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Kirk Migration Column

ACT Policy Update: Nearly 1/3 of Occupations Removed!
Kirk Migration Column October 10, 2025 Qiqi CHEN

ACT Policy Update: Nearly 1/3 of Occupations Removed!

In a letter issued to agents today, Canberra announced the latest state-nominated occupation list, reducing the original 152 Unit Groups (the first four digits of ANZSCO) to 105 (see Figures 2-5). It is the first state to make a major adjustment to its occupation list. September invitations will still be issued under the old list, but the next invitation round

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Kirk Migration Column December 8, 2023 Mingqiang HE

Kirk’s Migration Column: Department of Home Affairs Updates Website — ASR Concession Is Back!

What a roller-coaster of a week. Last Friday after hours, the MIA issued a notice informing members that the Department of Home Affairs had updated its 485 website to no longer recognise online study undertaken offshore on a student visa during COVID as counting towards the Australian Study Requirement for meeting work-visa or skilled-migration points. After a joint outcry from multiple parties, the Department has now confirmed that the change will not take effect, and the official website has been updated accordingly.

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Kirk Migration Column: NSW Second-Round Subclass 190 Invitations Include Infrastructure-Related Occupations
Kirk Migration Column November 7, 2023 Mingqiang HE

Kirk Migration Column: NSW Second-Round Subclass 190 Invitations Include Infrastructure-Related Occupations

NSW issued its second round of Subclass 190 invitations for this financial year on the afternoon of 2 November. The first case I saw was a transport engineer client invited with 80+5 points, relevant work experience, and a partner who also had a skills assessment plus IELTS 6 in each band. Our team then spent another hour collecting the data shown in Figure 1.

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Kirk’s Migration Column: Step-by-Step Guide to Renewing an Engineers Australia Skills Assessment and Employment Assessment
Kirk Migration Column October 24, 2023 Mingqiang HE

Kirk’s Migration Column: Step-by-Step Guide to Renewing an Engineers Australia Skills Assessment and Employment Assessment

Today we look at what to do if your Engineers Australia skills assessment has passed the three-year validity period recognised by the Department of Home Affairs. To be clear, an EA skills assessment itself does not technically have an expiry date, but if it is being used for migration, Home Affairs recognises it for three years. If more than three years have passed, Home Affairs may treat it as expired even if EA still considers it valid.

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