This week’s migration bulletin highlights—
1. Popular NSW regional areas to open for Subclass 491, with multiple engineering and IT occupations eligible; Canberra continues issuing matrix invitations, with fast processing of formal nominations
2. Victoria issues second round of ROI invitations, with social work, ET, nursing and other occupations securing invitations
3. Remaining Subclass 189 invitations for this financial year to go only to healthcare-related or shortage occupations
4. Department of Home Affairs updates January 2021 visa processing time reference
5. This week’s roundup of visa grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing progress
1. Popular NSW regional areas to open for Subclass 491, with multiple engineering and IT occupations eligible; Canberra continues issuing matrix invitations, with fast processing of formal nominations
This week, NSW suddenly updated its Subclass 190 occupation list, adding 10 new occupations,including several commonly sought-after occupations that applicants have long been waiting for, such ascivil engineering, structural engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, production engineering and more, along with several trade occupations that are also engineering-related.
This brings the number of occupations on NSW’s Subclass 190 sponsorship list to around 40 — a decent number. Aside from the usual requirements such as age, skills assessment, an EOI score of at least 65 points (including state nomination points), and English, applicants must currently be residing in NSW; applicants in other states or offshore have no opportunity for now. NSW says invitations will be issued with reference to EOI score, English level and length of work experience in the nominated occupation.However, the timing of invitations remains unclear so far — no invitations have been seen yet, and NSW has explicitly said it will not give advance notice of timing, and asked applicants not to enquire
NSW Subclass 190 has likely had a backlog building since the round of invitations last July — even for occupations on the list, even NSW’s preferred occupations, and even high-scoring applicants with relatively strong profiles, there are likely plenty of people queued up waiting. We’ve always recommended (and the NSW government suggests this too) having a backup plan in place, particularly since engineering and IT occupations are currently in strong demand for other state nominations and employer sponsorship — it’s worth looking into Option 2 in the meantime.
This week, there was further movement on NSW’s Subclass 491.The Orana region announced it will soon open Subclass 491 applications (expected 24 February, unconfirmed),unlike Northern Rivers, which opened first, Orana’s list of sponsored occupations should rank among the largest of any region — aside from aeronautical engineers, biomedical engineers and naval architects, any occupation on the NSW 491 list can apply.For example, civil engineering, structural engineering, mechanical engineering, and ICT occupations 261312/261313/2631111, among others.
However, as the federal government has indicated a priority on onshore applications while the border remains temporarily closed, Orana is not currently opening the 3A&B&C streams.The streams open are Stream A, for those who have lived and worked in a relevant occupation in regional NSW for at least the past 12 months, and Stream B, for graduates from regional NSW.
If you’re currently living and working in regional NSW, or a university graduate from the Wollongong or Newcastle areas, or waiting in Sydney for a Subclass 190 invitation, feel free to contact our customer service team below to arrange an assessment of other possible options. In addition, other regions’ 491 streams are expected to have further updates progressively, and we’re hoping NSW 190 will see movement again soon too. So if you’d like to join theNSW 190/491 state nomination information-sharing group, to keep up with the latest policy and invitation updates, add our customer service contact belowand note: NSW, to request to join the group.
On Friday, 19 February,Canberra state nominationagainissued matrix invitations — this is now the third consecutive week Canberra has issued matrix invitations. 59 Subclass 190 and 57 Subclass 491 invitations were issued to general applicants, with scores for some popular professions as follows:
Civil engineering:lowest score to receive a 491 was 60 points (January 2021 EOI), lowest score to receive a 190 was 75 points (2020 EOI)
Other engineering 2339:lowest score to receive a 190 was 65 points
Early childhood teaching:lowest score 65 pointsto receive a 190
ICT occupations 2611/2613/2621/2631/2632:the lowest score to receive a 491 was between 60-70 points, and the lowest score to receive a 190 was between 65-75 points.
Canberra isn’t just issuing matrix invitations frequently —formal nominations are also being processed quickly, with formal nomination invitations issued within a week of submitting complete documentation.Invitations were still being issued this Friday afternoon at knock-off time, around 5-6pm,for specific cases, see the #Weekly Invitations Roundup# below
According to our recent survey of Canberra applicants:
— Applicants in accounting made up the largest proportion, with 134 responses received from accounting applicants, accounting for 41.75%.
— Next were applicants in civil engineering — in our experience, quite a few of these came from other states. We received 41 responses in total, accounting for 12.77%.
※ IT applicants mainly included: Developer/Programmer, ICT Business Analyst, and Software Engineer — combined, these three make up 15.88%, exceeding civil engineering’s overall share.
※ The remaining professions included the perennially “steady as a rock” quantity surveying, registered nurses, graphic designers, social workers, architects and others — we also received plenty of feedback data for these.
※ It’s worth mentioning thatthe Translator occupation, which returned to the list this year, has given hope to those who previously studied translation courses — we’d suggest applicants with a translation background give it a try.
For more detailed survey data, please see:Accounting/ICT/civil/nursing/QS/design… How many competitors do you have for state nomination, and what scores are they on? Our Canberra state nomination survey findings!
Canberra state nomination isn’t suited to every applicant, but if your occupation has been “named” for it, watching round after round of steady invitations and fellow professionals securing their invitations one after another — doesn’t that tempt you? Start with the first step: scan the QR code below and contact our customer service team to arrange a points assessment and evaluation!
2.Victoria issues second round of ROI invitations, with social work, IT, nursing and other occupations securing invitations
Victoria also issued invitations this week, with the second round of ROI going out as scheduled. We hadseveral clients in social work/nursing (aged care) receive a 190 ROI invitation this round.Sharing from one of our clients:a Quality Assurance applicant received a 190 ROI invitation; an ET applicant working at a pharmaceutical company, and a secondary school teacher, received 491 ROI invitations.
Victoria is using a passive invitation mechanism this financial year, with a total state nomination quota of 3,543 — 2,500 for Subclass 190 and 1,043 for Subclass 491. By the close of the first ROI submission window, a total of 4,147 190 ROI applications had been received; in comparison, only 513 491 ROI applications were received — a significant imbalance, with very strong demand for 190.As of 31 January, a total of 1,029 190 ROI invitations and 189 491 ROI invitations had been issued.
In terms of the occupational distribution of invitations, the focus remains on occupations that help respond to the pandemic and support economic recovery —health and medical-related occupationsaccounted for over 800 people, followed bydesign, engineering, science and transport-related occupations, thensocial work and legal occupations, with close to 100 people,the relatively popular ICT occupationshad around 70 people.
The next ROI submission window opens from 9am on 2 March 2021 to 5pm on 8 March 2021, with ROI invitations to be issued on 19 March 2021. This financial year, Victoria is open only to applicants residing in the state — we recommend that anyone living in Victoria with relevant work experience submit an ROI and give it a try. ROI submission is currently free, and any ROI submitted this round that doesn’t receive an invitation will remain in the pool for future invitation rounds. If you need a consultation or assessment, don’t hesitate — contact our customer service team to arrange a chat with a consultant! Or if you’d like to join the[2020-21 Victoria State Nomination Information-Sharing Group],please add us and leave a message: VIC, to request to join the group!
3. Remaining Subclass 189 invitations for this financial year to go only to healthcare-related or shortage occupations
This week we saw an internal Department of Home Affairs communication email that had been surfaced. Late last year, the Department had already indicated thatthe remaining invitation rounds for the 2020-21 financial year would mainly target the medical profession and shortage occupations.
As of the October 2020 round, only990 Subclass 189 EOI invitationshad been issued, and the round issued in January this year but not yet published in the official gazette also appears, on the face of it, to hold no surprises,leaving only the final round in April remaining. This means that for popular professions like accounting and auditing, as well as common professions such as architecture, early childhood teaching and secondary school teaching, the wait this financial year may well be for nothing.As of the October 2020 round, invitation numbers for accounting, auditing, ICT 2611/2613/2612/2631 and many other occupations still stood at zero, and among the occupations that weren’t at zero, many had fewer than 20 invitations.
The Joint Standing Committee on Migration recently launched a consultation on skilled migration, with the committee chair stating it wouldconsider how to attract entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and highly skilled migrants, to make Australia the destination of choice for investment, entrepreneurship and job creation.
If you’ve just graduated or are in the stage leading up to a 485 application, Subclass 189 is no longer your first choice. And if you’ve already put together a relatively high score, rather than let your work experience and English go to waste, you can use your strengths to pursue employer sponsorship, state nomination, or even small-scale investment migration and other options — we’ve recently had clients in accounting, 2613 and civil engineering succeed through employer sponsorship! For more on popular professions taking the employer sponsorship route, please see:Remaining 189 invitations for this financial year only for medical/shortage occupations? A Plan B for hundreds of professions including accounting/2613/engineering — some secured an invitation in just 2 months!If you’d like to work out a viable plan for your occupation right away, contact our customer service team below to arrange it.
4. Department of Home Affairs updates January 2021 visa processing time reference
This week the Department of Home Affairs again updatedthe reference waiting times for visa applications granted in January 2021.
189 points-based:75% within 6 months or less, 90% within 17 months or less
190 state nomination: 75% within 6 months or less, 90% within 10 months or less
491 state government sponsorship: 75% within 7 months or less, 90% within 9 months or less
489 (former regional state nomination): 75% within 16 months or less, 90% within 22 months or less
482 employer sponsorship:
482 nomination: 75% take 5 months, 90% take 7 months
482 S-T: 75% take 6 months, 90% take 9 months
482 M-T: 75% take 5 months, 90% take 8 months
For processing times for more other visa categories, please see:Processing speeding up! Really? The latest official figures show faster processing across the board for 190/189! Find 491/407/482/820 and other categories inside the article!Below is this week’s summary of visa grant progress from Newstars’ internal database.
189 EOI by occupation —
the latest backlog data,
press and hold the QR code to view!Remember to save it!
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5. This week’s roundup of visa grants, invitations, skills assessments and citizenship processing progress
A recent roundup of Newstars clients’ various visa grants and invitations: press and hold below to view —the page will be continuously updated,, so we strongly recommend yousave and bookmark it!
State nomination invitations / GTI invitation data
Canberra state nomination
Submitted 6/01/2021, invited for 190 on 16/02/2021, 261313
Submitted 13/01/2021, invited for 190 on 17/02/2021, 221111
Submitted 17/02/2021, invited for 190 on 19/02/2021, 232411 Graphic Design
Submitted 17/02/2021, invited for 190 on 19/02/2021, 233211 Civil Engineering
Submitted 1/2021 or 2/2021, invited for 190 on 19/02/2021, 233213 Quantity Surveyor
Submitted 3/02/2021, invited for 491 on 18/02/2021, 261312
Victoria state nomination
Submitted ROI on 2 February 2021, invited for 190 on 19 February 2021 (70+5 points, nursing, aged care work)
Submitted ROI on 2 February 2021, invited for 190 on 19 February 2021 (75+5 points, nursing, aged care work)
Submitted ROI on 2 February 2021, invited for 190 on 19 February 2021 (75+5 points, social work)
Submitted ROI on 2 February 2021, invited for 190 on 19 February 2021 (80+5 points, social work)
Submitted ROI on 3 February 2021, invited for 190 on 19 February 2021 (70+5 points, social work)
Tasmania state nomination
State nomination application submitted 1 February 2021, invited for 491 state nomination on 18 February 2021 (Translator (272413) 65+15 points)
State nomination application submitted 19 August 2020, invited for 190 state nomination on 19 February 2021 (Engineering Technologist (233914) 85+5 points)
State nomination application submitted 19 August 2021, invited for 491 state nomination on 19 February 2021 (Marketing Specialist (225113) 55+15 points)
State nomination submitted 19 August 2020, invited for 190 on 19 February 2021 (Finance Manager 85+5points)
NSW state nomination
None this week
South Australia state nomination
Submitted 16 January 2020, invited 17 February 2021, Engineering Technologist (233914) , 70+5, single, onshore
Submitted 8 February 2021, invited 19 February 2021, Registered Nurses nec (254499), 70+5, with spouse, onshore
Queensland state nomination
None this week
Northern Territory state nomination
None this week
GTI invitations
None this week
This week’s visa grant progress and analysis
189 skilled independent migration
Submitted 23 July 2020, granted 19 February 2021 (Agricultural Scientist (234112), offshore)
Submitted 5 April 2020, granted 18 February 2021 (Biomedical Engineer (233913), offshore)
190 state-nominated skilled migration
Thanks to a client for sharing: submitted March 2020, granted 20 February 2021 (VIC nursing, offshore)
491 (new regional) / 489 (former regional) sponsored visas
Submitted 21 November 2020, granted 16 January 2021, onshore, engineering, 75+15
887 regional permanent residence visa
None this week
858GTI Program
None this week
Employer sponsorship
Visa application submitted 18 January 2021, approved 19 February 2021 (Developer/Programmer)
Nomination application submitted 3 August 2020, approved 19 February 2021 (Marketing Specialist)
Subclass 407 visa
Submitted 16 March 2020, granted 18 February 2021
600 onshore visitor visa
Submitted 16 November 2020, granted 17 February 2021 (onshore)
Submitted 17 November 2020, granted 19 February 2021 (onshore)
Submitted 16 November 2020, granted 18 February 2021
Submitted 17 November 2020, granted 19 February 2021
500 student visa
Submitted 2 December 2020, granted 15 February 2021 (onshore)
Submitted 7 December 2020, granted 15 February 2021 (onshore)
Submitted 1 December 2020, granted 15 February 2021 (onshore)
Submitted 10 December 2020, granted 16 February 2021 (onshore)
Submitted 4 September 2020, granted 16 February 2021 (onshore)
Submitted 27 November 2020, granted 15 February 2021
Submitted 9 December 2020, granted 18 February 2021
485 Graduate Work visa
Submitted 16 October 2020, granted 16 February 2021
Submitted 10 December 2019, granted 16 February 2021 (offshore)
Submitted 26 August 2020, granted 19 February 2021 (offshore)
Submitted 26 August 2020, granted 18 February 2021
Partner migration
820/801 visa application submitted 18 October 2019, 820 granted 15 February 2021
820/801 visa application submitted 26 May 2020, 820 granted 18 February 2021
820/801 visa application submitted 15 October 2019, granted 16 February 2021
820/801 visa application submitted 20 May 2020, granted 17 February 2021
820/801 visa application submitted 15 November 2019, granted 18 February 2021
Parent migration/visa
None this week
155 Resident Return
Submitted 16 February 2021, granted 16 February 2021
Subclass 408 visa
None this week
Travel exemption applications
None this week
8503/8534 condition waiver
None this week
This week’s skills assessment processing progress
CA (accounting-related)
Submitted 16 February 2021, completed 17 February 2021
Submitted 15 February 2021, completed 16 February 2021, taxation accountant, expedited
Submitted 16 February 2021, completed 17 February 2021, management accountant, expedited
CPA (accounting-related)
None this week
EA (engineering-related)
None this week
VETASSESS
Submitted 8 February 2021, completed 17 February 2021 (expedited)
Submitted 19 October 2020, completed 19 February 2021
Submitted 22 January 2021, completed 20 February 2021, Massage Therapist (411611), expedited, onshore
AITSL (teaching-related)
Submitted 22 December 2020, completed 18 January 2021
ACS (IT-related)
Submitted 12 January 2021, completed 15 February 2021
Submitted 25 January 2021, completed 18 February 2021
Submitted 3 February 2021, completed 17 February 2021
ANMAC skills assessment (nursing-related)
Submitted 9 February 2021, completed 16 February 2021
Submitted 11 January 2021, completed 19 February 2021
NAATI Recertification (translation-related)
Submitted 7 February 2021, completed 19 February 2021
AIQS (QS-related)
None this week
If you can’t find the data category you’re interested in — that is, it shows None this week — you can click into[Migration Weekly Bulletin Collection]at the top of the article to view past bulletins and find the relevant data.
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Accounting/ICT/civil/nursing/QS/design… How many competitors do you have for state nomination, and what scores are they on? Our Canberra state nomination survey findings!
Migration information-sharing and Q&A group
Step 1: Press and hold to add our customer service contact
Step 2: After adding, please
Essential migration guide for engineering professionals! From skills assessment to choosing between different pathways!Click “Original Article Link”, a must-read for engineering professionals!
