Will this affect your application?As noted in a previous article, Australia's Immigration Minister has announced changes to skilled visa processing priorities that will affect the application time for skilled visa applications.
As a result, applicants that have nominated an occupation listed on the Critical Skills List, and have also been nominated for that occupation by a State and Territory Government, will find that their application will be processed as a priority.
Conversely, those whose occupation is not on the Critical Skills List and who don’t have sponsorship from a State or Territory Government, should be aware that there might be a longer wait than they were perhaps expecting when their visa application was lodged.
Applicants for a subclass 175 (Skilled Independent) visa and those whose occupation is not on the Critical Skills List might consider seeking sponsorship from a State or Territory Government, if they wish to see their visa application processed to a decision sooner rather than later. An application for a subclass 175 visa can be moved to a subclass 176 (Skilled Sponsored) visa once suitable sponsorship has been obtained.
These new changes have been introduced as a way for State and Territory Governments to facilitate skilled migration in an effort to meet critical skills shortages in their jurisdictions.
Get the critical skills list here.
