Happy New Year!

With the start of the New Year, there are a number of new changes to the General Skilled Migration programme which may affect your application.

We have previously outlined the various changes that have come into effect on January 1 2010, however in case you missed these we have provided a summary below:

Job Ready Program
From 1 January 2010, onshore applicants applying for a skills assessment for permanent residency are required to undertake the Job Ready Program. The Job Ready Program was previously referred to as the JobReady Test.

This is applicable to the following visa subclasses:

•  Skilled - Independent (Residence) Visa (Subclass 885)
•  Skilled - Sponsored (Residence) Visa (Subclass 886)
•  Skilled - Regional Sponsored (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 487)

The Job Ready Program is only applicable:

-  To applicants of onshore General Skilled Migration visas; and
-  To applicants with trades assessed by Trades Recognition Australia.

Due to the difficulty that many applicants to TRA were having in gaining the 900 hours relevant work experience during the period of their student visa, special arrangements for applicants for Subclass 485 visas have been made. The Job Ready Program allows participants more time to gain valuable experience in an Australian workplace. The program is listed briefly below:

Step 1 - Apply for a Provisional Skills Assessment.

If you receive a positive result, you will be able to apply for a 485 skilled graduate temporary visa.

Step 2 - Complete the Job Ready Employment.

On a 485 visa you will now have 18 months to complete the required 12 months of full time employment.

Step 3 - Complete a  Job Ready Workplace Assessment.

You will have an opportunity to demonstrate your trade skills in the workplace to a TRA approved assessor.

Step 4 - Apply for a Job Ready Final Assessment.

You will have collected all the evidence required during Steps 1 to 3 to apply for a final assessment which can be used as the skills assessment required to apply for permanent migration.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
If your permanent GSM visa application was lodged before 1 January 2010, you will not be required to meet the job ready requirement as part of your skills assessment. The requirement applies to applications lodged on or after 1 January 2010 only.

If you currently hold a Subclass 485 visa but have not applied for a permanent onshore GSM visa by 1 January 2010, you will be required to obtain a new skills assessment which demonstrates that you are job ready if applicable to your occupation. This will be the case if your trade occupation requires you to provide a skills assessment dated on or after 1 January 2010.

Please contact us if you need further clarification on this or if you are ensure if this is applicable to your trade.

Further information is also available at the following government sites:
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/jobready-changes.pdf

Further Changes Introduced 1 January 2010 

Skill Assessments
From 1 January 2010, applicants applying the following onshore GSM visa subclasses will be required to have obtained a suitable skills assessment prior to applying for migration:

• Skilled - Independent (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 885)
• Skilled - Sponsored (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 886)
• Skilled - Regional Sponsored (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 487)

Previously it was ok for the applicant to provide evidence that they had applied for a skills assessment by the relevant assessing authority at the time of application and then at time of decision, a suitable skills assessment was required. This is no longer valid, so please ensure that you do have a positive skills assessment before submitting your GSM application.

English Language Requirements
 As of 1 January 2010, there are two English language changes.

1. All General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa applicants who nominate a trade occupation will be required to achieve a minimum of 6.0 (Competent English) in each of the four components of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test.

2. For Skilled – Regional Sponsored (Subclass 487) applicants, the threshold English language standard will be raised from an average of 5.5 to an average of 6.0 in an IELTS test.

VETASSESS Changes
From the 1st of January 2010, VETASSESS has introduced a new assessment process. The aim of the new process is to ensure that there is a better match between qualifications and employment history, with applicants’ nominated occupation.

To view the listing of skilled occupations that VETASSESS assess for Skilled Graduate (485) temporary visas, click here.
 
VETASSESS Skills Recognition - General Occupations requires applicants to hold a qualification which is assessed at the required educational level, in a highly relevant field of study to the nominated occupation. In addition to this, at least one year of employment completed at an appropriate level over the last five years in a field closely related to the nominated occupation is required for all nominated occupations.

All VETASSESS occupations have been coded as A, B, C or D. The different groups reflect the differences in educational and employment requirements for different occupations. Please click here for the list of occupations and further information.

VETASSESS has recognised that Recent Graduates with Australian Studies who intend to apply for a Skilled Graduate (Temporary) visa (subclass 485) will not have sufficient employment in their nominated occupation for a complete Skills Assessment. Therefore, there will be a qualifications only assessment for applicants of the Skilled Graduate (Temporary) visa (subclass 485).

For this assessment you will need to have a qualification which is assessed as being at least comparable to the educational level of an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Bachelor Degree, in a highly relevant field of study to the nominated occupation. Applicants may only nominate a managerial, administrative, or professional occupation (from either Group A or Group B- click here). A positive Skills Assessment outcome can then be submitted with an application for a Skilled Graduate (Temporary) visa (subclass 485).

This will allow applicants to gain sufficient relevant employment experience to apply to VETASSESS for a full Skills Assessment (qualifications and employment).

Brisbane Welcomes International Students 2010
Are you getting ready to start your life in Brisbane as an international student?

If so, come along and enjoy the festivities of the official welcome event for international students at Reddacliff Place, top of the Queen Street Mall – right in the heart of the city.
Entertainment includes live bands performing throughout the day and a visit from some incredible Australian wildlife as well as Brisbane’s Lord Mayor, Rt Hon Campbell Newman, who will officially open this event.

There will be exhibitors from key services providing information about banks, community groups, accommodation and more. And Australian Migration & Visa Lawyers will be there providing information and holding a Free information seminar.

When: Saturday, 6 March 2010 10am – 2pm
Where: Reddacliff Place, top of the Queen Street Mall

REMEMBER – if your Student Visa is expiring early in 2010, now is the time for you to come and visit Australian Migration & Visa Lawyers. We offer free initial consultations or give us a call to discuss your options as soon as possible. 
 
Byron Pugh    
Managing Director, Migration Agent and Lawyer
MARN 0107255