Australia's Skilled Migration Model from 1 July 2012 (Expressions of Interest)

The Minister of Immigration has proposed a new scheme for applicants who wish to migrate to Australia on a permanent basis. This is currently in the "planning stages" and more discussions / consultations will occur before the necessary legislative changes are introduced. 

1. When does the proposed Skilled Migration Model (proposed SMM) commence?

• It is planned the new SMM model will commence on July 1st 2012.

• The first round of visa offers under the new SMM will be in January 2013.

• Note that although the SMM system is not finalised, it is expected there will be few changes made, and a system very similar to the one proposed will be in place.

2. Who will be affected by the new system?

• All people who apply for permanent residence (PR) after July 1st 2012,

unless

• You held or applied for your visa before February 8th 2010 and are eligible for transitional arrangements.

3. Can I use the current system for applying for PR?

• The current system changes on July 1st 2011 and you can apply for PR if you have met the current points system before then;

• You can use the system to be introduced on July 1st 2011 up until June 30th 2012 (the new 2011 system) to apply for PR and therefore do not need to use the new proposed Skilled Migration Model. This will mean you can apply for PR and receive a bridging visa whilst waiting for your application to be processed if you apply before June 30th 2012.

4. How will the Professional Year Study assist under the proposed Skilled Migration Model

(commencing July 1st 2012)?

• A key feature of the proposed SMM is that applicants are advantaged by having more points. This means 65 points will be the minimum, and those who have more points will get priority.

• The Professional Year will give 5 points toward your points total, and can therefore enhance all applications.

5. How does the new proposed Skilled Migration Model work?

• Under the current and new 2011 system the process is:

a. Get all attributes to make a valid application ( for example: skills assessment, English level, sufficient points, occupation on SOL);

b. Submit application;

c. Receive Bridging visa

d. Remain in Australia whilst application is processed.

• Under the proposed SMM, the process will be:

a. Get all attributes to make a valid application (for example: skills assessment, English level, sufficient points, occupation on SOL);

b. Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for a visa that can lead to permanent residence;

c. No bridging visa is offered, and you remain on your current visa;

d. Your EOI goes into a pool with all other applicants;

e. At regular intervals, DIAC invites people from the pool to apply for permanent residence. The people selected are those who are ranked highest in the pool;

f. Those selected have 2 months to submit a valid application, at which time a bridging visa is issued.

6. Very important things to know about the ‘Expression of Interest’ for the proposed SMM:

a. If you have submitted an EOI, you do not get a bridging visa. Therefore, if your visa expires and you cannot apply for another visa, you will need to leave Australia. This does not mean your EOI is cancelled, and you can be invited whilst offshore;

b. An EOI is valid for 2 years. Therefore you could be invited to apply for a visa up to 2 years after you have submitted your EOI. You can submit a new EOI at that time;

c. If you are invited to apply for a visa, your application must match the information on your EOI submission. Information on your EOI is not validated, but misleading information will mean if you are invited to apply for a visa and the information provided does not match your visa, your application will be refused;

d. You will be ranked for visa invitation based on the strength of your application. People with the minimum requirements will be toward the bottom of the pool.

e. You will be ranked for a visa invitation on your EOI according to the number of points you have (e.g. 70 is higher than 65); the occupation you are applying under; your willingness to be in a regional area; work experience, language skills (as well as some other criteria) – all of which encourages applicants to continue to improve their level;

f. You can update your EOI at any time. This means if you can do things to enhance your application (e.g. more points, work experience), you can add them to your EOI and improve your chances of being invited to apply for a visa.

g. As the EOI is not a visa application, there is no appeal process if you are not invited to apply, but believe you should be.

h. There will be a fee to lodge an EOI, but this is not determined as yet.

7. Things to know about the Visa Invitation process:

a. The first invitations will occur in January 2013;

b. DIAC has not announced how visas will be processed between July 1st 2012 and when the first invitations are offered;

c. Applications received by DIAC before July 1st 2012 will be processed under the current system;

d. DIAC will make invitations at regular intervals. It has not been announced how regularly these will occur or how many invitations will happen at any one time. The number per year has been forecast at around 120,000*, but this is proposed and not confirmed;

e. Persons who are invited to apply for an independent skilled migration visa will have 2 months to apply for the visa. If the information provided in the EOI does not match the information on the visa application, the visa application will be refused.

f. The invitation for applications will be decided by where a person ‘ranks’ in the system. For example, if there are 10,000 visas to be offered, the 10,000 people who rank the highest against the criteria the government is using will receive the invitation to apply for the visa. It does need to be noted:

i. There are occupation limits dependent on demand for the occupation – e.g. if the government determines it wants 1000 accountants, it will only invite the 1,000 highest ranked accountants to apply. Even if an accountant is in the 10,000 people, but is the 1001st accountant, they will not be invited to apply;

ii. There are location limits, so again, a person may be ranked in the top 10,000, but if they are not in the allowance number for a particular area, they will not receive an invitation to apply.

iii. There are other limits imposed, but these are not yet specified;

iv. It is not confirmed, but 2 identical applications are likely to be ranked in the order of when the EOI was received.

v. The exact system is NOT finalised and as such this is a guide only.

g. The rankings are determined by such factors as number of points, occupation, location and willingness to locate to specific locations.

h. DIAC will publish, at the end of each invitation round, the scores of the lowest ranked person offered an invitation to apply for a visa by occupation and other factors. This allows you to know how you are ranked compared to those who received invitations.

*according to government sources.

9. What can I do to increase my chances of receiving an invitation to apply for a visa?

• Gain as many points as you can – the higher your points score, the higher you will be ranked. The Professional Year Study in Australia will gain you an additional 5 points;

• Be flexible with where you are prepared to be located;

• Qualify to put your application in as soon as you can.

• Discuss your options with your migration agent.

10. How else will this proposed SMM assist me?

• Your name and details will be in a central database which companies can use to search for potential employees;

• It allows you to improve your chances of gaining a visa by continually endeavouring to add to your EOI.

We recommend that if you wish to use the system in place before the EOI is introduced, that you plan to apply for PR before June 30th 2012.

If you have any queries on the above, please contact our registered migration consultants.