This Week’s Migration News Roundup

Migration Weekly

1. Subclass 491, 190 and 189 grants kick off the new financial year — great news for 491!

2. Tasmania is first to open new financial-year lodgements — every skilled occupation can apply for 190

3. South Australia to stay steady this financial year; which state nominations are opening, and which older applications remain valid

4. Severe parent-migration backlog back in the spotlight

5. Weekly roundup of grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing

1. Subclass 491, 190 and 189 grants kick off the new financial year — great news for 491!

In the first week of the new financial year, everyone was hoping that once the reset button was pressed on 1 July, skilled migration grants would start flowing again as soon as possible. Over the first four days of the week, employer-sponsored visas and parent visas such as Subclass 103/143 all began to be granted. The skilled category that everyone cares about most then saw a wave of grants on the Friday— a real downpour.189, 190 and 491 were all granted; based on our clients’ data, 491 was by far the most common!

491 grants:

Ranging from June to November 2022,covering occupations such as accounting, advertising specialist, marketing specialist, auditing, engineering and translation, mostly onshore; on 7 July alone, our internal data recorded more than a dozen grants

189 grants:

Mostly lodged between October and December 2022,covering occupations such as accounting, auditing, civil/mechanical engineering and secondary school teaching, among others; HK Stream applications were also granted

190 grants:

Grants went to applications lodged in November 2022 and early 2023,including onshore engineering technicians and onshore auditors

Employer-sponsored nomination and visa processing remained lightning fast:

482 applications were only lodged in late June — accountants and cooks

186 applications were lodged in September 2022 — accountants

103 and 143 also had new grants this week; document requests are currently still progressing through early May 2017.

408 and visitor visas were processed unaffected by the financial-year changeover, with grants issued.

For a fuller roundup of this week’s grants, see: First grants of the new financial year: 491 unleashes a storm of approvals — accounting/marketing/translation! 189/190/143 are here too! 600 is easier to get, and 408 as well!

2. Tasmania is first to open new financial-year lodgements — every skilled occupation can apply for 190

After some twists and turns, Tasmania has still become the first state nomination program to open its application channel for the new financial year. It officially opened the 23-24 financial-year gateway channel on 6 July.

Minor changes for Tasmania in the new financial year:

1. Every skilled occupation on the federal occupation list can apply for the 190 Employment pathway. If the occupation is also on Tasmania’s TOSOL list, you only need 6 months of nominated work in Tasmania to apply for 190; other occupations require 15 months

2. Adjustments to the onshore occupation list (Tasmanian Onshore Skilled Occupation List)

3. Adjustments to the requirements for massage therapists

4. Adjustments to the income thresholds in the state nomination in line with changes to the TSMIT

5. In addition, the formal nomination application fee for the new financial year has risen to AUD 330, while the ROI remains free

ROIs lodged on or after 1 July will be invited under the new policy. For applications lodged in the previous financial year — whether an ROI or a formal nomination application — the policy in place at the time of lodgement applies. If you believe the new financial-year changes are more favourable for an invitation, you can withdraw a lodged ROI and re-lodge.

3. South Australia to stay steady this financial year; which older applications remain valid?

South Australia was another state to release updates this week:

1. The state government has not yet received its new quota (Tasmania has also said it has not yet received a formal quota); it will start immediately once received

2. Applications lodged in the previous financial year do not need to be re-submitted, but any changes to work or other information must be updated

3. The new financial-year state nomination policy is expected to be almost identical to last year, still with 503 occupations

4. It remains open and welcoming to offshore applicants. Last financial year, a large proportion of South Australia’s 491 quota went to offshore applicants

5. Interstate graduates can also apply, for example via the work pathway (you must live and work in South Australia)

6. The current 190 processing wait is 4-6 weeks; the state government will keep processing during this period but can only issue formal nominations once the new quota is received

7. Business and investor migration is expected to see significant changes, as the grant quota has been cut sharply — but very little information is available at this stage

In addition, many people have asked whether they can re-lodge after already submitting — here’s a summary from our team, updated in the image below!! Queensland has said applications must be re-lodged for the new financial year

In addition, NSW 190 and other state nominations are selected through the federal EOI, so in theory you can lodge now even for new financial-year state nomination programs that have not yet launched, but you may risk not being invited because you do not meet the new requirements, so we still recommend lodging only once the financial-year policy is confirmed.

Want to learn about the various state nominations — especially 491, where last financial year most occupations could be invited with just 50-70 points

Add our consultant below to arrange an assessment

4. Australia’s very long parent-migration wait is weakening the appeal of skilled migration

A well-known Australian media outlet focused on parent migration this week, saying that because the wait for Australian parent migration can reach 50 years, skilled migrants are choosing the United States and Canada instead. It also presented data showing that Australia’s appeal for skilled migration has fallen from third place in the 1990s to sixth today.

For the current queue, 50 years is something of an exaggeration; the queued (non-contributory) category is currently over 30 years, while a contributory parent application lodged now faces a wait of more than 10 years. Although it is an overstatement, but the real situation is alarming enough.

The report also updated parent-migration lodgement figures: from May 2022 to May 2023, a total of 27,692 new parent-migration applications were received, and by the end of May the backlog had reached 138,508.

The core problem with parent migration is still that the quota is too small; the 8,500 places in the previous and current financial years are already the most in recent years. But against a backlog of 130,000+, it is clearly a drop in the ocean. Government and society still worry that too many elderly migrants would crowd out Australia’s healthcare and other resources — yet in reality, parents are entitled to very few benefits immediately after migrating, and most come simply to reunite with and care for their children.

For now, all that applicants — and their children — can do is lodge early and join the queue early.

5. Weekly roundup of grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing

A roundup of Newstarsec’s recent grants and invitations across all categories:Press and hold below to view; the page is continually updated, so we highly recommend saving and bookmarking it!

State nomination invitation / GTI invitation statistics

The state governments have not yet received their 23-24 financial-year state nomination quotas

so state nomination programs have not yet launched

This week’s grant progress and analysis

Subclass 189 Skilled Independent

Lodged December 2022, granted July 2023

Lodged March 2023, granted July 2023 (HK Stream)

Subclass 190 State-Nominated Skilled

Lodged: 13/02/2023; granted: 07/07/2023; occupation: Engineering Technician

Lodged 04 Nov 2022, granted 07/07/2023 – External Auditor, ACT, onshore

Subclass 491 (new regional) / Subclass 489 (old regional) sponsored visas

Lodged 489 on 28 August 2019, granted 7 July 2023. Nominated occupation: Accountant (General)

Lodged 491 January 2022, 491 granted July 2023

Lodged 491 June 2022, 491 granted July 2023

Lodged 491 August 2022, 491 granted July 2023 (with spouse)

Lodged 491 September 2022, 491 granted July 2023 (with spouse)

Lodged 491 September 2022, 491 granted July 2023

Lodged 24 Oct 2022, granted 07/07/2023 – Advertising Specialist, ACT, onshore

Lodged 04 Nov 2022, granted 07/07/2023 – Cafe or Restaurant Manager, ACT, onshore

Lodged 08 Sep 2022, granted 07/07/2023 – Marketing Specialist, ACT, onshore

Subclass 887/191 regional permanent residence visas

None this week

Employer-sponsored

Lodged 29 June 2023, 482 nomination + visa approved 7 July 2023, with spouse, Contract Administrator

Early June 2023, 482 subsequent entrant granted 6 July 2023

Lodged mid-October 2022, 186 DE nomination approved 5 July 2023, accountant

Lodged mid-September 2022, 186 DE nomination approved 3 July 2023, accountant

Lodged 8 June 2023, 482 nomination approved 3 July 2023, cook

Business and investor migration / GTI

Lodged 8 November 2022, 858 GTI granted 7 July 2023, family of four

Lodged November 2022, granted July 2023

Partner migration

Lodged March 2023, onshore partner 820 granted 6 July 2023

820 lodged in 2020, 801 granted 5 July 2023

Lodged 29 June 2022, 820 granted 5 July 2023

Lodged 5 October 2022, 820 granted 3 July 2023

801 lodged onshore 17 Jun 2022, granted 26 Jun 2023

Lodged 801 June 2023, 801 granted July 2023

Lodged 820 September 2022, 820 granted July 2023

Lodged 820 March 2023, 820 granted July 2023

Lodged 801 April 2022, 801 granted July 2023

Lodged 820 April 2023, 820 and 801 granted together July 2023

Lodged 820 April 2023, 820 granted July 2023

Lodged 820 March 2023, 820 granted July 2023

Parent migration / visas / child visas

Lodged 143 May 2017, 143 granted July 2023

Lodged 143 January 2017, 143 granted July 2023

Subclass 600 visitor visa

Lodged 30 June 2023, granted 6 July 2023, visiting a non-PR child

Lodged late June 2023, 600 granted 4 and 5 July 2023, family of four travelling purely for tourism

Lodged offshore 27 Jun 2023, granted 30 Jun 2023

Lodged offshore 30 Jun 2023, granted 03 Jul 2023

Lodged June 2023, granted July 2023

Lodged 22/06/2023, granted 05/07/2023

Subclass 500 student visa

Lodged 5 June 2023, 500 granted 4 July 2023, with a prior refusal history

Lodged 5 May 2023, 500 student visa + 590 guardian visa granted 3 July 2023 (590 with an extra year)

Lodged 21 June 2023, granted 3 July 2023

Lodged 30 June 2023, granted 5 July 2023, offshore with spouse

Lodged 4 July 2023, granted 5 July 2023, offshore

Subclass 485 Graduate Work visa

Lodged onshore 29 Jun 2023, granted 29 Jun 2023

Lodged onshore 08 May 2023, granted 05 Jul 2023

Lodged March 2023, granted July 2023

Subclass 408 visa

Lodged 30 June 2023, granted 6 July 2023

Lodged 29 June 2023, granted 5 July 2023

Lodged 29 June 2023, granted 3 July 2023

Lodged onshore 19 Jun 2023, granted 30 Jun 2023

Lodged onshore 28 Jun 2023, granted 30 Jun 2023

Lodged onshore 22 Jun 2023, granted 06 Jul 2023

Lodged 29 June 2023, granted 5 July 2023

Lodged July 2023, granted July 2023

Subclass 462 visa

Lodged offshore 16 Jun 2023, granted 27 Jun 2023

Subclass 155 visa

None this week

Citizenship applications

None this week

This week’s skills assessment processing progress

CA (accounting-related)

Lodged 2 June 2023; four accounting skills assessments approved 5 July 2023 — External Auditor, General Accountant, Taxation Accountant and Management Accountant

CPA (accounting-related)

Lodged: 4/04/2023; granted: 07/07/2023

ACWA

Lodged 4 April 2023, approved 2 July 2023. Occupation: Community Worker

VETASSESS

Lodged 23 June 2023, completed 3 July 2023 (expedited)

Lodged: 23/06/2023 granted: 03/07/2023, Project Administrator

Lodged: 24/06/2023 granted: 03/07/2023, Research and Development Manager

Lodged: 24/06/2023 granted: 03/07/2023, Conference and Event Organiser

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[Issue 292 Australia Migration Weekly] Skilled-migration grants pour in during the first week of the new financial year! First state nomination opens! Is Australia’s long parent-migration wait dimming skilled migration’s appeal?

Study abroad without an English test score! Top five-star universities for just RMB 70,000-80,000 a year!

Skilled occupations most offshore applicants can apply for! Last financial year you only needed 50-70 points

First state nomination channel of the new financial year opens on 7 July! Recent skills assessment case studies

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