Lots of changes

There have been lots of changes implemented from 1 July 2012. In fact there are so many that it is very difficult to blog about them all. Nevertheless some of the highlights are:

1. There is now a points test for the Business Innovation and Investment Program (the old business skills visas) - details on that points test can be found by clicking here
2. The new Consolidated Skills Occupation List (CSOL) has been published (IMMI 12/039). It is in two sections - Schedule 2 deals with employer and state sponsored occupations, while schedule 1 applies to most other visa subclasses;
3. There has also been a change to the processing priority (which will affect previously lodged applications) - click here for details; and
4. The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) which is relevant to 457 applications has been increased to $51,400 from 1 July 2012. The significance of the TSMIT is that employers are required to pay temporary entry visa holders the market rate for their position, but the market rate cannot be below the TSMIT.

New passmark

I have previously blogged about the new (starting on 1 July 2012) SkillSelect system.

It was announced on 15 June 2012 that the passmark for the SkillSelect visa subclasses will be 60 (down from the current 65). The current (or soon to be "old") system is going to remain open until 31 December 2012.

Also, although the new consolidated list of skilled occupations has not been announced, DIAC have made some minor changes to the existing SOL. It's not good news for chemists, audiologists, bricklayers and tilers, but it is good for mining production managers, metallurgists, optometrists and computer network engineers. Details on the new SOL can be found here.

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Significant Investor

The skilled visa program is not the only one currently under review. The old Business Skills visa program will be renamed to the Business, Innovation and Investment Program (I am sure that is not the only change!). 

As with the skilled visa program this one is being simplified and the number of visa classes is being reduced from 13 to 3. There will also be a new "significant investor" visa which will be for people with $5M to invest in Australia. 

An outline of the proposed changes is at the following link - Business Skills Program Reforms.

Creative commons acknowledgment for the photo.