Australia Permanent Residence – New Skilled Occupation List
Australia has published the new skilled occupation lists, announcing some major changes to its immigration system, including eligible occupations for permanent and temporary immigration.
What changes are on the new occupation lists? Which list applies to your visa application? Does it impact current visa applications?
If those questions often come up to your mind this article may help you understanding what these changes represents.
The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs David Coleman said:
“This update responds to calls from regional Australia for better access to skilled workers in key areas of need and will boost access to services required by our local communities,”
What are skilled occupation lists?
Every year the Australian government publish changes on the skilled occupation lists related to the general skilled migration program.
This program aims at skilled workers in particular for professionals willing to migrate to improve Australia’s workforce.
In order to qualify for skilled migration to Australia, the applicant first must nominate an occupation from one of the lists. Check below the lists applied to each visa subclass:
What visa sub-class means?
According to the Migration Act 1958 section 29, visas sub-classes and it’s regulations are administered by the Department of Home Affairs. Visas can be divided into 2 groups:
- PERMANENT OR MIGRANT VISAS, which allow permanent residence in Australia:
Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa (subclass 186)
216 skilled occupations.
Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa (subclass 187)
673 skilled occupations.
Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)
212 skilled occupations.
Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
427 skilled occupations.
- TEMPORARY VISAS, which generally have a time limit on the period of stay in Australia:
Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482)
508 skilled occupations.
Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485)
212 skilled occupations.
Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489)
504 skilled occupations.
The department of home affairs summarises changes to the combined list of eligible skilled occupations for Australia’s skilled visa programs that came into effect on 11 March 2019.
Changes on the Skilled Occupation Lists:
18 occupations will be added to the Regional Occupation List to further support regional and rural businesses, particularly farms.
If you already lodged a visa application don’t worry, the new changes will not affect existing applications.
You can see more on the changes to the Skilled Occupation Lists here.
Like our Ellerfield Migration page on Facebook and leave us a comment on this post to guarantee your free initial assessment.
Assess your eligibility and identify the best visa solution to suit your personal circumstances.
