Australian Immigration Daily News

Priority IELTS booking for Victorian Employer Sponsored Visas (subclass 186 and 187) applicants

As a result of Covid-19 restrictions across Victoria, some applicants for Subclass 186 or a Subclass 187 have been unable to get their IELTS test in time to lodge an application. If these applicants are unable to lodge a visa application, they could experience significant delays. Or they may have to restart the nomination process. Some applicants could lose the ability to obtain the visa altogether if, for example, they no longer meet the age requirement.

In collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs, IELTS has offered to help these applicants with a priority booking. 

With a significant slowdown in General Skilled Migration, there is a significant rise of interest in the Global Talent Independent (GTI) visa program. This program aimed to attract qualified professionals to work and live permanently in Australia. Recently GTI merged into a single subclass 858 visa, aiming to address impracticalities such as inability to apply for this visa within Australia in some instances as well as the need to depart Australia for grant of the visa.

In terms of the candidates, the program seeks to attract individuals in sectors working in cyber security, energy and mining technology, space and advanced manufacturing, data science and ICT, among others.

What makes the GTI program so interesting?

The following email has been received from Live In Melbourne:

The Trades Recognition Australia Enquiry Line will be unavailable from 12pm, Wednesday 2 December 2020.

Normal service will resume from Thursday 3 December at 10am.

All enquiries during this time can be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .