Skilled Migration News - April 2020
SkillSelect Update
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has released the March 2020 invitation rounds results.
The total number of invitations increased from 1,300 to 2,250. Of which, 1,750 invitations were allocated to Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189). The minimum points to get an invitation in this round remained the same compared to last round, i.e. 85 points for Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa – Family Sponsored stream (Subclass 491) candidates and 90 points for subclass 189 candidates.
The cutoff time for this round was as follows:
- Subclass 189 – 90 points @ 29 January 2020, 6:37pm (last round cutoff: 16 Nov 2019, 9:23pm)
- Subclass 491 – 85 points @ 5 February 2020, 3:56pm (last round cutoff: 8 Jan 2020, 3:06pm)
Implications:
The cutoff time indicates that a 90 point 189 visa candidates who submitted their EOI between 17 Nov 2019 and 29 Jan 2020 had to wait for two to four months before they can receive an invitation.
The table below shows that minimum points current processed for the eight pro-rata occupations:
DHA first allocates available places to subclass 189 candidates and then the remaining to subclass 491 – Family Sponsored candidates . If all places are taken up by subclass 189 then there will be no invitations issued for subclass 491 visas in this round.
Pro-rata arrangement occupations | Subclass | Occupation ID | Minimum points currently processed | Minimum points processed in previous round |
Software and Applications Programmers | 189 | 2613 | 90 | 90 |
491 | 2613 | 85 | 85 | |
Accountants | 189 | 2211 | 95 | 95 |
Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers | 189 | 2212 | 95 | 95 |
Electronics Engineers | 189 | 2334 | 90 | 90 |
491 | 2334 | 85 | 85 | |
Computer Network Professionals | 189 | 2631 | 90 | 90 |
491 | 2631 | 90 | 85 | |
Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 189 | 2335 | 90 | 90 |
ICT Business and Systems Analysts* | 189 | 2611 | 90 | 90 |
Processing time
According to the DHA, the latest estimated visa application processing time for the following visas are as follows:
Subclass 189 (points-tested stream) around 12 months
Subclass 190 (state nomination) around 10-11 months
Subclass 491 (family sponsored) around 46 days
Subclass 491 (State/Territory government nominated) around 46-51 days
This is for indicative purpose only. Please bear in mind that processing times are impacted each month by changes in application volumes, seasonal peaks, complex cases, and incomplete applications.
State nomination updates
State nomination statistics for subclasses 190 and 491
DHA has published the latest state/territory nomination statistics up to February 2020 as follows:
Subclass 190
Feb 2020 | July 2019- Feb 2020 | |
QLD | 137 | 1,000 |
NSW | 147 | 1,705 |
VIC | 190 | 1,559 |
WA | 39 | 516 |
SA | 46 | 942 |
TAS | 62 | 648 |
ACT | 86 | 878 |
NT | 78 | 283 |
Total | 785 | 7,531 |
Subclass 491
Feb 2020 | 16 Nov 2019- Feb 2020 | |
QLD | 114 | 265 |
NSW | 0 | 0 |
VIC | 92 | 259 |
WA | 12 | 49 |
SA | 224 | 311 |
TAS | 112 | 423 |
ACT | 57 | 65 |
NT | 24 | 64 |
Total | 635 | 1,436 |
State nomination updates
Queensland (QLD)
Business & Skilled Migration Queensland (BSMQ) advised that the subclass 491 offshore application has been closed temporarily due to COVID-19 crisis and the closure of Queensland’s borders on Wednesday 25 March 2020. However, 491 onshore is remain open.
Subclass 190 and all business visas (subclass 188 and 132) have met nomination allocation for FY 2019-20. New quota will be received in July 2020 and applicants will be required to submit a new EOI for Queensland State Nominated visas (subclass 190, 188, 132) at this time.
South Australia (SA)
Immigration South Australia (Immigration SA) changes its priorities to process the nomination application for health and medical professional, which includes:
- Reduced work experience requirements for international graduates of SA – medical and health professional and those currently working as a medical or health professional in SA.
- Medical and health professionals who are currently workingfor the last 12 months in their nominated or closely related occupation (minimum 20 hours per week) in South Australia (or the last 6 months in their nominated or closely related occupation (minimum 20 hours per week) in a country region of South Australia) remain eligible for a permanent 190 visa.
Changes to requirements for 190 visas is closed for offshore applicants and those applicants that do not meet the following requirements:
Currently working for the last 12 months in their nominated or closely related occupation (minimum 20 hours per week) in South Australia or the last 6 months in their nominated or closely related occupation (minimum 20 hours per week) in a country region (of South Australia). If you do not meet these requirements, you are only eligible to apply for 491 visa nomination.
For details, please refer to Immigration SA: https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/news-events/news-releases/general-skilled-migration-changes