The Australian Government has announced three Skills Assessment Pilots this year to provide greater opportunities for onshore migrants to join the workforce and provide assistance to Australian businesses facing critical workforce shortages. The Skills Assessment Pilots will provide free, fast-tracked skills assessments, free employability assessments, and subsidized training to onshore migrants to improve their employment arrangements. The Skills Assessment Pilot includes: Pilots 2 and 3 are currently available. To know more about the available pilots, click here.
The temporary removal of the limitation of working 40 hours per fortnight for international students for providing immediate assistance to Australian businesses facing critical workforce shortages will end on 30 June 2023. Unrestricted work rights are available to student visa holders only till 30 June 2023 and all current student visa holders as well as new student arrivals can work more than 40 hours per fortnight in any sector of the economy only till this date. To know more, click here.
Invitation Round: 22 August 2022 The number of invitations issued: Minimum points score:
Migration Amendment (Repeal of Australian Agriculture Worker Stream) Regulations 2022[“the Regulations”], dated 29 September 2022 amends the Migration Regulations 1994 to repeal the Australian Agriculture Worker (AAW) stream from the Temporary Work (International Relations)Subclass 403 visa, which was inserted into visa Subclass 403 on 30 September 2021 to “provide for the temporary entry of agricultural workers under the AAW program administered by DFAT”. On 4 April 2022, the Migration Amendment (Pacific Australia Labour Mobility) Regulations 2022 repealed the Seasonal Worker Program and the Pacific Labour Scheme streams and replaced them with single Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) stream in Subclass 403. The purpose of the PALM stream is to meet the agricultural workforce shortages by providing for the temporary entry of workers under the PALM scheme administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade(DFAT). Therefore, Agriculture Worker Stream is no longer required as agricultural workers can be accommodated through the PALM stream of Subclass 403 using the existing regulations. The instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 30 September 2022 and commenced on 1 October 2022. To access the instrument, click here.
Invitation Round: 26 September 2022 Matrix nominating Small Business Owners: 03 invitations 457 visa / 482 visa holders: 02 invitations Matrix nominating Critical Skill occupations: 154 invitations Overseas Applicants Matrix nominating Critical Skill occupations: 195 invitations Invitations were not issued if the applicants have an active application in the system or have previously received ACT nomination. The next Canberra Matrix invitation round will be held before 24 October 2022.
Tasmanian Onshore Skilled Occupation List has been updated by adding ANZSCO Code 141311 – Hotel or Motel Manager. Candidates with a skills assessment for the occupation of Hotel or Motel Manager will be eligible for subclass 190 nomination in the Tasmanian Skilled Employment pathway after working in a closely related position for 6 months in Tasmania, or for subclass 491 nomination after 3 months. They may also qualify for additional priority attributes in other pathways. It must be noted that this ANZSCO code (141311 – Hotel or Motel Manager) has, however, not been added to the National Skills Commission Skills Priority List for Tasmania.
Migration Tasmania Skilled Nomination Checker is now available for migration agents and potential applicants to check eligibility for Tasmanian Nomination and find the most appropriate nomination pathway. Currently, Tasmanian Skilled Migration State Nomination Program is open for only Gold and Green pass candidates on an interim basis. However, candidates who meet the minimum requirements for one of the nominations pathways but do not have at least one Gold or Green priority attribute will be able to register their interest at a later date. To access Migration Tasmania Skilled Nomination Checker, click here.
Invitation Round: 13 September 2022 Matrix nominating Small Business Owners: 03 invitations 457 visa / 482 visa holders: 05 invitations Matrix nominating Critical Skill occupations: 72 invitations Overseas Applicants Matrix nominating Critical Skill occupations: 128 invitations Invitations were not issued if the applicants have an active application in the system or have previously received an ACT nomination. The next Canberra Matrix invitation round will be held before 11 October 2022.
The Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) Migration Points Advice (MPA) Applicant Guidelines have been updated. Changes have been made to the employment requirements of the Migration Points Advice (MPA) Applicant Guidelines. The new guidelines will be applicable for new MPA submitted from 5 September. The applicants applying for an MPA after 4 September 2022, must meet the program requirements as set out in the new Migration Points Advice Applicant Guidelines, August 2022. It is advised to carefully read the relevant guidelines before lodging the application. To read the relevant guidelines, click here. To know more about the MPA program, click here.
Tasmanian Skilled Migration State Nomination Program is now open for the Gold and Green pass candidates on an interim basis. Candidates who meet the minimum requirements for one of the nomination pathways and have at least one gold or green priority attribute can now register their interest in the nomination. However, candidates who meet the minimum requirements but do not have at least one Gold or Green priority attribute will be able to register their interest at a later date. To know more about how to apply for 2022-23 interim process, click here.