WA’s skilled migration allocation for the 2022-23 year was just over 8,000 places; this number is now just 2,350 places in 2023-24.

In order to receive a state nominated visa, such as the subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa or the subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa, applicants must be invited by the state or territory they wish to live and work in.

Both visas cost A$4,640 to apply. Applicants must have an occupation on the relevant state or territory’s skilled occupation list and satisfy the requirements of a skills assessment.

The subclass 491 visa allows successful applicants to stay in the country for 5 years and work in a designated regional area with no restrictions on the number of hours worked. The subclass 190 visa allows migrants to apply for Australian citizenship and as such, stay in the country permanently.

WA Premier, Roger Cook met with the Federal Government on August 22 and lobbied for more skilled visa places to help support the state’s burgeoning economy. 

Australia is suffering from a housing crisis and Cook also made the case that an increase in skilled migrants would help the state’s housing industry to increase the supply of new homes built.

“The state-nominated migration program has to have a bigger quota for WA because we need those workers to make sure that we can supercharge our home construction industry,” Cook said.

“I put it to the prime minister that if we are to meet our targets in relation to the national targets around home construction, we need the workers to do that construction.”

It is unclear whether the allocation of 2,350 places is a preliminary allocation, or if more places should be expected later in the year.

The post WA Skilled Visa Allocation: What’s going on? appeared first on Easy Migrate.

With Australia paying their doctors up to 50 per cent more than the UK, it is easy to understand why many UK and other overseas doctors are considering migrating to Australia. There are a number of different doctor occupations on the Australian Skilled Occupations List, and there are also a number of different visa options available. Finding the correct visa subclass to apply for can be confusing for many people who are considering migrating. We have compiled four steps to help you;

1. Find out if your Occupation is on the combined Skilled Occupations Lists
2. Speak to a Registered Migration Agent for visa advice. The agent will be able to tell you which visa pathway you should apply for, how long the process may be, how much it will cost and what documents you will need to submit.
3. For permanent residency in Australia, you will undergo a Skills Assessment as this will be required to lodge a visa application. But for company-sponsored temporary visas, this is not compulsory. For regional areas there are “exemptions” but for work as a Medical Practitioner in a metro-area it is compulsory to have “Australian Registration”
4. Australian Registration is handled by the Australian Medical Board (AMB)

Australia has lots of employment opportunities for medical practitioners who are looking to leave the grey rain clouds of the UK/Europe behind and start afresh in beautiful sunny Australia.

Alecto Australia is a recruitment company who specialise with General Practitioners jobs. You can find your perfect job today by just searching their vacancy list and the book to speak with one of our team regarding migration advice.

The post Four Steps for UK and European Doctors Migrating to Australia appeared first on Easy Migrate.

The Department of  Home Affairs (DoHA) has released the analysis of the 11^th September 2018 “Skill Select” invitation results (Expressions of Interest – EOI) for the visa subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) and subclass 489 (Skilled Family Sponsored).

EasyMigrate’s Principal Migration Consultant Mr Cyrus Misty has reviewed these results – commentary below

Broad Overview:

Recent news: Department of Immigration (now DoHA) has announced that from Financial Year 2018-2019 there will be only ONE ROUND OF INVITATIONS PER MONTH, next round will be around 11 October 2018.

Recent news: Department of Immigration (now DoHA) has announced that from 1 July 2018 the “pass mark” has been increased from 60 to 65 points. New applicants can lodge their EOI with 65 points or more. Other applicants who submitted their EOI before 30 June 2018 with 60 points will continue to stay in the queue.

Summary:

It is good to note that The 11^th September 2018 invitation round from Depart of Immigration’s “SkillSelect” division has maintained the same levels as the last invitation round (11 August 2018) – about 2,500 invitations. For the second time since October 2017 (about ten months ago), the number of monthly invitations has touched the “two thousand-plus” mark! 2490 invitations to be exact in the Skilled Independent SC189 subclass and 10 in the Family-Sponsored Subclass 489!

For November 2017 to June 2018, the Department of Immigration (now Department of Home Affairs – DoHA) had released only 305 invitations every fortnight. This level had been static, at about 610 invitations per month.

For July 2018, 1,010 invitations had been issued. This is better than the 610 invitations being issued from Nov 2017 onwards. But still a lot less than the 2,000-odd invitations that were being issued per month before October 2017, but now the number of invitations seem to be regularly above the two-thousand mark in the 11 August 2018 AND the 11 September 2018 SkillSelect results – 2,490 invitations each in the Subclass 189 visa category.

For many months the “Accountants group” of occupations were not invited at all. This is now the sixth round of invitations where DoHA has finally invited Accountants, Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers! For Accountants, the invitation threshold has been steady at 80 points (this round and the last round). The cut-off date is published as 25-05-2018 which means that all “Accountant” applicants with 80 points or more who applied for their Expression of Interest (EOI)  before 25-05-2018 got invited. Please note that the EOI date resets each time there is an “upgrade” or change registered, e.g. additional points for age, extra points for work-experience, successful NAATI test, etc. For the other occupations listed above, the cut-off points-score is also 80, and the cut-off date is 01-05-2018 (in the last round of invitations this was 14-03-2018, so this has moved forward by one and half months).

The total number of invitations for the last financial year (July 2017 to June 2018) was 16,296.

Based on July 2018,  August 2018 and September 2018 figures, the total number of invitations for this financial year (July 2018 to June 2019) could be 6,000 x 3 three-monthly periods = 24,000 which would mean an increase in Subclass 189 and Subclass 489 (Family) invitations compared to the previous financial year 2017-2018. There may be even more invitations planned for the next nine months (October 2018 – June 2019) – let us wait and see.

The slow-down from November 2017 to June 2018 will undoubtedly affect the Department of Immigration’s statistics in the 2018-2019 financial year. I was forecasting a deliberate attempt by DoHA to slow down the “pipeline” in preparation for some dramatic changes to be announced after July/August 2018, but this latest round of invitations may prove I was wrong!

For this latest round of invitations under the subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) visa, 2,490 invitations were issued, at 70 points or above. Only ten invitations were issued to SC489 Family-Sponsored applicants – 5 at 80 points and five at 85 points… so as you can see, the SC489 FAMILY-SPONSORED applicant needs to have scored 70-75 points “independently” plus the 10 points from their family-sponsor. 

On our EasyMigrate website, we have the statistics, and my ongoing analysis for the  October 2017 invitations; the November 2017 invitation round and the December 2017 round are available. January 2018 round, February 2018 round, March 2018 round, April 2018 round, May 2018 Round, the two x June 2018 rounds, the 11th July 2018, 11^th August 2018  invitation rounds are also available on our website. I estimate that the Nov 2017 to June 2018 rounds were only about 30-40% of the usual monthly track-record before October 2017, but from August 2018 the invitations are on par with the good months up to September 2017 in previous years.

Please note that these figures do not include invitations under the state-nominated subclass 190 and state-nominated “Regional” subclass 489.

For this round, most invitations (1,202) were to applicants who have 75 points. Another 545 invitations went to persons with 80 points. 15 invitations were given to applicants having 85 points or more. But the BEST NEWS is that 605 applicants were invited at 70 points!

There were NO INVITES to applicants with 60 or 65 points.

For the occupations subject to pro-rata arrangements, Accountants with 80 points or more got invitations up to an EOI-date of 25-05-2018. “Auditors,” “Company Secretaries” and “Corporate Treasurers” got invited at 80 points, with a cut-off date of 01-05-2018. This is a good development because Accountants had been excluded (or dramatically reduced) since Oct-Nov 2017 invitation-rounds!

Electronics Engineers got invited at 70 points with the date of effect 15-11-2017, this is a significant improvement because, in the last invitation round, only 75-point holders were invited. The cut-off date is published as 15-11-2017!

Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers also got invited at 70 points with a date of effect 18-01-2018. The previous period was December 2017, so this is a good development for Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers.

Other Engineering Professionals got invited at 75 points with the date of effect 03-07-2018. So in this invitation round, 70-point holders have not been invited! I am hoping that the number of “invitations” rises over the next few rounds. Then it will be a good sign for other engineers who are waiting at 70 points and 65 points.

ICT Professionals (Business and Systems Analysts) got invited at 75 points with the visa date of effect 03-07-2018.

ICT Professionals (Software and Application Programmers) got invited at 75 points with the visa date of effect 20-08-2018.  

ICT Professionals (Computer Network Professionals) got invited at 70 points with the visa date of effect 17-01-2018.

So for ICT professionals, there is about 1.5 to 7 month’s waiting in the queue. The good news is only for 75-point holders, EXCEPT for Computer Network Professionals who are getting invited even at 70 points. Again, if the number of invitations at each round goes up for the next financial year (July 2018 – June 2019), then more ICT professionals with 70 and 65 points are likely to be invited.

11 September 2018 Invitation Round

The table below (published by the Department of Immigration – now renamed Depart of Home Affairs – DoHA) shows the number of invitations issued in the SkillSelect invitation round on 11th August 2018:

1 11 September 2018 Invitation Round 

 To find out if you are eligible, please contact our migration agent specialists in Perth, WA on +61 8 9221 4888 or email reception@easymigrate.com

#AustralianMigrationMadeEasy

The post Skill Select EOI Invitation Results for September 11th, 2018 appeared first on Easy Migrate.

The Department of  Home Affairs (DoHA) has released the analysis of the 11^th August 2018 “Skill Select” invitation results (Expressions of Interest – EOI) for the visa subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) and subclass 489 (Skilled Family Sponsored.

EasyMigrate’s Principal Migration Consultant Mr Cyrus Misty has reviewed these results – commentary is given below.

“Broad Overview:

Recent news: Department of Immigration (now DoHA) has announced that from Financial Year 2018-2019 there will be only ONE ROUND OF INVITATIONS PER MONTH, next round will be around 11 August 2018.

Recent news: Department of Immigration (now DoHA) has announced that from 1 July 2018 the “pass mark” has been increased from 60 to 65 points. New applicants can lodge their EOI with 65 points or more. Other applicants who lodged their EOI before 30 June 2018 with 60 points will continue to stay in the queue.

Summary:

The 11^th August 2018 invitation round from Depart of Immigration’s “SkillSelect” division has been “WELCOME NEWS”. For the first time since October 2017 (about nine months ago), the number of monthly invitations has touched the “two thousand-plus” mark! 2.490 invitations to be exact!

For November 2017 to June 2018, the Department of Immigration (now Department of Home Affairs – DoHA) had released only 305 invitations every fortnight. This level had been static, at about 610 invitations per month.

For July 2018, 1,010 invitations had been issued. This is better than the 610 invitations being issued from Nov 2017 onwards. But still a lot less than the 2,000-odd invitations that were being issued per month before October 2017… so it is heartening to see the number of invitations above the two-thousand mark in the 11 August 2018 SkillSelect results – 2,490 invitations.

For many months the “Accountants group” of occupations were not invited at all. This is now the fifth round of invitations where DoHA has finally invited Accountants, Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers! For Accountants, the invitation threshold has dropped from 85 (last round) to 80 (this round), and the cut-off date is published as 15-03-2018 which means that all “Accountant” applicants with 80 points or more who applied for their Expression of Interest (EOI)  before 15-03-2018 got invited. For the other occupations listed above, the cut-off points-score is 80, and the cut-off date is 14-03-2018 (in the last round of invitations this was 16-02-2018, so this has moved forward by one month).

The total number of invitations for the last financial year (July 2017 to June 2018) was 16,296.

Based on July 2018 and August 2018 figures, the total number of invitations for this financial year (July 2018 to June 2019) could be 3,500 x 6 bi-monthly periods = 21,000 which would mean an increase in Subclass 189 and Subclass 489 (Family) invitations compared to the previous financial year 2017-2018. There may be even more invitations planned for the next ten months (Sept 2018 – June 2019) – let us wait and see.

The slow-down from November 2017 to June 2018 will undoubtedly affect the Department of Immigration’s statistics in the 2018-2019 financial year. I was forecasting a deliberate attempt by DoHA to slow down the “pipeline” in preparation for some dramatic changes to be announced after July/August 2018, but this latest round of invitations may prove I was wrong!

For this latest round of invitations under the subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) visa, 2,490 invitations were issued, at 70 points or above. Only ten invitations were issued to SC489 Family-Sponsored applicants – 9 at 80 points and one at 85 points… so as you can see, the SC489 FAMILY-SPONSORED applicant needs to have scored 70-75 points “independently” plus the 10 points from their family-sponsor. 

On our EasyMigrate website, we have the statistics, and my ongoing analysis for the  October 2017 invitations; the November 2017 invitation round and the December 2017 round are available. January 2018 round, February 2018 round, March 2018 round, April 2018 round, May 2018 Round, the two x June 2018 rounds and the 11th July 2018 invitation round are also available on our website. I estimate that the Nov 2017 to June 2018 rounds were only about 30-40% of the usual monthly track-record before October 2017, but from August 2018 the invitations are on par with the good months up to September 2017 in previous years.

Please note that these figures do not include invitations under the state-nominated subclass 190 and state-nominated “Regional” subclass 489.

For this round, most invitations (1,094) were to applicants who have 75 points. Another 453 invitations went to persons with 80 points. 107 invitations were given to applicants having 85 points. Two invitations were given to applicants with 90 points. But the BEST NEWS is that 834 applicants were invited at 70 points!

There were NO INVITES to applicants with 60 or 65 points.

For the occupations subject to pro-rata arrangements, Accountants with 80 points or more got invitations up to an EOI-date of 15-03-2018. “Auditors,” “Company Secretaries” and “Corporate Treasurers” got invited at 80 points, with a cut-off date of 14-03-2018. This is a good development because Accountants had been excluded (or dramatically reduced) since Oct-Nov 2017 invitation-rounds!

Electronics Engineers got invited at 75 points with the date of effect 19-07-2018, so they seem to have waited ONLY TWENTY-TWO DAYS IN THE QUEUE! Unfortunately, this is only for 75 point applicants; all others lost out.

Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers also got invited at 70 points with a date of effect 04-12-2017. The previous period was April 2018 (but for 75 points score), so this is a good development for Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers.

Other Engineering Professionals got invited at 75 points with the date of effect 16-05-2018. So for these occupations, the waiting in the queue has now increased because invitations have started to cover 70 point holders also! I am hoping that the number of “invitations” rises over the next few rounds. Then it will be a good sign for other engineers who are waiting at 70 points and 65 points.

ICT Professionals (Business and Systems Analysts) got invited at 75 points with the visa date of effect 07-04-2018.

ICT Professionals (Software and Application Programmers) got invited at 75 points with the visa date of effect 20-06-2018.  

ICT Professionals (Computer Network Professionals) got invited at 70 points with the visa date of effect 27-09-2017.

So for ICT professionals, there is about 1.5 to 4 month’s waiting in the queue. The good news is only for 75-point holders. Again, if the number of invitations at each round goes up for the next financial year (July 2018 – June 2019), then more ICT professionals with 70 and 65 points are likely to be invited.

11 August 2018 Invitation Round

The table below (published by the Department of Immigration – now renamed Depart of Home Affairs – DoHA) shows the number of invitations issued in the SkillSelect invitation round on 11th August 2018:

To find out if you are eligible, please contact our office on +61 8 9221 4888 or email reception@easymigrate.com

#AustralianMigrationMadeEasy

The post Skill Select EOI Invitation Results for August 11th, 2018 appeared first on Easy Migrate.

The 2018 – 2028 Northern Territory Population Growth Strategy was released on 22nd August 2018.  This Strategy aim is to boost the population in the Northern Territory, by creating around 21,000 jobs over ten years and provide a $10 billion boost to the Territory’s economy.

The Northern Territory Initiatives include:

 Attracting investment and creating jobs by encouraging local employment and a strategic focus on infrastructure, tourism, defence, trade and international engagement
Using The Territory – Boundless Possible to tell the modern Territory story
Attracting early career women, mid and late career workers and migrants through financial incentives for those in occupations on the Skilled Occupation Priority List
 Enhancing liveability including revitalising the Darwin and Alice Springs CBD, and improving sporting, recreational and cultural experiences and investing in safer communities
Understanding the drivers of population change through ongoing research

The post Northern Territory Opportunities – Population Growth Strategy appeared first on Easy Migrate.