1. SkillSelect Update
- The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) published the invitation round result up to 11 February 2019. Here are the summary for the first two rounds in 2019
- The minimum points to get an invitation remained at 70 points. The cut-off time was now up to 9 November 2018. Given that the number of invitations dropped by 1000 in February, we noted that only 32 applicants who got 70 points were received an EOI invitation in February compared with 848 applicants in January round. That means if you score 70 points, you will probably expect the waiting time will be much longer.
· The total number of invitations offered:
| Jan 2019 | Feb 2019 |
Subclass 189 | 2490 | 1490 |
Subclass 489 | 10 | 10 |
The top 10 occupations to receive an invitation (non pro-rata occupations) in these two rounds are as follows:
| Occupations | Occupation ID | No. of EOI invitations |
1 | Registered Nurses | 2544 | 277 |
2 | Civil Engineering Professionals | 2332 | 249 |
3 | Database and Systems Administrators and ICT Security Specialists | 2621 | 214 |
4 | Electrical Engineers | 2333 | 115 |
5 | Other Medical Practitioners | 2539 | 106 |
6 | Telecommunications Engineering Professionals | 2633 | 92 |
7 | Chemical and Materials Engineers | 2331 | 69 |
8 | Secondary School Teachers | 2414 | 61 |
9 | Architects and Landscape Architects | 2321 | 49 |
10 | General Practitioners and Resident Medical officers | 2531 | 47 |
For the pro-rata occupations, we saw the minimum points were now increased to 75. The minimum requirement for Accountants was raised to 85 points. See the details in the table below:
Pro-rata arrangement occupations | Occupation ID | Number of invitation in current rounds | Minimum points currently processed | Minimum points processed in Dec 2018 round |
Software and Applications Programmers | 2613 | 930 | 75 | 70 |
Accountants | 2211 | 480 | 85 | 80 |
Computer Network Professionals | 2631 | 277 | 75 | 70 |
Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 2335 | 227 | 75 | 70 |
ICT Business and Systems Analysts* | 2611 | 187 | 75 | 75 |
Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers | 2212 | 171 | 80 | 80 |
Other Engineering Professionals | 2339 | 90 | 75 | 75 |
Electronics Engineers | 2334 | 38 | 75 | 75 |
Processing time
According to the Home Affairs, the latest estimated visa application processing time for the following visas are as follows:
Subclass 189 (points-tested stream) around 5-7 months
Subclass 190 (state nomination) around 8-10 months
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.
2. Changes to occupation lists
The Home Affairs updated the skilled occupation lists on 11 March 2019. The changes include standardising the Medium and Long Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) by making 30 occupations available to all visa subclasses. These occupations were previously accessible to Temporary Skill Shortages (TSS, subclass 482), Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS, subclass 186) and training visa (subclass 407).
Regional employers are also benefit with the addition of 18 occupations to the Regional Occupation List (ROL).
Newly added occupations to MLTSSL
- Arts Administrator or Manager (ANZSCO code 139911)
- Dancer or Choreographer (ANZSCO code 211112)
- Music Director (ANZSCO code 211212)
- Artistic Director (ANZSCO code 212111)
- Tennis Coach (ANZSCO code 452316)
- Footballer (ANZSCO code 452411)
- Environmental Manager (ANZSCO code 139912)
- Musician (Instrumental) (ANZSCO code 211213)
- Statistician (ANZSCO code 224113)
- Economist (ANZSCO code 224311)
- Mining Engineer (excluding Petroleum) (ANZSCO code 233611)
- Petroleum Engineer (ANZSCO code 233612)
- Engineering Professionals nec (ANZSCO code 233999)
- Chemist (ANZSCO code 234211)
- Food Technologist (ANZSCO code 234212)
- Environmental Consultant (ANZSCO code 234312)
- Environmental Research Scientist (ANZSCO code 234313)
- Environmental Scientists nec (ANZSCO code 234399)
- Geophysicist (ANZSCO code 234412)
- Hydrogeologist (ANZSCO code 234413)
- Life Scientist (General) (ANZSCO code 234511)
- Biochemist (ANZSCO code 234513)
- Biotechnologist (ANZSCO code 234514)
- Botanist (ANZSCO code 234515)
- Marine Biologist (ANZSCO code 234516)
- Microbiologist (ANZSCO code 234517)
- Zoologist (ANZSCO code 234518)
- Life Scientists nec (ANZSCO code 234599)
- Conservator (ANZSCO code 234911)
- Metallurgist (ANZSCO code 234912)
- Meteorologist (ANZSCO code 234913)
- Natural and Physical Science Professionals nec (ANZSCO code 234999)
- University Lecturer (ANZSCO code 242111)
- Multimedia Specialist (ANZSCO code 261211)
- Software and Applications Programmers nec (ANZSCO code 261399)
- Horse Trainer (ANZSCO code 361112)
-Occupations removed from SSL
- Visual Arts and Crafts Professionals (ANZSCO code 211499)
- Textile, Clothing and Footwear Mechanic (ANZSCO code 323215)
- Watch and Clock Maker and Repairer (ANZSCO code 323316)
- Chemical Plant Operator (ANZSCO code 399211)
- Library Technician (ANZSCO code 399312)
- Arts Administrator or Manager (ANZSCO code 139911)
- Dancer or Choreographer (ANZSCO code 211112)
- Music Director (ANZSCO code 211212)
- Artistic Director (ANZSCO code 212111)
- Footballer (ANZSCO code 452411)
- Tennis Coach (ANZSCO code 452316)
Occupations added to ROL
- Aquaculture Farmer (ANZSCO code 121111)
- Cotton Grower (ANZSCO code 121211)
- Fruit or Nut Grower (ANZSCO code 121213)
- Grain, Oilseed or Pasture Grower (Aus)/field crop grower (NZ) (ANZSCO code 121214)
- Mixed Crop Farmer (ANZSCO code 121216)
- Sugar Cane Grower (ANZSCO code 121217)
- Crop Farmers nec (ANZSCO code 121299)
- Beef Cattle Farmer (ANZSCO code 121312)
- Dairy Cattle Farmer (ANZSCO code 121313)
- Mixed Livestock Farmer (ANZSCO code 121317)
- Deer Farmer (ANZSCO code 121314)
- Goat Farmer (ANZSCO code 121315)
- Pig Farmer (ANZSCO code 121318)
- Sheep Farmer (ANZSCO code 121322)
- Livestock Farmers nec (ANZSCO code 121399)
- Mixed Crop and Livestock Farmer (ANZSCO code 121411)
- Dentist (ANZSCO code 252312)
- Anaesthetist (ANZSCO code 253211)
- Deer Farmer (ANZSCO code 121314)
- Goat Farmer (ANZSCO code 121315)
3. Changes in assessing authorities
Apart from changes to occupation lists, the Home Affairs also made changes in assessing authority of certain occupations.
Occupation | Previous assessing authority | New assessing authority |
Family Support Worker (411713) | VETASSESS | The Australian Community Workers Association |
Residential Care Officer (411715) | VETASSESS | ACWA |
Disabilities Services Officer (411712) | VETASSESS | ACWA |
Podiatrist (252611) | Australian Podiatry Association or The | ANZPAC |
State nomination updates
State nomination statistics for subclasses 190 and 489
The Home Affairs has published the latest state/territory nomination statistics for the current program year as follows:
Subclass 190
| Jan 2019 | Dec 2018 | Nov 2018 | Cumulative 2018/19 | |
| QLD | 73 | 86 | 166 | 790 |
| NSW | 197 | 293 | 315 | 1,563 |
| VIC | 263 | 222 | 110 | 1,836 |
| WA | 49 | 29 | 18 | 97 |
| SA | 53 | 93 | 162 | 590 |
| TAS | 64 | 30 | 66 | 377 |
| ACT | 14 | 33 | 36 | 361 |
| NT | 28 | 19 | 30 | 191 |
Subclass 489
| Jan 2019 | Dec 2018 | Cumulative 2018/19 | |
| QLD | 36 | 50 | 382 |
| NSW | 110 | 141 | 1,215 |
| VIC | 13 | 6 | 39 |
| WA | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| SA | 119 | 185 | 1,558 |
| TAS | 132 | 112 | 704 |
| ACT | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NT | 28 | 16 | 188 |
| Total | 440 | 513 | 4,096 |
South Australia (SA)
· From 28 Feb 2019, the SA Government made some changes to its general skilled migration nomination policies with an aim to give greater nomination opportunities to those graduates from South Australia’s educational institutions. This includes;
§ Rewarding those international students who have been residing in SA since 2012 by offering state nomination for Provisional 489 visa.
§ Expanding the high performing graduate category for SA graduates. For those graduates with a bachelor’s degree or a masters by coursework after a South Australian bachelor’s degree, this work experience waiver required a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 6.0. This mark remains for those seeking nomination for a permanent 190 visa. For other students who scored a GPA of 5.20 to 5.99, the SA Government will offer Provisional visa nomination (subclass 489).
§ Removing the bachelor’s degree requirement for Chain Migration Policy. This means that a range of trade occupations that are in the Supplementary Skilled List but not on the State Nominated Occupation List is now possible for a state nomination for a Provisional 489 visa if they have eligible family in SA.
· The SA Government also updated its state nominated occupation list (SNOL) and Supplementary Skilled List (SSL) with effective from 15 March 2019.
· 3 occupations added to the SNOL are as follows:
§ Statistician (ANZSCO 224113),
§ Multimedia Specialist (ANZSCO 261211)
§ Software and Applications Programmers nec (ANZSCO 261399)
· 5 occupations removed from the SNOL are as follows:
§ Chemical Plant Operator,
§ Visual Arts and Crafts Professionals,
§ Library Technician,
§ Watch and Clock Maker
§ Textile, Clothing and Footwear Mechanic.
· 32 occupations were added to the Supplement Skills List (SSL)
For details, please refer to: https://migration.sa.gov.au/skilled-migrants/changes-to-immigration-sas-occupation-lists
To explore your visa options, please visit our website or complete a free online assessment and book for an initial assessment with our professional migration professional.