Good news could finally be on the horizon for a number of the skilled Australia visa applicants caught by the processing changes made on 23 September, 2009. 

An official announcement is yet to be made, but there are now strong indications from the Department of Immigration of Citizenship (DIAC) that certain offshore State/Territory Sponsored skilled visa applicants in non-Critical Skills List (CSL) occupations are going to be processed in the next few months.

To give some background, the 23 September changes order of processing priorities put much greater importance on processing applications with a nominated occupation on the CSL, which can be summarised as follows:

"APPLICATION ON THE CSL

If your nominated occupation is on the CSL and you have applied for an onshore or offshore GSM visa it is estimated that your application will be finalised within 12 months from your lodgement date.

APPLICATIONS NOT ON CSL

If your nominated occupation is not on the CSL and you have applied for an offshore GSM visa it is unlikely that your visa will be finalised before the end of 2012."

Essentially, this left anyone without a nominated occupation on the CSL with a considerable wait before DIAC would finalise their visa application, regardless of where they were in the Australia immigration process. 

As a result, anyone applying through the State or Territory sponsorship pathway who had been asked to arrange police and medical checks prior to the announcement was left in a particularly frustrating position, as the changes took thousands of applicants from being just weeks or months away from receiving a visa grant to a situation where they would have to wait until approx. 2012 to have their application finalised.

Additionally, as medical examinations and police clearance certificates have a validity of 12 months such applicants were faced with the additional cost of arranging repeat medicals and police certificates, making the situation even more unfair.

Which applicants will DIAC start processing?

While there has been no official announcement yet, reports are coming in from migration agents and other individuals who have been in correspondence with the Department of Immigration that DIAC is now in a position to make a start on processing State or Territory sponsored applications who had been asked to arrange police and medical checks before 23 September, with such applications set to be processed in chronological order of receipt, regardless of the visa subclass applied for (i.e. subclasses 176 and 475).

We'll have to wait until the Department of Immigration make a solid announcement before being able to really gauge just how good this news is, and it's important to remember that the number of people with the potential to be affected is still relatively slight; approx. 3,500 people of the 2009/10 General Skilled Migration program which has 108,100 places. However, it's still an excellent sign that DIAC is showing a willingness to rectify their mistakes and make for a fairer migration process.

Once we have further information, we'll contact our clients directly to let them know exactly what the changes are, but do look out for further updates on the blog as and when they come in.

- Jodie List is a Senior Caseworker for the Australian Visa Bureau

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

We received news last week that changes are set to be made to New Zealand immigration policy on 30 November. You can see the full list of changes by clicking here, but the most pertinent piece of information for anyone looking to make an application for a New Zealand work visa is the following:

"Minimum income requirement for dependent children of Essential Skills work visa or permit holders

A minimum income threshold requirement has been added for work permit and visa holders under the Essential Skills policy in order for their dependent children to live in New Zealand. This is to ensure that the children have a appropriate level of financial support, given that these families are not eligible for state-funded income support."

This essentially means that anyone migrating to New Zealand on an Essential Skills policy work visa with dependent children must have a minimum income to be granted the visa. Through further investigation into the legislation, I have found that the minimum income threshold is NZD$33,675 gross p/a (which converts to approx. GBP£15,000 gross p/a), based on today's exchange rates.

A further caveat is that this income must be met and maintained wholly by the salary or wages of a parent or parents holding an Essential Skills work visa/permit.

Evidence must be provided of the Essential Skills work permit holder’s current salary or wages to satisfy a visa or immigration officer that the applicant’s parent/s meet the minimum income threshold.

- Jodie List is Casework Department Manager for the New Zealand Visa Bureau.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

We received another update today regarding the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) processing priorities for Australian skilled visas and a new set of changes that have been made

What changes have been made to the Australia visa processing priorities?

Formerly, state nominated visa applications were marked as high priority and were typically entered into processing within a few weeks of state sponsorship confirmation. However, DIAC today released a new order of processing priorities.

Please understand that these changes only affect the time it takes your visa to be decided, and not your visa eligibility. See below for the new order (with the highest priority listed first):

1. Applications from people who are employer sponsored under the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) and the Regional Skilled Migration Scheme (RSMS);
2. Applications from people who are nominated by a State/Territory government AND whose nominated occupation is listed on the Critical Skills List (CSL);
3. Applications from people who are sponsored by family and whose nominated occupation is listed on the CSL;
4. Applications from people who are neither nominated nor sponsored but whose nominated occupation is listed on the CSL;
5. Applications from people who are nominated by a State/Territory government whose nominated occupation is not listed on the CSL;
6. (i) Applications from people whose occupations are listed on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL); OR
   (ii) Applications from people who are sponsored by family and whose nominated occupation is not listed on the CSL;
7. All other applications are to be processed in the order in which they are received.

What does this mean for Australia visa applicants?

The new order of processing priorities puts much greater importance on processing applications with a nominated occupation on the CSL. The following information further clarifies the new timeframes for both CSL-listed and non CSL-listed applications:

"APPLICATION ON THE CSL

If your nominated occupation is on the CSL and you have applied for an onshore or offshore GSM visa it is estimated that your application will be finalised within 12 months from your lodgement date.

APPLICATIONS NOT ON CSL

If your nominated occupation is not on the CSL and you have applied for an offshore GSM visa it is unlikely that your visa will be finalised before the end of 2012."

Essentially, anyone without a nominated occupation on the CSL will have to wait a considerable time before DIAC finalises their visa application. However, DIAC have announced that they are currently undertaking a Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) review (which we've discussed on an earlier Visa Bureau blog) which could result in further amendments to the processing priorities.

One potential outcome of the MODL review could be the introduction of the Future Skills List; a new targeting mechanism which could replace both the MODL and the CSL as the tool used by DIAC to determine the priority of visa applications.

What should I do at this time?

With the MODL review still in the pipeline, it's unlikely that these will be the last changes made to General Skilled Migration for now. Therefore, the best thing for all applicants to do is to stay calm and continue working towards their visa lodgement.

Additionally, while less priority has been placed on applications which are state sponsored, I would still advise continuing your application for state sponsorship if you have yet to do so. Possessing state sponsorship is still considered beneficial and would place in you a higher position than you would otherwise be in.

This information has just been announced today by DIAC and it has come as an enormous surprise to both migration agents and visa applicants alike. We'll post a more extensive blog providing comments on these changes soon, as well as any further updates we receive as the situation progresses.

- Jodie List is a MARA-registered migration agent for the Australian Visa Bureau

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

The New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) recently announced a number of changes set to come into effect on July 27 that will impact both the temporary and permanent New Zealand visa categories.

The most important of these changes are those set to be made to the List of Skilled Occupations and the Long Term Skills Shortage List (LTSSL). In an effort to have the lists align the revised version of the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), both lists will see:

• The removal and addition of new occupations;
• The addition of specialisations within occupations;
• Occupation title changes;
• Occupation scope changes; AND
• The merging of occupations.

What does this mean for my New Zealand visa application?

The changes to the List of Skilled Occupations and LTSSL have the potential to change the eligibility of an applicant for a New Zealand visa, depending on whether their nominated occupation is added or removed from either of the lists.  However NZIS have also made provision in their policy for applicants whose occupation is removed from the LTSSL but have already had their Expression of Interest (EOI) selected from the pool. These applicants will NOT be affected, and they will continue  to be considered as if their occupation had not been removed.

However, what I advise all applicants to do is please remain calm. We are currently in the process of reassessing all our clients, but should you be trying to complete the process without the aid of a licensed immigration advisor, I advise that you take the time to research the changes and get a full and correct understanding of how they will affect you before taking action.

What other changes are coming to New Zealand immigration?

To summarise the other changes coming to New Zealand immigration, we can expect the following further changes to be made on July 27:

• A new policy called Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) has been established and replaces the Transitioning to Recognised Seasonal Employer (TRSE) policy. As a result, some TRSE changes have been made as a reaction to the introduction of SSE policy. For more detailed information on these changes see the following news item on the NZIS website: 'New seasonal work policy for horticulture and viticulture businesses and amendments to Recognised Seasonal Employer policy'.
• A special Visitor policy has been introduced for work permit holders who have received a dismissal notice within the 90-day trial period.
• The Essential Skills work policy has been amended to limit the visa and permit length to one year for lower skilled workers. Additionally, a note has been added to state that self-employment does not meet the Essential Skills policy objectives.
• All New Zealand working holiday visa holders may now undertake more than one course of study, which must not exceed three months in total during their stay in New Zealand. Working holidaymakers from Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Taiwan may study more than one course not exceeding six months in total.

- Jodie List is Casework Department Manager for the New Zealand Visa Bureau

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.