According the Department of Immigration and Citizenship: The Government is considering the report from Skills Australia containing their Skilled Occupation List. An announcement and publication of the new Skilled Occupation List for Migration purposes will be made in May. Previously, the Department had expected the new SOL would be announced on 30 April 2010.
We will keep you updated once further information is available in this regard.
In a move to try and keep the houses affordable for first time home owners in Australia the Federal government will scrap its controversial new rules on foreign investment in real estate, and instead tighten both the rules and their enforcement to head. The about face is suspected to be in order to head off a damaging political storm. In an about-face, the Assistant Treasurer has announced that temporary residents will now have to seek approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) to buy any real estate in Australia. This requirement was recently relaxed. Temporary residents will also be required to sell their Australian property when they leave Australia. And for the first time, the FIRB will be given the means to ensure that the laws are enforced.
With changes expected, there is a 2 month window of opportunity for accountants still to get assessed under the current rules, thereafter specific subjects will be compulsory and Academic IELTS will also be required.
According to Institute of Charted Accountants in Australia & CPA Australia, on 1 July, assessment criteria for General Skills Migration will be as follows:-
· A formal qualification assessed as being at least comparable to an Australian Bachelor degree.
· Completion of at least 9 out of the 12 core knowledge areas at tertiary level.
· Each nominated occupation has 4 mandatory core knowledge areas – please refer to the table below.
Core Knowledge Areas | ACCOUNTANT 2211-11 | FINANCE MANAGER 1211-11 | CORPORATE TREASURER 2213-11 | EXTERNAL AUDITOR 2212-11 |
Accounting Systems and Processes | compulsory | compulsory | compulsory | compulsory |
Financial Accounting | compulsory | compulsory | compulsory | compulsory |
Management Accounting | compulsory | compulsory | compulsory | compulsory |
Accounting Theory | compulsory | optional | optional | optional |
Finance | optional | compulsory | compulsory | optional |
Auditing | optional | optional | optional | compulsory |
Commercial Law | optional | optional | optional | optional |
Economics | optional | optional | optional | optional |
Quantitative Methods | optional | optional | optional | optional |
Information Systems Design and Development | optional | optional | optional | optional |
Taxation Law | optional | optional | optional | optional |
Company Law | optional | optional | optional | optional |
· IELTS Academic Test Report Form (TRF) Number to show you have a band score of at least seven (7) on each of the four (4) components – speaking, reading, listening and writing.
Please contact us if you are an Accountant and have not as yet lodged your skills assessment.
Registration of nurses will soon be through a new national body called the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). The NMBA has indicated in their proposal to the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council that they recommend have the English language requirement set at a minimum of 7 in all 4 bands of the Academic IELTS for registration. However good news for many is that if your secondary school studies were conducted in English, you may qualify for a waiver of this requirement. These proposals have not yet been finalised and we will keep you informed as to when they are.
It’s only a week or so until we see the NEW Skilled Occupation List (SOL). Its release will certainly come as a relief to many. However the news may not be great for others. Skills Australia, which is the organisation that has been given the responsibility of forming the new SOL and presenting it to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) for approval in a recent report listed the 'SKILLS WE NEED'. We expect most of these to be included in the new SOL. However please note that this is NOT the final SOL, and THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT ANY OF THESE OCCUPATIONS WILL APPEAR ON THE NEW SKILLED OCCUPATION LIST WHEN IT IS FORMALLY ANNOUNCED LATER IN APRIL 2010.
Accountants
Actuaries
Air transport professionals
Aircraft maintenance engineers
Architects and landscape architects
Auditors
Automotive electricians
Bricklaters and stonemasons
Carpenters and joiners
Chemical and materials engineers
Childcare centre managers
Civil engineering draftspersons and technicians
Computer systems analysts
Construction managers
Dental hygienists, technicians and therapists
Electronics trades workers
Engineering managers
Fire and emergency workers
Health and welfare services managers
Industrial, mechanical and production engineers
Judicial and other legal professionals
Lawyers
Marine transport professionals
Mining engineers
Motor mechanics
Optometerists and orhoptists
Other education managers
Other medical practitioners
Pharmacists
Police
Psychologists
Registered nurses
School principals and teachers
Sign writers
Social workers
Software and applications programmers
Surgeons
Teachers of English to speakers of other languages
Telecommunications and electrical engineers
Telecommunications technical specialists
Urban and regional planners
Veterinarians
Wood machinists and other wood trades workers
The following amendments will be implemented by DIAC on 19 April 2010 and will apply to new applications lodged on or after 19 April 2010. Applications lodged with DIAC before this date will not be affected by the amendments.
The Amendments include an increase in the minimum net business and personal assets required for the 163 and 164 provisional Business Skills visas. The increase will be from A$250 000 to A$500 000 in addition to assets that the specific State/Territory government sponsor considers adequate to settle in Australia.
The ownership requirement of all business owner visas (including subclass 132 and 892) will be increased from 10% to:
· 51% where the business turnover is less than A$400 000;
· 30% where the business turnover is A$400 000 or more; or
· 10% where the business is a publicly listed company.
The senior manager provision will be removed from the Subclass 163 visa.
Please contact us to discuss how these changes may impact your application.
Changes include the introduction of a NEW greatly reduced Skilled Occupations List, as well as, a complete revision of the Points test, of which potential migrants must pass to ensure eligibility. The Australian government’s attitude is one of favouring Employer and State Nominated pathways, so in time we do not foresee visa requirements relaxing for skilled migration. Andrew Heathcote of Migrate2oz therefore advises “During a period of significant change and uncertainty we certainly believe that you will be better served by placing your matter in the hands of a registered migration agent who gives you sound and meaningful advice.” He goes on to advise that if you are contemplating migration, do not procrastinate as it may cost you in the long run!
The Critical Skills List is to be revoked and replaced with a new Skilled Occupations List which will become effective from the middle of 2010. This NEW SOL will be available for review in the coming weeks (by the 30 April 2010) with priority processing arrangements for applications with nominated occupations on the current CSL continuing until they are reviewed in Mid 2010.
Over the coming months we also expect to see a revised points test. At this stage it is uncertain what these changes will be. The revised test could possibly include some of the following changes that the Minister of Immigration recently mentioned. Changes such as:
· should some occupations warrant more points than others?
· are the points for age properly calibrated?
· should points be awarded for qualifications acquired overseas from prestigious universities?
· are sufficient points awarded for experience?
· should more points be awarded for excellence in English?
As mentioned the NEW Skilled Occupations List (SOL) is to be reviewed by Skills Australia, supposedly to “… deliver a General Skilled Migration (GSM) Program more focused on high-value skills across the professions and trades.”
So what does this mean for you? – If you have an occupation on the present SOL you can still apply for a general skilled visa, so long as the application is lodged before the NEW SOL comes into effect in "mid-2010" We expect this to be 1 July 2010. Any skilled migration application that is lodged prior to the introduction of the new Skilled Occupation List in mid-2010 will be assessed with reference to requirements current at the time the application is lodged with the Department of Immigration.
IMPORTANT!!! This gives you another 6 weeks to get things moving, after 30 June 2010 you will be subject to the NEW SOL and NEW Points test. The detail of which we do not know but will update you once available. This may not be good news for all.
We have always been strong proponents of the approach that if you qualify for a visa and are intending to migrate to Australia do so while a visa pathway exists.
The current government’s attitude to the migration program is one of favouring Employer and State Nominated pathways, so in time we do not foresee visa requirements relaxing for skilled migration.
We therefore recommend that those who wish to lodge a general skilled visa should factor into their considerations the likelihood that from the middle of 2010 the barriers will be higher than they are presently - possibly meaning that they will not be able to apply once the NEW SOL is introduced.
Do not delay starting your General Skilled Visa application. Procrastination may cost you in the long run! Please contact us if you are in doubt.
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