Last week, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) have announced a new priority structure for processing Australian visa applications. The new structure follows the implementation of a new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) and the revocation of the Critical Skills List, amongst other changes that took place on 1 July, 2010.

Upon its initial release, there were no timeframes attached to each processing priority. However, these have now been provided by DIAC, with the current processing timeframes as follows:

Current Australian Visa Processing Priorities - Updated 28/07/2010
Processing Priority Group	Group Criteria	Processing timeframe
Priority Group 1	Applications from people who are employer sponsored under the Employer Nominated Scheme (ENS) or Regional Skilled Migration Scheme (RSMS)	Applications will be processed according to ENS/RSMS Service Standards
Priority Group 2	Applications from people who are nominated by a state or territory government agency with a nominated occupation that is specified on that state or territory’s State Migration Plan.	Applications will be finalised 12 months from date of lodgement.
Priority Group 3	Applications from people who have nominated an occupation on the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL).	Applications lodged PRIOR to 1 July 2010 will be finalised by 31 December, 2011. Applications lodged ON OR AFTER 1 July 2010 will be finalised 18 to 24 months from date of lodgement.
Priority Group 4	All other applications are to be processed in the order in which they are received.	All Priority Group 4 applications will only be entered into processing and finalised once all cases in priority groups 1–3 are finalised.

- Lauren Mennie is Casework Department Manager 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.

Anyone with a keen eye on China when considering the Australian currency exchange is one step ahead, but market time differences can still be a killer. Halo Financial Director David Johnson explains why.   

When you think of all the things that might directly affect your migration plans to Australia, decreased investment in Chinese building projects probably isn’t an issue that springs immediately to mind. But perhaps it should.

It may seem odd to think that the ups and down of the Chinese construction industry will have a very direct correlation with how wealthy you are when you arrive in Australia but there is no getting away from the facts.

The link is perhaps less tenuous than you may imagine. The fact is that China is a major importer of Australian mined and quarried materials. They import copper, bauxite (the base element of aluminium), cement and iron ore to fuel the massive building program they are still undertaking and, as far as Australia is concerned, that is a good thing. It keeps demand up, boosts job prospects in the Australian mining industry and swells the accounts of the Australian taxman.

However, China is starting to slow the pace of new construction projects because its economy is hugely out of step with the rest of the global economy and the 11 per cent economic growth in China is, by any measure, an unsustainable pace. That slowdown means they need less of the products Australia provides and that in turn means Aussie mining companies are not as flat out and not as profitable as they once were.

This is happening, by the way, just at a time when the miners are being hit with a new tax regime which will relieve them of 30 per cent of their profits. The taxman might have missed the boat on this one and Kevin Rudd may have lost his job as Australian Prime Minister for no purpose. 

Unlikely influences on the Australian currency market 

The fact that China is a major influence on the Australian economy is what Steven Fry might call, "Quite Interesting" but it does serve to remind all of us that the currency market, to which you will be vulnerable until you have converted all your Sterling into Aussie Dollars, can move for some of the most unlikely reasons.

Keeping tabs on the Sterling – Aussie Dollar exchange rate is something you can do in a minor way through checking websites, having an applet on your phone or watching the news but, assuming you have a life to live, it isn’t something to which you will want to devote all your waking hours. And if you have no life and you do watch the exchange rates from dawn until dusk in the UK, you will still miss some of the action because the currency market trades every second of the 24 hour day from Monday morning in Asia to Friday night in America. Australia is open for business while the UK is away from its desk so the action you will miss will tend to be the busy period for the Australian Dollar.   

How to get the most out of your currency exchange

There are three possible solutions; Option 1 is to consume vast quantities of sugary drinks, caffeine and sweets to ensure you do not have to sleep and can therefore watch the markets 24 hours a day. This is not recommended by me or your doctor.

Option 2 is to ignore the market and just write off any losses that you may incur on exchange rate fluctuation as unavoidable. And option 3 is to use the best tool for the job; in fact the tool designed for precisely this job, the market order. This is a method of setting a target exchange rate and placing a firm order in the 24 hour market through a specialist broker like Halo Financial, to ensure that as long as that exchange rate is available anywhere in the world at any time of day, you will get your order filled.

So imagine the scenario where, at 04.30 GMT, the Chinese government announces it is cutting all new construction projects, traders see this as a threat to the Australian economy, the Australian Dollar weakens, your order placed previously at AU$1.68 to the Pound (within the expected range of trade), is triggered. Subsequently, the news report turns out to be a little overstated; China isn’t cancelling all projects, just those for shopping malls. Therefore the threat to Australia is not as stark as previously thought and by 06.30 GMT, the exchange rate is 5 cents lower. You receive a phone call at 08.30 GMT to confirm that you have bought your Australian Dollars at an exchange rate that you didn’t even know was possible.

It may sound like little more than a dream scenario but this kind of volatility happens more often than you might think, in almost all circumstances, the use of well-placed market orders is the very best way to make the most of currency transactions where the currency of a country in a different time zone is involved.

It is obvious which option I would favour and which I know is an excellent solution to an age old problem.

Anyone planning to go for option 1, please consult your doctor first and perhaps ask for a referral to a psychiatrist while you are at it.

- Halo Financial is a leading specialist provider of commercial foreign exchange services for both international business and private individuals who require foreign currency and need expert assistance in successfully managing their foreign exchange exposures. They are a partner of Australian Visa Bureau, an independent company specialising in helping applicants emigrate to Australia.

©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.

Market volatility could mean significant challenges for migrants but there are ways of making currency conversion work to your advantage,  Halo Financial Director David Johnson says. 

Canada seems to be operating in a different dimension to the rest of the Western hemisphere.  Canadian interest rates were raised by another 25 basis points at the Bank of Canada’s July meeting in response to solid domestic data and good receipts from growing commodity exports and we cannot forget that the Canadian banking system is in much better form that that of America or Europe; largely due to long standing regulatory constraints.

However, the volatility in other markets, including Canada’s chief export client, America, is causing some significant volatility in the Canadian Dollar. In the last month, the Sterling – Canadian Dollar exchange rate has been down in the CA$1.48 area and as high as CA$1.62.

Clearly, that fourteen cent swing is a very significant move if you are either buying or selling the Canadian Dollar. As the average migrant moves something like £200,000 to Canada, that represents CA$28,000 of either gain or loss dependent on your timing which is a fantastic hourly rate when you think about it. For most migrants, the offer of a one month contract of work that paid CA$28,000 would be snapped up, especially when you don’t have to actually do anything for the return other than enlist the services of a currency company like Halo Financial to monitor the currency market for you.

And that is the key to making your currency conversion work for you while you plan your migration and spend your every waking hour arranging the myriad of things you have to arrange when you move to another country.

Making currency conversion work for you

The key is to have the right information, the right analysis, the right tools for the job and the right strategy to ensure you get the most out of your currency exchange. In essence, it is about either becoming an instant currency market expert or enlisting a partner to help who has the right expertise to guide your actions. I must confess that even after nearly two decades of being involved in this industry, I still don’t profess to know everything about everything so I would urge you not to try to learn it all in a matter of weeks and I am always mindful of the adage that "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing".

However, we often find that clients are hugely grateful for the availability of a currency specialist to answer questions about the market movement, to highlight changes in conditions; both positive and negative and to offer suggestions on how best to take advantage of positive exchange rate movements whilst protect against the potential for costly adverse movements. Sometimes it is simply a matter of reassuring someone that their own idea is perfectly valid but there are plenty of occasions when our Currency Consultants start from square one and take a prospective migrant right through all the opportunities and pitfalls, detailing all their options before we get to a plan that suits their particular circumstances.  

How Halo Financial can help

Most peoples' circumstances can be analysed and assessed within a 30 minute phone call and a strategy formed to make the most of the available time. Your Halo Financial Consultant will be adept at talking you through your own requirements, needs and limitations and checking that the consultant’s picture of your position is accurate.

Now if that half hour chat results in a saving akin to CA$28,000, then you will be benefitting from an hourly rate even premiership footballers would feel envious of ... oh and ice hockey players as well.

If you would like to talk about your requirements and get an assessment of the market conditions as they affect you, contact Halo Financial and speak with a consultant today.

- Halo Financial is a leading specialist provider of commercial foreign exchange services for both international business and private individuals who require foreign currency and need expert assistance in successfully managing their foreign exchange exposures. They are a partner of Canadian Visa Bureau, an independent company specialising in helping applicants emigrate to Canada.

©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.

You could be focusing on the wrong influences on the New Zealand exchange rate, says  Halo Financial Director David Johnson. 

So you’re standing on the kerbside waiting to cross the road. You are doing your Green Cross Code bit and looking to your right for traffic until then you realise everyone else is looking left. Then it dawns on you that you are in a country that drives on the wrong side of the road and the other pedestrians have got it right. You are suddenly thankful that someone knew what was going on and you manage to cross the road safely.

It is easy to apply that same situation to the current state of affairs with the New Zealand Dollar; you may be concentrating on the New Zealand and UK economies looking for clues as to the direction of the Sterling – New Zealand Dollar exchange rate movement; but those "in the know" are looking in a completely different direction ... and they have got it right.

Where they are looking is towards China and America. That is probably making them a tad cross-eyed but they are watching China because the Chinese economy is currently the most influential force acting on commodity prices and because New Zealand’s exports are largely commodity based. And they are watching America because the stuttering state of America’s "recovery" from recession is causing nervousness across the globe and until more confidence returns the NZ Dollar is likely to remain incredibly volatile.

They should also be keeping a wary eye on the UK economy as well. Whilst the new government has been applauded for making a robust start to cutting UK borrowing and spending in order to reduce the public sector debt burden, there are fears that they may be making slightly larger strides than might be prudent in these fragile times. Fears that the credit ratings agencies may start to remove Britain’s coveted AAA credit rating are rife; driven by constantly updated forecasts of slowing economic growth and the data showing that without government stimulus Britain would still be in recession, caused a tremor across the Sterling trading markets.

Where to from here?

So which way should we be looking really? Well I would suggest you look to enlisting the assistance of someone to do your invigilating for you. Someone who has a constant eye on the markets, someone who can explain the current influences and sentiment, someone who has suggestions for the right strategy to adopt in your particular circumstance and someone who can and will save you money on your currency exchange.

I know I may be biased but that someone is actually a group of people called Halo Financial. Halo Financial’s consultants all have the experience, the background, the access to relevant market information and the customer service ethic to ensure you get the kind of service that, in these days of call centres and automated operators, you probably thought was consigned to the past.

So if you are standing at the kerbside of migration to New Zealand, before you step off the kerb, just check which way Halo Financial’s currency consultants are looking before you leap into the dark. It could make the difference between arriving in New Zealand with more money than you imagined and pouring your money down the gutter because the markets moved while you were looking the other way.

- Halo Financial is a leading specialist provider of commercial foreign exchange services for both international business and private individuals who require foreign currency and need expert assistance in successfully managing their foreign exchange exposures. They are a partner of New Zealand Visa Bureau, an independent company specialising in helping applicants emigrate to New Zealand.

©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 Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) have announced a new priority structure for processing Australian visa applications. The new structure simplifies the previous one, which included many different categories of applications.

DIAC’s new priority structure follows the implementation of a new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) and the revocation of the Critical Skills List, amongst other changes that took place on 1 July, 2010. It now consists of four distinct priority groups, as follows:

Applications from people who are employer sponsored under the Employer Nominated Scheme (ENS) or Regional Skilled Migration Scheme (RSMS)	Processing Priority Group 1
Applications from people who are nominated by a state or territory government agency with a nominated occupation that is specified on that state or territory’s State Migration Plan.	Processing Priority Group 2
Applications from people who have nominated an occupation on the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL).	Processing Priority Group 3
All other applications are to be processed in the order in which they are received.	Processing Priority Group 4

The new priority structure affects all applications that have not yet been finalised, regardless of the time they were lodged or the point to which they had been processed.

Since no state or territory in Australia has released their State Migration Plan occupation lists, it is not yet possible for any application to qualify under priority group 2. Until such time, all applications will be processed according to the nominated occupation. If that occupation appears on the SOL (Schedule 3), that application will qualify under group 3. If it does not, the application will fall under group 4.

Once State Migration Plans are announced, any applicant who already holds state sponsorship from a state that also includes their occupation on the new State Migration Plan occupation list will automatically change priority groupings to priority group 2. According to DIAC’s announcement, no re-application for sponsorship will be necessary and the new priority status will be applied by default.

Although we recognise that there is more work for DIAC to do in order to process the many thousands of applications that have been kept waiting and caught out by the numerous changes within the last year and beyond, we view this as a positive step forward from DIAC. The priority structure is undoubtedly simpler, and many applicants – particularly those who are already state sponsored – are in a good position to move even further forward in the queue if their state’s migration plan accommodates their occupation.

DIAC have yet to release specific timeframes for each category, so it is not yet known how long each group can expect to wait, although it has been made clear that applications under priority group 4 can expect a "very long wait" before finalisation, possibly a timeframe of three years from the point of lodgement.

Further blogs will follow shortly outlining where this leaves other types of applications, and clarify any questions that applicants may have at this time.

- Lauren Mennie is Casework Department Manager 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.

Good news for nurses looking to have their skills assessed as part of the Australian visa application process! The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) has today provided clarification to Visa Bureau on their assessment criteria when nominating a nursing specialisation for a pre-migration skills assessment under the ANZSCO coding system.

Although not yet updated on ANMC’s website, in responding to a query regarding the amount of work experience required for applicants nominating a specialised area of nursing, and whether qualifications in that specialisation are required, the ANMC confirmed the following:

"The ANMC will require evidence of at least three months (full time equivalent) paid work experience in a specialty, within the last five years. They do not necessarily need post graduate qualifications in the chosen specialty, but if they do, documentation should be included. If this standard cannot be met, the applicant [can be] assessed as a general nurse."

This is good news for nursing professionals looking to nominate a specialised occupation, as the requirements for doing so at a skills assessment level are relatively easy to meet. It also confirms the route for nurses who cannot meet this requirement, or who are not nominating a specialised area. 

We are continuing to liaise with skills assessment bodies where appropriate to clarify and confirm assessment requirements, and will update this blog as and when information becomes available.

- Matt Parker is a 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.

The approval for an Australian visa comes with double excitement for Valerie Morrissey, because with her Prospective Marriage Visa now freshly affixed to her passport, she will soon be heading off to Australia to join her partner and later wed.

“The visa itself and the passport came through on Wednesday so everything is ready to go and I actually fly out on the 29th of July,” Valerie said.

While exciting, the move is also understandably very emotional.  Valerie is leaving her three grown-up children and their partners and also her granddaughter in the UK.

Valerie will be flying into Perth, Western Australia, where she will join her partner Grant Bingley. They will marry in Perth on 6 November.

 “I’m looking forward to moving into my new house and settling in with Grant and starting a new life with him," she said.  

The decision to move to Australia made sense for the couple because of Grant’s work, but Valerie also has a fondness for Perth and Australia.

“I’ve been on several visits there. I love it, I absolutely love it."

"It takes a little getting used to but it’s good. The heat is lovely ...  better than the weather in Perth, Scotland, where I have lived for the past 16 years put it that way,” she laughed.

“Grant is self employed, and the work that grant does is not done as much in Scotland. It was easier for me to move to Perth than for him to give us his business and move to Scotland and basically start all over again when he already had contacts there. It was easier this way,” she said. 

The final piece of paperwork for Valerie’s Prospective Marriage Visa was lodged on 2 March, and while Bronwyn Taylor and her case worker Andrea Jefferys always kept her informed of developments there was an anxious wait without information while the Australian Government processed the application.

“The visa process was good, but quite lengthy without any information. When I contacted Bronwyn or Andrea they answered my questions very quickly but you don’t get an awful lot of information when the application is lodged at the Australian Consulate. But other than that, I’m happy about it.

“There was some very anxious waiting ... I don’t do waiting very well,” Valerie laughed.

- Stephanie Bradley is Content and Communications Editor 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 Australian Computer Society (ACS) have recently provided comment on the re-classification of occupations following the recent switch from the Australian Skilled Classification of Occupations (ASCO) to the Australia and New Zealand Skilled Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). You can click here to read it for yourself. 

While applicants who have received a positive skills assessment from ACS are able to stay in the occupation that they have been matched to, ACS have made provisions for applicants who wish to be assessed in an occupation that their current one does not correlate to. These applicants are able to apply for a new skills assessment to be recognised under a new occupation by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

The ANZSCO occupations that have been matched to the ASCO occupations are as follows, including whether they will appear on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL - Schedule 3) AND/OR the State and Territory Skilled Occupation List (StatSOL - Schedule 4):

ASCO	ANZSCO	On SOL? (Schedule 3)	On StatSOL? (Schedule 4)
Computing Professional (nec)	Software and Applications Programmers (nec)	No	Yes
IT Manager	Chief Information Officer	No	Yes
Applications and Analyst Programmer	Analyst Programmer OR Developer Programmer	Yes Yes	Yes Yes
Computer Systems Auditor	ICT Security Specialist	No	Yes
Software Designer	Software Engineer	Yes	Yes
Systems Designer	Computer Network and Systems Engineer OR ICT Business Analyst OR Network Analyst OR Systems Analyst	No Yes No Yes	Yes Yes Yes Yes
Systems Manager	Database Administrator OR Systems Administrator	No No	Yes Yes
Systems Programmer	None	-	-

As you will see, some ASCO occupations can be matched to multiple ANZSCO occupations, some of which are on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) and some of which are not. Additionally, all ANZSCO occupations also feature on the StatSOL. The only exception is the Systems Programmer ASCO occupation as this has yet to be matched against an ANZSCO occupation. Whether this was a deliberate omission by DIAC remains to be clarified.

If you have an ASCO occupation that has multiple ANZSCO occupation matches, we are presuming you can choose from any of these ANZSCO occupations in order to proceed with your visa application. HOWEVER, we recommend that you proceed under the occupation that is most fitting to your circumstances and history. If you are applying for a Skilled Independent (subclass 175) visa or a Skilled Family Sponsored  (subclass 176 / 475) visa, please be aware that your recent work experience needs to be in an occupation that features on the SOL. Additionally, if you are requiring state sponsorship then there may be some further criteria which could prevent you from proceeding under certain ANZSCO occupations.

For example: Should you have received a positive skills assessment in the ASCO occupation of Systems Designer and you qualify for a Skilled Family Sponsored (subclass 176) visa, you could potentially lodge your visa application with ICT Business Analyst as your nominated ANZSCO occupation. However, if you are unable to demonstrate that your references are most in line with ICT Business Analyst tasks (as opposed to the tasks associated with another potential ANZSCO occupation match that isn't on the SOL, such as Computer Network and Systems Engineer) then you will not meet the criteria. 

Getting an occupation classified by the ACS

Should you wish to be reclassified under a new occupation by the ACS, then you will need to have your application reassessed, though we are currently unsure of how long it will take for applicants to be reassessed.

This service is free to all applicants who received a positive skills assessment between 1 May, 2010 and 30 June, 2010, although most applicants will need to gather further references etc. Applicants who received a positive skills assessment prior to 1 May, 2010 that wish to receive a  skills assessment under a different occupation classification will have to submit an entirely new skills assessment. 

While it's very likely that a number of States and Territories will feature IT occupations on their State Migration Plan sponsorship lists, as ANZSCO is an entirely new classification system, we have no way of knowing which specific occupations will become most 'desirable'. Therefore, I would advise against taking any action at this time.

 UPDATE: The Department of Immigration website mapping table (schedule 3) now reflects a match for Systems Programmer to Developer Programmer under ANZSCO. The new SOL is dated August 2010.

- Lauren Mennie is Casework Department Manager 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.

While Australian Visa news of late has not been overwhelmingly positive, it is encouraging to hear that Australia will soon be welcoming the Gisanrin family from Northhampton.  

Olu Gisanrin was approved for a skilled Australian Visa only a few weeks ago, and he and his wife are planning to move to Sydney, or the nearby south coast, with their three children.

“We had been to Australia 10 years ago and liked it then but thought only briefly about moving there – we didn’t feel the time was right.  It was early last year that we started reconsidering the option,” Olu said.

“We hope to move to Sydney, but that is not completely settled. The last time we visited Australia we spent most of our time in Western Australia, but as we are moving permanently we did want to explore other areas as options. Sydney or the coast just south of Sydney could work well for us,” he said. 

They hope to emigrate to Australia at the end of the year so their two older children, aged 9 and 7, can commence at the start of the Australian school year, although it’s possible Olu may travel to Australia earlier to pursue job opportunities and prepare for the family’s arrival.

Olu said they were looking forward to moving to Australia, and he said the lifestyle should be perfect for the two older children with school, sports and the outdoors. Their youngest is just a baby.

The Australian Visa application process for the Grisanrin family was smoother than they expected.

“The visa process was a lot easier than I thought. We only started seriously considering emigrating in August last year, and at the time I read a number of old forums about the process and some people were waiting two or three years for a visa,” he said.

“Martin Beveridge handled the first part of the process, and he was very informative and professional.
 
“I did skills assessment last year and lodged the completed Australian Visa application at the end of January this year. Our visa application was approved a couple of weeks ago.”

Visa Bureau caseworker Joe Tindle assisted throughout the visa application and Olu said he was always prompt and kept the family informed of developments.

“Joe was perfect, certainly no complaints there. We were always up-to-date with the process and he always answered emails or phone messages, and if he wasn’t in the office and on holidays someone else got back to us,” Olu said.

- Stephanie Bradley is Content and Communications Editor 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.