Australian Immigration Daily News

Today the State of Victoria provided an update on Skilled, Regional as well as Business Skilled Migration in partnership with Legal Training Australia.

For those that were unable to attend, below is a summary of the updates on the current immigration climate in Victoria as well as well as what we can expect in the new financial year.

Subclass 190 Visa

Subclass 190 visa will remain open, the State of Victoria has not yet reached allocation exhaustion for the current financial year however there was a surge of lodgements in the month of February and March.  This has caused a slight backlog in processing of the nominations.  The program remains very competitive and agents (as well as visa applicants) are reminded to lodge fully documented applications and be familiar with the State nomination requirements.  For example, certain occupations such as nurses may require a higher level of English.  It is also important to keep in mind any applicable registration or licensing requirements relevant to the chosen occupation.

The list occupation list is expected to be updated, the composition and allocation numbers are yet to be approved by the Federal Government.

Subclass 491 Visa (State Sponsored Stream)

Subclass 491 visa program remains open in Victoria and is also very competitive.  Agents are reminded that in order to receive a nomination for their client, an applicant must have an offer of employment for Victoria located in a regional area or produce proof of being employed in Victoria.  Agents should check the postcodes on the Home Affairs website to determine which part of Victoria are considered “regional” for migration purposes.  A copy of the position description outlining the tasks performed will also be required and this should contain significant majority of the tasks from the ANZSCO dictionary.

Both subclass 491 and 190 visas require the nomination to be accompanied with evidence of registration where applicable as well as a positive skills assessment with validity period of at least 12 weeks prior to lodgement of the nomination (note this is a specific state nomination requirement).

Tips for lodging a nomination with Victoria

• Ensure that all of the required documents are front end loaded
• If using a migration agent, ensure to use an Appointment of a Migration Agent Form available for download from the Victorian government website (note this is different to Form 956)
• Ensure that the applicant signs Skilled Declaration Form which is also available on the website.

Business Skilled Migration

Currently, Victoria is not accepting nominations for Business Innovation and Investment Visas.  Allocation for Business Migration Program (BIP) is exhausted for 2019/2020 migration year.

Applications for extensions (188A and `188C) are still being accepted and permanent 888 visas are still being processed.  The program will reopen in the new financial year with the exact date to be confirmed.

For further information, please visit: https://liveinmelbourne.vic.gov.au/migrate