Changes to General Skilled Migration February 2010 A Quick Guide
8 February 2010On 8 February 2010, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced the following changes to the General Skilled Migration program:
* the outcomes of a review of the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)
* the replacement of the current Skilled Occupation List (SOL) in the second half of 2010
* offshore GSM visas made before 1 September 2007 would be capped and ceased
* priority processing arrangements
* skills assessment requirements for GSM applicants nominating a trade occupation.
More information is available on the department’s website.
See:
Changes to the General Skilled Migration Program (362KB PDF file)
Outcomes of the Migration Occupation in Demand List Review – Frequently Asked Questions (373KB PDF file)
Onshore International Students (435KB PDF file)
Changes to Offshore General Skilled Migration Visa Applications Received Before 1 September 2007 (409KB PDF file)
Changes to the Current Skilled Occupation List (368KB PDF file)
Revoking the Critical Skills List (337KB PDF file)
Changes to Priority Processing Arrangements – Frequently Asked Questions (406KB PDF file)
General Skilled Migration (GSM) Points Test Review (377KB PDF file)
Changes to the Skills Assessment Requirements for GSM Applicants Nominating a Trade Occupation (417KB PDF file)
The critical points about the changes to General Skilled Migration are:
a) Current applicants who applied on or after 1 September 2007 aren’t affected – their points and eligibility are locked in and in most cases their processing priority will remain the same until 30 June 2010 at least.
b) People who applied before 1 September 2007 are subject to “cap and kill” legislation, ie the Department is going to process a certain number (not yet announced as far as I know) and then terminate the rest, in which case all application fees paid to the Department of Immigration will be returned to those applicants (directly or through their agents).
c) Current onshore students will not be able to claim MODL points however they will benefit from a complex suite of measures designed to protect them (and the international student industry). The Department will announce the new skilled occupation list by 30 April 2010 (taking effect on 30 June 2010) and most graduates who have not yet applied for a general skilled migration visa will need to wait until then to determine which pathway they should pursue. The Department does not need to announce transitional measures for students whose visas are expiring on 15 March 2010 since those students are able to lodge a subclass 485 (temporary graduate) visa and then change their nominated occupation for their permanent visa application.
d) People planning to apply for General Skilled Migration as of 8 February should consult a migration agent – those who hold positive skills assessments but have not yet applied for their visas will be able to apply however should their nominated occupation not be on the new Skilled Occupation List then their application will most likely be refused.
e) The MODL is dead for new applicants – except for the continued operation of the Critical Skills List which will still give IT MODL skills priority until then.
f) There is still more information needed to clarify many of these points, in particular I would expect inputs from the Minister’s speech later today, and also from the Migration Institute of Australia. In the meantime, the major links are all here: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener…df/faq-sol.pdf
