News

News September 7, 2022 newstarsec

NSW Releases This Financial Year’s State Nomination Occupation List — High Score and Work Experience Requirements! Popular Plan B Options Including Accounting/IT, Plus ‘Hidden Gem’ Occupations for Different Applicant Profiles!

NSW has just released the Subclass 190 and Subclass 491 occupation lists for the 2022–23 financial year, along with the minimum points score and work experience requirements for each occupation. It's quite a lot to take in — the scores are remarkably high, and some occupations carry additional work experience requirements on top.

News September 6, 2022 newstarsec

These Offshore Migration Pathways to Australia Have Quietly Opened — Invitations Are Being Issued! Direct Permanent Residency in One Step — There’s One for You!

Many people think Australian migration is incredibly difficult, but since the start of this financial year many pathways have quietly changed. The Minister for Home Affairs personally announced that the migration programme has increased from 160,000 to 195,000 places, with an extra 9,000 places for regional areas, 11,000 additional Subclass 190 state nomination places, and 5,000 more employer-sponsored places!

News September 5, 2022 newstarsec

A Hidden Gem State Nomination Pathway for International Graduates — Accountants Invited with 80 Points, No Work Experience Required, High Quotas and Less Competition

From the start of the previous financial year, Western Australia has been actively supporting international study, using concrete state nomination policies to back locally graduated international students seeking PR. The Western Australian Government recently updated its 2022–2023 financial year Subclass 190/491 state nomination policies — a significant relaxation compared to the previous year.

News September 3, 2022 newstarsec

ABC Chinese: Australia’s Permanent Migration Quota Raised to 195,000 — Applicants Fear Further Processing Delays, Plus Kirk’s Recent Livestream Replay

Australia has significantly increased its permanent migration quota, a move welcomed by migration professionals. However, permanent visa applicants are concerned that the higher quota will attract more applications, further worsening processing delays. The federal Minister for Home Affairs has announced the government will hire an additional 500 staff to address the backlog.

News September 2, 2022 newstarsec

Jobs Summit Migration Digest: 35,000 Extra PR Places, Employer-Sponsored Boost of 5,000, and the $53,900 Income Threshold Under Review

The Minister for Home Affairs also indicated they expect to increase the regional allocation by 9,000 to 34,000 (the original regional figure for this financial year was 25,000), increase the State/Territory Nominated allocation by 11,000 to 31,000 (the original figure was 20,000), and confirmed a further 5,000 places will go to employer-sponsored migration. The government remains open to further input to determine the remaining breakdown and final figures.

News August 31, 2022 newstarsec

Victoria Lowers State Nomination Requirements! Subclass 188A Investment Threshold Cut! Subclass 190 Drops Onshore Work Requirement — Over 1,100 ROI Invitations Issued in First Round!

Victoria's investor migration programme updated its 2022–23 financial year requirements on 30 August. With 170 transitional investor migration state nomination allocations, Victoria has actually relaxed its requirements for this financial year! If you're considering investor migration, this is essential reading.

News August 30, 2022 newstarsec

Breaking: NSW Official Says Occupation List May Drop Within 2 Weeks! Department Urges More Offshore Applications — Subclass 491 Shares One List!

On the morning of 30 August, the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) hosted a session, inviting NSW Investment officials to brief agents on NSW's skilled and business migration programmes for the 2022–23 financial year.

News August 29, 2022 newstarsec

Labor’s First Three Months: Visa Backlog Down ~100,000! State-Nominated Grant Rates Surge in May–June — Subclass 190 Total Backlog Is Shrinking!

Last week we introduced the Department of Home Affairs' newly launched Visa Processing Times Guide — simple to use but of limited practical help. As for the official visa processing wait times updated for the first time in three months, they are worth monitoring but should not be taken as definitive. For details, see: New Department Feature to Check Whether Your Application Has Exceeded the 'Standard Processing Time'? Updated Grant-Time Reference: Subclass 189 Old Backlog Cleared, but 190/491/887...

News August 26, 2022 newstarsec

Department of Home Affairs adds new tool to check whether you’re outside ‘standard processing timeframes’ — updated grant reference times: Subclass 189 clears old backlog, but 190/491/887…

The last time the Department of Home Affairs updated its visa processing reference times was May 2022. Since the Labor government took office, pressure to speed up processing has come from all sides — the work has been getting done, but the data simply hasn't been updated.

News August 25, 2022 newstarsec

SA State Nomination Open! New Policy Released → More Pathways, Lowered Requirements, Covering Accountants / Engineers / IT / Offshore and More!

SA state nomination transitional quota for FY22–23 2,700 Subclass 190 and 3,180 Subclass 491 190 increased by 100, 491 decreased by 150 (The above are transitional-phase quotas only; adjustments are expected after the end of the first quarter of the financial year — most likely increases)