Embrace Australia - Australian Forum for immigration and travel.

8 February Migration Reforms

Hi everyone,

I'll post a full analysis later today, but here is DIAC's official media release about today's policy reforms.

Please note that skilled migration applicants who lodged their application between 1 September 2007 and 7 February 2010 are not affected by these changes.

Regards

Susan

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The Rudd Government is reforming the permanent skilled migration program to ensure it is more responsive to the needs of industry and employers and better addresses the nation’s future skill needs.

The reforms will deliver a demand rather than a supply driven skilled migration program that meets the needs of the economy in sectors and regions where there are shortages of highly skilled workers, such as healthcare, engineering and mining. The major reforms to the skilled migration program are:

20 000 would-be migrants will have their applications cancelled and receive a refund.

All offshore General Skilled Migration applications lodged before 1 September 2007 will have their applications withdrawn. These are people who applied overseas under easier standards, including lower English language skills and a less rigorous work experience requirement. It is expected about 20 000 people fall into this category. The department will refund their visa application charge at an estimated cost of $14 million. Average applications cost between $1500 and $2000 and most contain more than one person.

The list of occupations in demand will be tightened so only highly skilled migrants will be eligible to apply for independent skilled migration visas.

The wide-ranging Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) will be revoked immediately. The list is outdated and contains 106 occupations, many of which are less-skilled and no longer in demand. A new and more targeted Skilled Occupations List (SOL) will be developed by the independent body, Skills Australia, and reviewed annually. It will be introduced mid-year and focus on high value professions and trades. The Critical Skills List introduced at the beginning of 2009 which identified occupations in critical demand at the height of the global financial crisis will also be phased out.

The points test used to assess migrants will be reviewed to ensure it selects the best and brightest.

Potential migrants gain points based on their qualifications, skills and experience, and proficiency in English. The current points test puts an overseas student with a short-term vocational qualification gained in Australia ahead of a Harvard-educated environmental scientist. A review of the points test used to assess General Skilled Migration applicants will consider issues including whether some occupations should warrant more points than others, whether sufficient points are awarded for work experience and excellence in English, and whether there should be points for qualifications obtained from overseas universities. The review will report to Government later this year.

Certain occupations may be capped to ensure skill needs are met across the board.

Amendments to the Migration Act will be introduced this year to give the Minister the power to set the maximum number of visas that may be granted to applicants in any one occupation if need be. This will ensure that the Skilled Migration Program is not dominated by a handful of occupations.

Development of state and territory-specific migration plans.

Individual state and territory migration plans will be developed so they can prioritise skilled migrants of their own choosing. This recognises that each state and territory has different skills requirements. For example, Western Australia may have a shortage of mining engineers while Victoria may have a requirement for more architects. Under the new priority processing arrangements, migrants nominated by a state and territory government under their State Migration Plan will be processed ahead of applications for independent skilled migration.

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, said the new arrangements will give first priority to skilled migrants who have a job to go to with an Australian employer. For those who don’t have an Australian employer willing to sponsor them, the bar is being raised.

‘There are plenty of occupations where there is an adequate supply of young Australians coming through our schools, TAFE colleges and universities to take up new job opportunities. They must be given the opportunity to fill these vacancies first,’ Senator Evans said.

‘But there are some occupations where there will be high demand for skills. Hospitals can’t go without nurses, country towns can’t do without a local GP and the resources sector increasingly needs skills.

‘These latest changes will continue reforms already implemented by the government and result in a more demand-driven skilled migration program that attracts highly skilled migrants to Australia to work in areas of critical need.’

The government recognises that the changes will affect some overseas students currently in Australia intending to apply for permanent residence.

Those international students who hold a vocational, higher education or postgraduate student visa will still be able to apply for a permanent visa if their occupation is on the new Skilled Occupations List.

If their occupation is not on the new SOL, they will have until 31 December 2012 to apply for a temporary skilled graduate visa on completion of their studies which will enable them to spend up to 18 months in Australia to acquire work experience and seek sponsorship from an employer.

The changes will in no way impact on international students coming to Australia to gain a legitimate qualification and then return home.

Tags: 8, Evans, February, Migration, Policy, Reforms

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on March 5, 2010 at 11:58pm

Hi Amresh

I write resumes and covering letters for clients and send them to a database of possible employers, as an additional service to my migration and communication consultancies, www.mcgrathmigrationlawyers.com.au; and www.metaanz.com.

The way I assist is to make sure that any information that my clients send to an employer is professionally written in excellent English to present them in the best possible light; and of course, by promoting them to those potential employers and liaising with any interested employers on their behalf.

However, I am not an employment agent and do not have special relationships with employers that I can use to assist people find work.

If you are thinking of seeking assistance to find an Australian job, please be very, very careful who you choose to assist you. There are some firms that will charge you around AU$6,000 just to prepare a resume and send it off to employers, with no guarantee of work.

If you'd like me to help you by preparing a professional resume for you, and sending it off to relevant employers, please send your current CV or resume to me on susan@susanwareham.com and I will send you a quote.

Best wishes
Susan

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Permalink Reply by gege on March 4, 2010 at 7:52am

dear ,

you said all the applicatition lodged befor 1/9/2007 will be cancelled, while they said some of these application will be granted, however when will they refund the application fees to those who effected, as 24 days now and now news from the the diac

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Permalink Reply by Zaman on March 4, 2010 at 9:58am

Hi,
Do you have any idea why it took so many times for those who applied before Sept 2007? Now these applications will be capped and ceased and money will be refunded. But priority changes were declared on 23 Sept 2009.
Best regards
Zaman

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Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on March 6, 2010 at 12:06am

Hi Zaman

As workforce needs and processing priorities changed, unfortunately those applications were not processed because other applications took priority.

I don't agree with the capping and ceasing decision; I think it's very unfair - so much can happen in 3 years, dependent children become young adults, couples put off having children until they hear of what's happening, they don't change jobs or move house because of the uncertainty - but unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it; it's the Minister's right to make any migration-related decisions he chooses that he believes are in Australia's best interests.

Best wishes
Susan

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Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on March 6, 2010 at 12:02am

Hi gege

Just to clarify, what I actually said was that:

in one statement the Minister said that all pre 1/9/07 skilled migratoin applications would be cancelled; and
in another statement he said that once an agreed number had been processed, the remainder would be cancelled.

When DIAC formally advises that it has commenced the ceasing and capping process, it will provide details of how to get your fees refunded.

I'll post on the forum as soon as advice is received.

Best wishes
S

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Permalink Reply by gege on March 8, 2010 at 7:19am

thank you Susan for your reply, i have applied on 30 aug 2007 as accountant subclass 136 indpendent, they request the medical & police clarification on 12 jan 2009 while i did it on 10 jan 2009 ( it's expired now ). so what is your expectation towards my case? shall they cancell it?

regards
gege

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Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on March 13, 2010 at 11:52pm

Hi Gege

Until DIAC has made its intentions clearer, I can't give you an authoritative opinion - LIsa and I will post as soon as anything definite is announced.

Best wishes
Susan

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Permalink Reply by Jaspreet Singh Bajwa on March 10, 2010 at 4:10pm

With thanks from Jamie Smith,

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My take on DIAC's Melbourne presentation by Peter Speldewinde, Deputy Secretary of Skilled Migration (I think I got that right). This is not migtration advice, just notes and personal comments. Sorry, I cannot give anyone feedback on their individual cases.

Some background:

80% of offshore skilled applications are from just 4 occupations (I suspect cooking, accounting, hairdressing and hospitality).

10,000 applications from cooks are in the system, with just 32,000 cooks in Australia and there aren't that many leaving the industry!

150,000 applications are on hand, with 9,000 to 10,000 arriving each month, with just 108,000 places per year.

Analysis of above:

This shows huge distortion in favour of some occupations at the expense of others, and it was always bound to be corrected at some stage.

The Government has numbers on hand to be able to cut and chop at will, and with its lack of understanding of how amrkets work, is bound to do so.

Govt's major concern will be doing the cutting without getting sued, as a number of very smart agents and lawyers are watching these changers very closely. MIA has already pointed out some holes appearing in DIAC's proposals and these are being patched

DIAC comments from today:

Skilled Independent is now the dominant class of application but was never intended so, and will be repositioned away from being a "now" visa into a tool to help solve medium to long term skills shortages. SI will remain relegated and won't again have the priority it enjoyed previously.

Priority occupations will not feature in the SI applications (I guess DIAC are looking to ENS and perhaps a new visa subclass to capture the priority cases).

Caps will be set on occupations or visa categories in the next few weeks. (I think these will start on the four dominant occupations listed earlier and most other occupations will have little to fear).

The pre-2007 applicants are now down to 6,000. DIAC's problem is their information system makes it very hard to deduce information about each file without reading and sorting them all one by one.

I think there are so many cahnges going on, and reorganisation in the Skilled Visa Department of DIAC starts on Monday, that they will say "too many and too hard" and just dump them all in the out bin, rather than treat them as individuals and rescue those who don't have dodgy documents or weak English such as those caught up with the bond fiasco or slow work by DFAT and ASIO for background checks.

That said, the good ones probably number less than a thousand and might be seen as expendable - when pressed on this in Sydney DIAC used the term "unavoidable collateral damage" much to my disgust.

DIAC are trying to bring in the new ANZSCO together with the new SOL together with the abolition of the CSL ON THE SAME DAY being July 1. That ambitious goal gives a clear start to the new year with new policies and I guess makes reporting and budgeting easier too. DIAC were not sure they could do it on July 1, but the goal was to synchronise the 3 changes and aim for the new year start. I give them 10/10 points for setting the goal, and a 3/10 for likelihood of getting it.

State Migration plans must apparently be backed by research into occupations and geographic areas before DIAC/Minsiter will agree to them. It takes a while to set an ongoing and broad ranging research programme like that up.

Furthermore, DIAC are aware that some States will sponsor anyone for anything, and I think DIAC will knock back various occupations on the lists until the States get to show the workings behind the listing of that occupation. I expect the State lists to be fairly skinny when they launch and widen over time, much the same as the new SOL will start short and get big later (as it is run by heavy hitters with political contacts who hate embarrassment as much as the politicians do).

Profcessing priorities, as expressed elsewheres, are as follows and unlikely to change except for when the CSL disappears:

1. ENS/RSMS
2. State Plan lists
3. State nominated on CSL
4. CSL
5. State nominated non plan non CSL
6. MODL and family sponsored but not on CSL
7. MODL (I think but the slide had disappeared then)

The CSL goes out when the new SOL comes in.

The problems as I see them a re the delays in getting all the right occupations onto the various lists, as political and operational considerations plus info gathering problems will feature for a while.

The proposed activity of Skills Australia to forecast skills demand has huge risks, as rubbish in gives rubbish out in any model. For example Govt reports show an increase in ageing and associated health problems for more people, so they expect to need more caregivers and these go on the list at the expense of say trades.

But the caregivers don't come here because the jobs don't exist because the care homes weren't built because the tradesmen couldn't be found, geddit?

Exactly when will a future demand occupation go on a target list? Too soon and early arrivals will face bleaker employment prospects and lower wages. Too late and you may as well not call it future demand list and by then the est of the world is chasing the same people.

Anyway, moving on, ENS applicants will not be subject to Job Ready Programme requirements. People applying for a 485 will only need to do step one of the JRP. People coming through 485 to PR will need to complete the next three steps.

The Government is researching a model that is similar to NZ, with a register of applicants against which employers, States and DIAC might then sponsor. This is silly thinking however logical it might appear.

We heard several times today that with oversupply DIAC will aim for the best and brightest. Making an application with zero pre-assurance of being picked by anyone is only for the risk takers and wealthy (although that is kinda what we have now!)

The NZ model, after 6 years or so, now only has the same number of people applying as are being picked. So the points mix stays about the same as demand is driven by the numbers prepared to take a punt on getting through, rather than those who join the queue and need the certainty of a fixed model becasue of a need for family and personal stability in making plans.

As 1200 or so applications will lapse over time and be replaced over 3 months while the top 800 always get up every two weeks, over 3 months that means 4800 people get in while 1200 fail. Hardly the best and brightest top echelon is it?

I know NZ has a smaller market, but it didn't used to. It became smaller as a result of the policy changes.

Now that might have been a goal of Government to reduce application numbers, but it's a failure of Government if the larger groups that they now deter were the best and brightest...

How I wish DIAC's policy makers were aged 60+ and more life experienced rather than detached academics.

Overall, I think we'll see more occupations being given a fair go, but it will take until at least this time next year and maybe the year after that before the new SOL, ANZSCO and State Plans start to hold together properly.

ENS / RSMS has become the way to go and might be so for the next 20-24 months.
__________________
Regards, Jamie Smith
Job Search www.hireamigrant.com, Business Plans www.statesponsorship.com.au
Google Map UK migration agents

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Permalink Reply by j on January 18, 2011 at 11:50pm

Hi Susan,

Thanks alot for all infos and advices

im actually ashamed to ask any further question after watching all your effort and answering everyone in details ,thanks

but still cant stop my self :( ,

i lodged my file on the 18th of feb (475-cat 4) ?so whats might happen?

im sorry if i load you to predict the mistier thoughts or what ever ?but i think all applicant are losing control right now,because of everything happening.

thanks a lot

jack

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Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on January 23, 2011 at 1:35am

Hi Jack

Please feel free to post any question you like - I understand completely that it doesn't matter how often other people's questions are answered, it's not the same as having your own question responded to.

The only problem is I'm only able to visit the forum sometimes, so it might be a while before I'm able to answer. On that note, could I say a big thank you to Gill (Gollywobbler) for her generosity in sharing her time to post on EA - it's wonderful to have someone else responding to questions.

I'm sorry if I've missed some earlier advice you gave, but can you let me know which year you lodged your 475 application?

Thanks

Regards

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Permalink Reply by desai pushpam baldevbhai on January 20, 2011 at 2:14pm

hi ,susan

it's me desai pushpam.

i have one quary .if i get 475 subclass visa and if i am told to work in regional areas then SELF EMPLOYMENT is stated for 887 process .can u please make me understand how self employment is being considered?

thanks

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Permalink Reply by Susan Wareham McGrath on January 23, 2011 at 1:43am

Hi Desai

Regional areas of Australia need businesses to be established to contribute to their local and regional economies and employment is hard to find in many regional areas. So the Australian government is willing for subclass 887 visa applicants to set up their own business and become self-employed if they wish.

These have to be real businesses, that contribute to the local economy. People who become self employed to meet the work requirements for an 887 visa must prove that they worked in a full-time position. Examples of ways this could be proven would be via tax records, contracts with suppliers/purchasers, or invoices etc.

Best regards

Susan