply: 005 → International-Student Business & Investor Migration

Reply: 006 → Parent migration visas

Reply: 007 → Employer-sponsored visas

Reply: 008 → 485 visa

Reply: 009 → Partner migration / partner points

Reply: 010 → Work-experience points

Reply: 011 → PY (Professional Year) points

Reply: 012 → NAATI / CCL points

Reply: 013 → Regional-area points

Reply: 014 → Tourist / family-visit visas

Reply: 015 → Working-holiday visa

Reply: 016 → TAFE study

Reply: 017 → Australia-based international students migrating to Canada

Reply: 018 → 407 Training visa

Reply: 019 → 408 Temporary Activity visa

Reply: 020 → New Zealand migration

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