The Australian Government, in its recently announced 2010/11 Budget has declared it intends to sharpen the focus of the skilled migration program to meet key skill shortages. It remains committed to its “Big Australia” concept, however, with the total number of immigrant places remaining the same.

Immigration Minister, Senator Chris Evans said that the reforms “support the government’s policy to deliver a more demand-driven skilled migration program that meets the needs of the economy in sectors and regions where there are shortages of skilled workers”. Healthcare, engineering and mining are three of the areas highlighted by Senator Evans – with the newly released Skilled Occupation List now in force completing the overall picture of identified skill shortages.

Overall, the Australian Immigration program planned intake will remain the same as for the 2009/2010 budget year. The Skilled Migration (including General Skilled Migration, Employer Nomination Scheme, Business Migration and Distinguished Talent streams) program will make up 113,850 - an increase of 5450 - of these places, while the Family Migration quota will reduce by 5750 to 54,550. The Humanitarian Program will remain unchanged.

General skilled migration numbers will be reduced by 3600 (to 61,500), to allow for 9150 additional employer-sponsored skilled placements (to now total 44,150). The Business Skills proportion of skilled migrant numbers will increase by 200, to 8000.

According to Senator Evans, this increase will prove beneficial to both Australian employers and migrants, giving employers access to “applicants with skills in high demand that cannot be met from domestic sources” and migrants confidence that they have a “job with a direct match to their skills on arrival”.

The government has not specifically addressed the issue of where the reduction of almost 10% to family migration is likely to be implemented. However it is likely that cuts or longer processing times will affect Parent category visa applications as they have a lower processing priority than other family stream visa applicants such as partners, children and the contributory parent category.

If you have are wondering how the latest budget announcements will affect your visa application, please contact us so that we can provide you with advice relevant to your circumstances.
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In an unanticipated move on Friday, 7 May, the Department of Immigration & Citizenship (DIAC) announced that General Skilled Migration applications for:

• Subclass 175 (skilled independent);
• Subclass 176 (skilled sponsored); and
• Subclass 475 (skilled regional sponsored);

visas will not be accepted by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) after 8 May, 2010 until further notice.

Applicants who have already submitted a valid application for one of the affected subclasses will not be impacted by this announcement.

It is expected that the General Skilled Migration system will resume when the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) is in effect from 1 July 2010. DIAC’s website states that the measure “is expected to remain in effect until the end of 30 June 2010”.

The suspension means hard copy applications mailed, but not physically received by DIAC prior to 8 May, and online applications lodged through the Department’s website after midnight Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) on 7 May 2010, will not be accepted and will be considered invalid, and returned to the applicant, along with the Visa Application Charge. However, other fees associated with visa applications such as medical examinations, English language tests and skills assessments will unfortunately not be refunded by the Government.

It is stated that the suspension is ‘to be intended to ensure that all offshore general skilled applications from this point onwards are in line with occupations included in the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL)’, which is supposed to be released later in May and implemented from 1 July 2010.

The suspension does not apply to onshore general skilled migration visas such as subclass 885, 885, 485 and the onshore Skilled Regional Sponsored visa subclass 487.

If you have concerns about the status of you application, or need further clarification of the scope of the suspension and whether it will affect you, please contact us at migrate@australianmigrations.com. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of the new SOL and details as to when the Department’s suspension will be lifted.

DIAC’s website can be accessed here.
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