As of 14 August 2019, Immigration SA is no longer accepting state nomination applications for the 489 visa. State nomination applications for the 190 visa can continue to be submitted. A new Skilled Worker Regional (Provisional 491) visa will be introduced on 16 November 2019 and this will replace the 489 visa.
The Department of Home Affairs announced that 10 September 2019 will be the last day for States and Territories to be able to nominate and issue invitations for subclass 489 applicants. Victoria’s Skilled & Business Migration Program (SBMP) will close subclass 489 nominations on 5 September 2019 (11.59pm AEST) and will not be accepting any new subclass 489 nomination applications after this time. This will not affect applications already lodged with our office. SBMP will finalise subclass 489 applications lodged on or before 5 September by 10 September 2019. If your client receives an invitation to lodge a subclass 489 visa with the Department of Home Affairs, please lodge the visa within 60 days of invitation, as the program will be unable to issue you with another nomination from 10 September 2019.
David Coleman – Minister for Immigration Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs in discussion with Ross Greenwood of 2GB touched upon some burning topics on skilled migration and global talent independent program. In his discussion he clarified that the cap for the permanent migration has been reduced from 190,000 to 160,000 this year out of which two third of those people are skilled migrants. The minister further elaborated that there are various visa categories and their focus is on the top talent as these are the people who will start companies and employ other Australians. In order to build high growth businesses within Australia especially in the emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and previously researched industries financial technology and agriculture technology the government has to focus in bringing in highly skilled talent in the country.
The High Income Threshold under the Fair Work Act increased on 1 July 2019 from $145,000 to $148,700. Applicants relying on meeting this threshold for an ENS or RSMS age exemption must ensure that the relevant threshold is met for each of the three requisite years.
Australian businesses and start-ups will have streamlined access to the best and brightest talent from around the world with the continuation of the Global Talent – Employer Sponsored program (GTES), formerly the Global Talent Scheme. Following a successful pilot last financial year, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs David Coleman has made the GTES an ongoing program. Mr Coleman said the pilot showed the GTES has strong support from industry and highlighted the economic benefits of recruiting overseas talent directly to Australian businesses. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said making the program permanent would give the technology sector the certainty it needs to grow. 23 GTES agreements have been entered into with companies seeking to fill specialised positions. The GTES agreements last five years and provide access for up to 20 highly-skilled visa applicants per year for established businesses and five per year for start-ups. Online graphic design business Canva is one of Australia’s most valuable and successful start-ups and has been involved in the GTES pilot. CEO and cofounder of Canva Melanie Perkins said the program has helped to fill critical roles in the multi-billion dollar business. The Start-up Advisory Panel will continue to be a key feature of the ongoing GTES program. The Panel endorses eligible start-ups for access to the scheme and enables start-ups access to the critical skills required to advance their businesses and create more jobs for Australians. Chair of the Start-up Advisory Panel, Alex McCauley, said the continuation of the GTES is great news for high growth young businesses in Australia. Q-CTRL Pty Ltd, a company at the forefront of the emerging quantum computing industry, has had an agreement in place in the Startup stream since November 2018. CEO and Founder of Q-CTRL Michael Biercuk said that Australia has an opportunity to build global-scale companies in quantum technology, and doing so requires global-scale searches for highly skilled talent. The Department of Home Affairs aims to finalise all GTES agreements within two weeks of a complete application being submitted, allowing businesses to fill critical vacancies quickly. Businesses applying for the program are required to demonstrate they are unable to source Australian workers for the roles they are seeking to fill.
David Coleman MP has said the “more skilled, the better” when it comes to Australia’s migration intake during a speech in Sydney. Immigration Minister David Coleman has announced he will maintain a sharp focus on international students, skilled migrants and increasing migration to regional Australia under the Morrison government. Speaking at the Sydney Institute for the first time on Tuesday evening, Mr Coleman said immigration had been “absolutely fundamental” to Australia’s success as a nation but it needed to be approached with “clear eyes”. In order to maximise the return on Australia’s immigration intake, the minister said he would be focusing on international students and skilled migrants while encouraging people moving from overseas to live and work in regional areas. In the 2019-20 year, the cap on Australia’s annual migration intake has been reduced from 190,000 to 160,000, with skilled migration accounting for approximately 70 per cent. Mr Coleman said international education was “extremely good for Australia” and would remain a key feature of the government’s immigration policy. To encourage more international students to study outside capital cities, an additional year will be offered to people on the post-graduate study visa for those who choose to live and work in regional areas. More broadly, 23,000 places will be allocated to ensuring regional migration under two new visa categories that require migrants to live and work in regional Australia for three years in order to be eligible for permanent residency.
Regional NSW is currently accepting applications for Skilled Regional State Nomination (visa sub-class 489) for the region in selected occupations. Regional NSW is currently accepting applications for occupations in Agriculture, Health (excluding nurses), Education and Metal, Building and Automotive Trades. These are detailed in the occupation list which is available on the Skilled Regional NSW Sponsorship page website. Applications will only be open for a limited time period and may be closed without notice. While haste is understandable and, in some respects, appropriate, applicants and agents are cautioned that incomplete applications may result in an unsuccessful outcome. Due to the commencement of the new Skilled Regional State Nominated visa sub-class 491 on the 16th of November, the last day that nominations for the 489 visa will be processed and invitations from the Department of Home Affairs will be issued will be 10th September. Applications are being quickly assessed and they will all be completed before 3rd September. Applications for certification assessment under the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) for employers seeking to nominate a skilled worker can be submitted until 11th November. This deadline will allow time for applications to be assessed for certification before this visa program is replaced on the 16th of November. Details on how to apply are available on the RSMS Employer Nomination page of the website.
The Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs has advised that 10 September 2019 is the last day for states and territories to nominate subclass 489 applications in SkillSelect. This will allow applicants 60 days to lodge their Skilled Regional (Provisional) 489 visa application to the Department of Home Affairs before the visa ceases on 15 November 2019. Due to the high volume of applications, Immigration SA will stop accepting state nomination applications for the subclass 489 visa at 11am on 14 August 2019. A new Skilled Worker Regional (Provisional) 491 visa will be introduced on 16 November 2019. All applications that have been saved but not submitted (including applications which have been ‘submitted but not paid’) will be deleted at 11am on this date. Immigration SA is endeavouring to finalise the state nomination applications for the subclass 489 visa prior to the Commonwealth deadline of 10 September 2019. If a decision has not been made on your subclass 489 state nomination application by 10 September, Immigration SA will contact you after this date. State nomination applications for the Skilled Nominated 190 visa can continue to be submitted and will be processed once the subclass 489 applications are finalised and this will most likely be after 10 September 2019.
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs David Coleman said more than 1300 sponsorship applications and 170 visa applications have been lodged and visa grants have already started for the Temporary sponsored parent visa. Parents from South Africa, Venezuela, China, South Korea, Bolivia, the UK, Egypt and India will soon be in Australia with their families after being granted the first visas under the Morrison Government’s new Temporary Sponsored Parent Visas. The new visa, which opened for applications on 1 July, allows parents who are sponsored by their families in Australia to visit for a continuous period of up to five years. After spending a short period outside Australia, they can apply to return for another five years. The Temporary Sponsored Parent Visa is in addition to, and does not replace, other existing visa categories available to families. A dedicated team within the Department of Home Affairs has been set up to manage application applications and assist families during the application process.
Under the Global Talent Independent Program, launching this year, Home Affairs staff will be located on the ground in Germany, the US, Singapore, China, Chile and Dubai. The government is deploying recruitment officers overseas to bring thousands of the best and brightest workers to Australia. Their task is to recruit 5,000 professionals at the top of their fields in target industries, particularly the tech sector. The government has set aside 5,000 of the 160,000 places in the permanent migration stream for the new program. According to the Home Affairs website, the global talent officers will work with local industries to identify talented people and “attend key industry events and expos, and promote life in Australia”. Highly-skilled workers identified by Home Affairs will be encouraged to apply for existing permanent visas including the distinguished talent and skilled independent visa. The announcement follows the government’s decision to entrench a pilot visa scheme designed to make it easier for the tech industry to recruit highly-skilled workers despite a low take up. Of the 23 businesses that have signed up, just five are startups, with the majority being established businesses including Coles Supermarkets and Rio Tinto.