New changes in General Skill Migration Visa
Posted on Nov 12, 2019 at 07:10 AM by Goodwill Consult
New Changes in General Skill Migration Visa
Almost all the prospective immigrants are curious to find out, what alteration the Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs is going to introduce this coming mid-November. According to Department of Home Affairs (DOHA), there are major changes that will be on effect from 16th November 2019; one of them being the introduction of Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa and closure of Subclass 489 Skilled - Regional (Provisional) visa. This subclass 491 visa is to benefit regional parts of Australia, for candidates nominated by a state or territory government agency or sponsored by an eligible family member living in designated regional area. There is also the amendment of the Schedule 6D Points Test for applicants sponsored by State/Territory Governments or family members residing in designated regional areas. 14,000 places have been allocated to this visa subclass.
Similarly, Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) is introducing the Subclass 494 Skilled Employer-Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa and closing the Subclass 187- Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme subclass. This Subclass 494 visa is a new and improved employer sponsored visa with two key streams: Employer Sponsored and Labour Agreement. This brings employer seeking to sponsor overseas workers under Division 3 of Part 2 of the Migration Act and Part 2A of the Migration Regulations. 9,000 places have been allocated to this visa subclass. Likewise, DOHA is introducing the Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa with detail eligibility criteria for this visa, including pre-qualifying visas, minimum taxable income for three years and compliance with regional visa conditions. This is to be commenced from 16 November 2022 and can only be applied by the holders of new subclass 491 and subclass 494 visa.
As per DOHA, New point system has been allocated as follows
Schedule 6D to the Migration Regulations is amended to award:
- 15 points for nomination by a State or Territory government agency or sponsorship by a family member residing in regional Australia, to live and work in regional Australia;
- 10 points for a skilled spouse or de facto partner
- 10 points for certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) qualifications
