In a speech (and press release) on 8 February 2010 the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship,Senator Evans announced some sweeping changes to the skilled migration program:
- All applications lodged before 1 September 2007 and not decided (about 20,000 of them) will be withdrawn and the application fee refunded. I am astounded that there are that many in the system!
- The occupations in demand list (MODL) is immediately abolished;
- The points test is going to be reviewed to ensure that it selects the "best and brightest". One of the problems with the current test is that it: "puts an overseas student with a short-term vocational qualification gained in Australia ahead of a Harvard-educated environmental scientist.";
- The Minister will have the power to limit the numbers of particular occupations; and
- State and Territory sponsored migration plans are to be refined so that states can prioritise the types of migrants that they want.
As often happens there was no (or little) notice of these changes and there will be a lot of unhappy applicants/potential applicants who had made plans based on the law as it stood on Sunday night. We will have to wait and see what happens and how the changes evolve.
Creative commons attribution for the photograph above:
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