News

News April 6, 2022 Arthur

[Tasmania State Nomination — Major Changes Possible in New Financial Year, Public Feedback Invited] Long-Term Residents May Qualify for Subclass 190, Employment Stream Relaxed! System Upgrades to Improve Invitation Certainty!

This morning the Tasmanian state government released the draft state nomination policy for the new financial year — the first review since the programme officially commenced in 2016 — and is now publicly inviting community feedback. The state government's determination to see this 'state nomination reform' through is unmistakable!

News April 5, 2022 Arthur

New Financial Year: 1,500 More Parent Migration Quota Places → Updated Subclass 143 Contributory Stream Processing Time Projections! AoS Financial Assurer Income Requirements Explained!

The 2022–23 federal budget announced last week brought good news for PR quotas — not just for skilled migration categories, but also for parent migration, where the quota has risen from 4,500 to 6,000 places (covering 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023). The 6,000 covers all parent visa categories combined; the exact split between the contributory and non-contributory streams has not yet been confirmed, but if we apply the same 4:1 ratio as the previous financial year, the contributory stream would receive 4,800 places and the non-contributory stream 1,200.

News April 4, 2022 Arthur

TAFE Study in Australia — ‘Graduate Straight Into Work’: Migration Pathway Plus Higher Qualifications, Excellent Value Plus Practical Skills, Industry Recognition Plus Outstanding Teaching Quality!

Recently, many students have been asking me about studying at TAFE. TAFE is typically associated with vocational courses, good value for money, strong practical focus, and lower entry requirements — but most people assume TAFE only offers short-term training courses with no connection to university-level study or migration pathways. Some also question the quality and value of its qualifications. This post addresses some of these common misconceptions and knowledge gaps.

News April 1, 2022 Arthur

Working My Way Through Australia Without a Word of English

From July 2020 to January 2021, we recorded eight editions of our Study & Migration Diary — capturing not just the journey of studying, migrating or building a business, but the hard-won insights from navigating one difficult chapter after another.

News March 31, 2022 Arthur

Finance, Marketing, Engineering & IT: Australia’s Top Occupations — Onshore & Offshore Application Pathways at a Glance, Plus a Low-Requirement Investment Migration Option as Your Plan B!

On Tuesday evening, 29 March, the federal government released the 2022–2023 budget. Skilled migration categories account for nearly 70% of the total allocation, with employer-sponsored migration, the Subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa, and Subclass 190/491 state-nominated skilled visas all seeing significant increases — some approaching pre-pandemic levels. This is excellent news for both onshore and offshore applicants.

News March 30, 2022 Arthur

The Best in Skilled Migration! 30,000 PR Places in the New Financial Year, Plus 200+ Occupations With an Easier Path to Permanent Residency — Don’t Miss the Employer Sponsorship Wave!

On 29 March, the federal government announced the 22–23 financial year budget, with overall skilled migration PR quotas rising! In terms of percentage increase, the Regional category (mostly Subclass 491 plus some Subclass 494) and the Subclass 189 were the biggest winners, with visa numbers up 123.21%.

News March 29, 2022 Arthur

Major Good News! Subclass 491/189 Quotas More Than Double in the New Financial Year — 190 and Employer-Sponsored Visas Rise Sharply! Parent Migration Allocation Up to 6,000!

Because the family stream partner visa backlog has been substantially cleared, 10,000 places originally allocated to the family stream will be reallocated to the skilled stream this financial year — bringing the skilled stream PR allocation from 79,600 to 89,600. The most direct impact is that grants may speed up. While 10,000 extra places is a drop in the ocean compared to the backlog, we have seen the Department actively processing older applications lodged between late 2019 and early 2020, and we hope to see that momentum continue.

News March 28, 2022 Arthur

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity? Vocational Work Visas Set for Major Relaxation — Skills Assessment to Skilled Migration, Saving Time and Money in One Go!

In January this year, I published a predictive analysis of the removal of the requirement to nominate an MLTSSL occupation for the 485 Graduate Work visa (old TR). The removal of this requirement directly affects how certain students studying vocational programmes in Australia apply for the Subclass 485 — and for those looking to capitalise on this policy change, what courses to choose.

News March 25, 2022 Arthur

“Online Study Won’t Be Recognised?” — Setting the Record Straight! “Four-Year Work Visa for All Bachelor’s and Master’s Graduates!” Think Tanks Champion International Students!

From early December last year to late January this year — less than two months — the government received a total of 559 budget-related submissions. Many think tanks may not have formally lodged a submission, but have put together carefully crafted reports with their recommendations.

News March 24, 2022 Arthur

Practical reminders for those waiting on a skilled migration visa grant — especially if you’ve been waiting a long time.

With borders reopening, the Department of Home Affairs has been clearing the backlog of visa applications from late 2019 to early 2020 over recent months. Our clients and community members have shared that during that period, both onshore and offshore Subclass 189/491/190 applicants received requests for further information, or completed their submissions and were subsequently granted.