Canberra opens the floodgates — invited at just 50 points! ICT, engineering and more hit an all-time low!

2253 Public Relations Professional 55 points

2339 Other Engineering professionals 60 points 

2332 Civil Engineering professionals 50 points

2544 Registered Nurses 50 points

2611 ICT Business and Systems Analyst 50 points

2613 Software and Applications Programmers 50 points

2621 Database and Systems Administrator 50 points

2631 Computer Network Professionals 50 points

2632 ICT Support and Test Engineers 50 points

A score of 50 points is what

ACT has recorded since introducing the Matrix points-based invitation system —

the lowest in its history!

— Continuous residence in Canberra for at leastthree months immediately before lodgement

— Continuous work in Canberra for at leastthree months immediately before lodgement

(does not need to be related to the nominated occupation; part-time work of at least 20 hours a week is acceptable — ideal for applicants whose Subclass 485 visa has already expired or is about to expire)

— The nominated occupation must be on the ACT Critical Skills List, with a skills assessment for that occupation

— English proficiency ofIELTS 7 in each band, or the equivalent PTE score(for occupations in ANZSCO Group 1 or Group 2 (Professionals))

Previously, interstate applicants who met the prerequisites still needed some time to build up their Matrix score.

But now, with the score as low as 50 points, putting together enough points is no longer a challenge!

For example

Student A graduated from UTS with a master’s in ICT, and had their skills assessed as 2613 Software and Applications Programmers. Their Matrix score breaks down as—

Proficient-level English — 10 points

Nominated occupation on the ACT Critical Skills List — 20 points

Master’s Degree — 15 points

That already adds up to 45 points

The remaining 5 points can be made up in several ways, commonly:

For example,if you’re accompanied by a partner who has IELTS 6 in each of the four bands and a diploma-level qualification of three years or more,that alone can add these 5 points

Or,if your current job falls under ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3,that can also add these 5 points

The above is just a typical example

If you’d like to find out exactly what your own Matrix score would be,

add our consultant below

At an earlier briefing session, the ACT Government made clear that while the border remains closed, theyvery much welcome interstate applicants,and have been working hard all financial year to retain as many quotas and occupations as possible — not to mention issuing Matrix state-nomination invitations for well over ten weeks running.

Overall, there are still fewer 491 applicants than 190 applicants at the moment,so competition is lower and quotas are plentiful!The state government has recently been keen to encourage more people to apply for 491,with several consecutive rounds issuing more 491 invitations than 190 — the round on 16 March handed out a huge 216 491 invitations. Apart from a handful of especially popular occupations,491 invitation scores have long sat around 60-70 points — this round is the lowest of the low!

In our recent discussions with the state government, we learned thatthey’re pushing to secure an even larger state nomination quota next financial year(though this ultimately depends on approval from the Department of Home Affairs),and the proportion of that quota allocated to 491 next financial year could well be even higher.

The low-score trend for 491 is very likely to continue for quite some time!

The state government is actively encouraging you, and the opportunity is right there for the taking — now it’s just a matter of whether you seize it!

Migration information-sharing and Q&A group

Partner migration — common questions and key assessment points!Click “Original Link”, to watch a short explainer!