[Australian Migration Weekly No. 293] Canberra showers invitations in its very first round — accounting, marketing, PR, ICT and more! And completing Form 888 just got easier!
1. Canberra opens the new financial year with its first invitation round — offshore scores remain low
2. State-nomination places 99% used up last financial year — only Queensland…
3. Get your skills assessment done early — both VETASSESS and EA assessment fees rise in August!
4. Form 888 no longer needs to be signed in front of a witness!
5. Weekly round-up of grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing progress
1. Canberra opens the new financial year with its first invitation round — offshore scores remain lowThe first pre-invitations of the 2023-24 financial year came from Canberra, which issued a round of matrix invitations this week. The numbers were modest and, so far, mostly offshore, but even so, the matrix scores remain very low, and it is now essentially confirmed that Canberra will keep the 2022-23 financial-year policy in place, with the matrix open for submission at all times. So Canberra’s 2023-24 state-nomination programme is now up and running.The invitation data from our clients and our own collection for this round includes:Conference and Event Organiser, Matrix 70 points, 190 invited, lodged late June, offshore Conference and Event Organiser, Matrix 65 points, 190 invited, lodged early July, offshoreQuality Assurance Manager, Matrix 65 points, 190 invited, lodged early June, offshoreQuality Assurance Manager, Matrix 60 points, 491 invitedPublic Relations Professional, Matrix 70 points, 190 invitedUniversity Lecturer, Matrix 80 points, 190 invitedMarket Research Analyst, Matrix 70 points, 491 invitedNewspaper editor, 491 invited
Engineering Technician, 491 invited
Registered Nurse, 190 invited
Architectural Draftsperson, 190 invited
Accountant, 190 invited
External Auditor, 190 invited
ICT BA, 190 invited
Canberra offshore 491 requirements– Meet 65 points in the EOI– Hold a skills assessment– Have one year of work experience in the nominated occupation– English of 6 in each of the four bands– Have not lived in Australia and not held an Australian visa for at least the past 12 months (holding a visitor visa is acceptable)Matrix invitation scores have long stayed in the low 45-60 rangeCanberra offshore 190 requirements– Meet 65 points in the EOI– Hold a skills assessment– Have three years of work experience in the nominated occupation– English of 7 in each of the four bands– Have not lived in Australia and not held an Australian visa for at least the past 12 months (holding a visitor visa is acceptable)Matrix invitation scores have long stayed in the 60-75 range How Canberra selects applicants–The EOI only needs to reach 65 points(491 applicants self-accumulate to 50 points; 190 applicants self-accumulate to 60 points)– Canberra uses its own Matrix points system to select applicants. The Matrix currently has no minimum-score threshold for receiving an invitation. Onshore or offshore, 491 or 190 applicants do not need to “battle for points”– Offshore and onshore applicants sit in separate pools and do not compete against one anotherOffshore applicants who would like to understand and be assessed for Canberra state nomination are welcome to contact our consultants below 2. State-nomination places 99% used up last financial year — only Queensland…The allocations for the new 2023-24 financial year have not yet been confirmed, but the Department has gone ahead and released last financial year’s report card.With a record-breaking number of places, every state and territory except Queensland used 100% of its allocation — a near-perfect result.Overall 190 usage reached 99.27%491 usage reached 98.53%For instance, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Tasmania and Canberra all worked flat out in the final month, determined not to waste a single place.Queensland also tried hard in June, but its 190 usage finished at 90.83% and 491 at 82.1%. Here’s hoping Queensland improves its policy settings in 2023-24.For more analysis, see:The 190&491 report card is out! 62,000+ places, 99%+ issued, only one state… plus an overview of every 2022-23 state-nomination policy! 3. Get your skills assessment done early — both VETASSESS and EA assessment fees rise in August!The start of the new financial year on 1 July is often a “golden opportunity” for all sorts of fee increases; with inflation running high, the rises have carried on into August.VETASSESS has announced that from 9 August all of its services will rise to varying degrees,with the priority-processing fee up by AUD 183 and the China qualification verification also increasing.See the price list in the image below: And it is not just VETASSESS — EA (Engineers Australia), which handles engineering skills assessments,is also raising fees from 1 August, by 3%-4%, as shown below: Start your migration early and do the skills assessment first — not only to enter the pool sooner, but because acting early now also saves money. For skills-assessment success stories, see:Will invitation scores rise in the new financial year? With 190/491 allocations not yet set and state-nomination policies not yet released, now is exactly the time to get your skills assessment ready!If you need an assessment or to lodge, you can contact our consultants: 4. Form 888 no longer needs to be signed in front of a witness!Form 888 is one of the most commonly used forms in migration,mainly used in partner migration or in visa applications that include a partner relationship (such as 189/190/491 with a secondary applicant). Only an Australian PR holder or citizen can complete Form 888.The old Form 888 was called statutory declaration, and once completed it had to be signed in front of an eligible witness, who also had to certify the signatory’s identity.Eligible witnesses included pharmacists, optometrists, MARA agents and so on.However, the latest Form 888 has been renamed a supporting statement，a PR or citizen signatory can now sign directly after completing the form, without having to make an extra trip to sign in front of a witness.Apart from the signing step, the questions on Form 888 are the same as before. As a further reminder: if Form 888 is completed by a PR holder, you must also provide the PR grant letter or VEVO; if by a citizen, a passport is sufficient.
5. Weekly round-up of grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing progress
A round-up of Newstarsec’s recent grants and invitations across all categories:Press and hold below to view; the page is updated continuously, so we strongly recommend saving and bookmarking it!
GTI invitationsReceived GTI invitation code on 10 July 2023, in the Financial Services and FinTech sector This week’s grant progress and analysis189 Skilled Independent migrationLodged late December 2022, granted 12 July 2023Lodged 10 January 2023, granted 10 July 2023Lodged 6 February 2023, granted 10 July 2023Lodged January 2023, granted July 2023Lodged December 2022, granted July 2023Lodged December 2022, granted July 2023Lodged December 2022, granted July 2023Lodged January 2023, granted July 2023190 State-Nominated skilled migrationLodged 4 July 2022, granted 13 July 2023Lodged 30 June 2022, granted 13 July 2023Lodged November 2022, granted 11 July 2023Lodged 8 November 2022, granted 12 July 2023Lodged 8 June 2022, granted 12 July 2023 Lodged 3 June 2022, granted 12 July 2023Lodged 26 May 2022, granted 11 July 202316 Dec 2022 lodged 190 visa onshore, granted 12 Jul 2023Lodged April 2021, granted July 2023 (with partner)Lodged December 2022, granted July 2023Lodged December 2022, granted July 2023 (with partner) 491 new regional / 489 old regional sponsored visaLodged 22 July 2021, granted 10 July 2023. Nominated occupation: Human Resource Adviser15 Aug 2022 lodged 491 visa onshore, granted 10 Jul 202307 Jan 2022 lodged 491 visa onshore, granted 10 Jul 202307 Oct 2022 lodged 491 visa onshore, granted 11 Jul 202320 Mar 2023 lodged 491 visa onshore, granted 11 Jul 202330 Mar 2022 lodged 491 visa onshore, granted 12 Jul 202313 Oct 2021 lodged 491 visa onshore, granted 13 Jul 2023Lodged 489 visa August 2019, 489 granted July 2023Lodged 489 visa June 2023, 489 granted July 2023Lodged 491 visa July 2021, 491 granted July 2023Lodged 491 visa January 2022, 491 granted July 2023Lodged 489: 29/09/2019, granted: 13/07/2023, Finance and Investment ManagerLodged 489: 16/10/2019, granted: 14/07/2023, Project Administrator 887/191 regional permanent residence visaNone this week Employer sponsorshipLodged June 2023, approved 14 July 2023 — 482 employer sponsorship and nomination, Gymnastics Coach, offshoreLodged 23 June 2023, 482 nomination approved 11 July 2023, Accountant Investor migration / GTILodged November 2022, granted 10 July 2023 Partner migrationLodged 4 May 2023, granted 14 July 2023, onshore partner migration TR 820Lodged November 2019, granted 14 July 2023, 801+820 grantedLodged August 2019, granted 11 July 2023, 801+820 grantedLodged 820 visa January 2021, 820 and 801 granted together July 2023
Parent migration / visa / child visaLodged 870 November 2022, granted July 2023Lodged 870 November 2022, granted July 2023 600 visitor visaLodged 27 June 2023, granted 14 July 2023, 600 for PR holder’s parentsLodged 28 June 2023, granted 14 July 2023, 600 for PR holder’s parentsLodged 7 July 2023, granted 13 July 2023, general visitorLodged 19 June 2023, granted 11 July 2023, 3-year 600 for PR holder’s parentsLodged 6 July 2023, granted 11 July 2023, general visitor Lodged 5 July 2023, granted 10 July 2023Lodged June 2023, granted July 2023Lodged June 2023, granted July 2023Lodged July 2023, granted July 2023Lodged: 07/07/2023, approved: 12/07/2023, offshore 500 student visaLodged July 2023, granted July 2023Lodged June 2023, granted July 2023485 Graduate Work visaLodged March 2023, granted July 2023 408 visaLodged 29 June 2023, granted 13 July 202313 Jun 2023 lodged 408 visa onshore, granted 10 Jul 2023Lodged July 2023, granted July 2023Lodged June 2023, granted July 2023 155 visaLodged 11 July 2023, granted 11 July 2023 This week’s skills-assessment processing progressCA (accounting-related)Lodged 12 May 2023, approved 11 July 2023, External AuditorLodged 09 May 2023, approved 11 July 2023, Accountant VETASSESS Lodged: 07/07/2023 approved: 13/07/2023, Recruitment ConsultantLodged: 27/06/2023 approved: 11/07/2023, University LecturerLodged: 06/07/2023 approved: 13/07/2023, Finance and Investment Manager ACSLodged 3 April 2023, approved 11 July 2023, ICT BALodged March 2023, approved 11 July 2023, ICT BA
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