With just 10 days left in the 2022‑23 financial year, a steady stream of smaller updates is coming through — most of them bridging this year into the next, so everyone can be ready.

Department of Home Affairs to temporarily suspend BPAY

Update 1

From this Friday 23 June to Saturday 1 July, the Department of Home Affairs will suspend BPAY. If you intend to useBPAY to pay your visa fees, get organised now!You can keep paying bycredit card, PayPal andUnion Pay throughout,thougha surcharge applies.Visa fees rise 6%‑40% in the new financial year, so lodge your visa applications fast!

NSW’s remaining RDAs announce their quotas are exhausted

Unprocessed applications have a Plan B

Update 2

On Monday the Far West region, and on Tuesday the Sydney region, both sent notices to applicants who had lodged but not yet received an outcome:

Because the quota is exhausted, the backlog of applications cannot all be processed, so two options are offered for those not yet assessed

1. An immediate full refund of the application fee, with the option to re-lodge in the new financial year

2. Keep the application on file and have itprocessed in the new financial year from 1 July

(1) Given the longer wait, you may be asked for further documents at that point

(2) New-financial-year policy may change, andapplications kept on file will also be assessed under the (potentially) new policy

This financial year NSW’s Subclass 491 splits into two pathways: one is Pathway 1 – the RDA pathway, where you can lodge a nomination application directly,and one is Pathway 2 – the State pathway, where you first receive a pre-invitation, then submit your documents, and gain the nomination once assessed and approved.

NSW had the largest number of Subclass 491 invitation places this financial year. At one point we were worried NSW wouldn’t use them all, yet by the end of May it had essentially met its target — a pathway that came good late in the run.

Pathway 1 – the RDA pathwayis one of the few state-nominated pathways this financial year you can apply for directly,with no pre-invitation step required. Whether the quota is large or small, each RDA has been very cooperative — once the rules are set they do their best to issue and assess, and quite a few of our clients have landed their outcomes.Although you pay upfront, regions such as Far West and Sydney have offered a Plan B to applicants who had already paid; indeed, RDA regions whose quotas ran out earlier promptly told applicants too, letting them choose another RDA region — a more considerate approach overall.

Popular occupations on the NSW Subclass 491 RDA pathway

Property manager property manager 60+15 points, offshore

Financial investment managerfinancial investment manager 50+15 points, offshore

Advertising specialistadvertising specialist 50+15 points, offshore

Multimedia designermultimedia designer 75+15, offshore

Electronics engineereletronics engineer 55+15, onshore

Civil engineercivil engineer 55/60+15, onshore/offshore

plus various other engineers…

Pathway 2 – the State pathwayis all about volume — similar to Subclass 190, run directly by the state government. Although it requires the pre-invitation step, far more occupations are open to apply, covering all kinds of IT, and the numbers issued round after round are very large. Naturally the invitation scores are also low — reach 50‑60 points yourself and you have a strong chance of an invitation!

Popular occupations on the NSW Subclass 491 State pathway

software engineer 65+15 onshore/offshore

ICT BA 60/70+15 offshore

ICT Security Specialist 80+15, offshore

Quality Assurance manager 50+15, offshore

ICT support engineer 55+15, offshore

Developer programmer 65+15, offshore

Marketing specialist 55/60/65+15, onshore/offshore

public relations professionals 65+15, offshore

and so on……

The NSW state government says it will publish its new policy soon for the new financial year. We expect that, provided the quota isn’t cut much from this year, NSW’s Subclass 190 policy will remain fairly generous in the new financial year (though competition within NSW is still quite fierce), Subclass 491 will continue to work well, and any changes will likely be only minor tweaks.

A new financial year is ready to launch on 1 July — contact our consultants below to get organised and claim the early advantage!

The new policies due to take effect on 1 July — where’s the legislation?

Update 3

On Monday the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) emailed members with an update on the progress of several new policies due to take effect on 1 July — overall, it’s looking a little slow

–TSMIT rising to $70000 — a rise is certain,but no legislation has been seen yet

–New Zealand citizens able to apply for Australian citizenship directly — already legislated

–Visa fee increases — no legislation seen yet

–Some Subclass 485 holders able to apply for a 2-year replacement Subclass 408 — already in effect, with grants already issued

Catch up on past articles

The top choice for settling on a Subclass 491? Australia’s largest regional city — Perth!

Official! A profile of 49,000 mainland Chinese skilled migrants over the past four years is out!

Trends in occupations and pathway choices for mainland Chinese skilled migrants! Visitor visas granted in large numbers!

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End-of-FY Migration Update | BPAY About to Be Suspended, NSW Subclass 491 RDA Quota Exhausted — Lodged Applications Can Claim a Refund or Be Kept on File!

The top choice for settling on a Subclass 491? Australia’s largest regional city — Perth!

Official! A profile of 49,000 mainland Chinese skilled migrants over the past four years is out!

Trends in occupations and pathway choices for mainland Chinese skilled migrants! Visitor visas granted in large numbers!

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