News
Western Australia has made it vastly easier for migrants to acquire a 190 visa and increased the number of occupations on the skilled occupation list by 60 per cent.
Practising one of these occupations gives applicants for these visas a much better chance of being approved.
The move comes as the state experiences massive skills shortages across a broad range of industries, experiencing a record-low unemployment rate of 3.9%.
The Commonwealth of Australia has approved 8,140 visa places for 2022-23, up 4,950 places. The state’s nomination fee of A$200 has also been temporarily waived.
Requirements for applicants have been drastically adjusted, English language proficiency for professional and manager occupations has been removed and the requirement for single applicants to have A$20,000 in savings has been revised.
Work experience requirements have been relaxed and new occupations on the nominations list include 46 health occupations, bringing the list to a total of 276 occupations.
WA is trying to attract overseas workers for such key industries as building and construction, manufacturing, healthcare, tourism and agriculture.
“The changes to the State Nominated Migration Program will build on our work to boost skilled migration in areas of high demand by making migration to WA easier,” said Premier Mark McGowan.
These changes are expected to be applied over the course of next month, there has never been a better time to apply for a state-nominated visa for Western Australia.
The incumbent Labour government has introduced measures to reduce the waiting times for Australian visas, which, in some cases have stretched out to 41 months.
Western Australia has recently made it easier for migrants in the state’s mining-rich Pilbara region, with new agreements allowing more migrants to live and work there.
The average income for a mining engineer in Australia is currently between A$120,000 and A$170,000 per year.