subject: New Visa Norms For Skilled Migrants To Australia [print this page] As of 01 July 2012, a new Australian SkillSelect visa program for visa applicants has been implemented by the government of Australia. This new program differs mainly in one aspect from the previous skilled immigration program, which is, now an invitation is required from the Australian government before the applicant applies for a skilled visa. As this is a new system with re-categorised subclasses, you should know how to apply for Australian SkillSelect visa.
The first point to be remembered is that the program purely online and anyone who wishes to migrate to Australia needs to submit the application through the new system. The four broadly classified SkillSelect visa programs are Independent Skilled Migration, State or Territory Sponsored Skilled Migration, Family Sponsored Skilled Migration and Business Skills. You have to first identify correctly the subclass under which you can apply for an Australian SkillSelect visa before applying.
The previous categories of subclasses under SkillSelect have been reclassified. For example, skilled independent subclass 189 visa will replace subclass 175 and 885 visas, skilled nominated subclass 190, which now requires nomination be the State of Territory government, will replace skilled sponsored subclass 175 and 886 visas, skilled nominated / sponsored (provisional) subclass 489, which now requires sponsorship by a relative living in a designated area or by a State or Territory government, will replace skilled regional sponsored subclass 475 and 487.
Once you know how to apply for Australian SkillSelct visa online, an expression of intent (EOI) is to be submitted to the visa office. EOI is basically a record and registration of your basic personal details, your nominated occupation, relevant work experience, study and educational qualifications, details of skills assessment (related to nominated occupation), business / investment experience and level of English skills which you will be asked to fill in the Australian SkillSelect visa database.
This database is used to source and nominate, by the State or Territory government or an employer, for a skilled Australian visa. This EOI will enable you to be considered for grant of Australian visa. In the new system, it is now compulsory to submit the expression of intent (EOI) for Subclasses 189 Skilled Independent (Permanent) Class SI, Subclass 190 Skilled Sponsored (Permanent) Class SK, Subclass 489 Regional Sponsored (Provisional) Class SP and Business Skills Visa Program.
You can apply for SkillSelect visa, without the EOI as it is optional, for subclass 186 employer nomination scheme (ENS) class EN, subclass 187 regional sponsored migration scheme (RSMS) class RN and subclass 457 temporary business (long stay) class UC. If you are qualified in more than one skilled visa, you can include a few of them in one EOI it. This will help in increasing your probable chances of a State or Territory government or employer finding you in the online SkillSelect database.
On submission of EOI, you can view your points score, but not your ranking position in the database as potential migrants enter and leave the database. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) invites the highest ranked applicants from the database to make the visa applications. You can update your EOI at any time when there is a change in any of the detailed you provided. This will help in improving your points scores.
