News & InsightsTwo categories of state nominated visa are available to skilled workers seeking employment in Australia: permanent Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visas and temporary Skilled Regional Nominated (Provisional) (subclass 489) visas. In order to apply for either of these visa subclasses, an applicant must first be nominated by a state or territory government agency.
Each state and territory imposes differing criteria on applicants seeking their nomination based on the skills and occupations it requires. As the skills and occupations a state requires are also subject to considerable and often swift change, so too are the criteria applicants must meet to obtain state nomination.
In order to secure South Australian state nomination an applicant must obtain a positive skills assessment for an occupation listed on South Australia’s skilled migration occupation list (SNOL) (https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/snol_data) in addition to meeting other threshold requirements.
On July 1, a number of new occupations were added to South Australia’s SNOL. They include:
- Advertising Manager
- Public Relations Manager
- Regional Education Manager
- Vocational Education Teacher (trades)
- Vocational Education Teacher (non-trades)
- Special needs teacher
- Art Administrator or Manager
- Nurse Practitioner
- Finance Broker
- Financial Investment Manager
- Valuer
The inclusion of these occupations in the SNOL were made in the context of further changes to the state nomination process in South Australia discussed in detail here: https://www.msmlegal.com.au/?p=1258.
While these changes were introduced to increase demand for South Australian state nominated visa applicants, New South Wales implemented an intake system that rations its acceptance of applications to scheduled periods throughout the year as discussed here: https://www.msmlegal.com.au/?p=1266.
Queensland meanwhile, added a range of occupations to its QSOL state nomination list, while Western Australia temporarily removed some 90 occupations from its WASMOL list in order to further evaluate their efficacy.
The ACT, who made a significant number of changes to its ACT Occupation List on 24 February 2014, Tasmania, and Victoria each made comparatively few amendments to their state nominated occupation lists on July 1.
Despite this, these recent variations in South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia reflect the changing nature of the skills each state requires at any given time and the criteria required to obtain their respective state nomination.
For further information and advice regarding skilled visas, contact us.
Sources:
http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/190.aspx
https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/eligibility_requirements
http://www.mia.org.au/documents/item/380
https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/SNOL_data#
http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/live-and-work-in-nsw/visa-and-migration/skilled-sponsored-migration
http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/skilledmigration/Pages/LatestNews.aspx
http://migration.qld.gov.au/skilled-migration-visas/skilled-nominated-subclass-190-visa/
http://www.canberrayourfuture.com.au/portal/migrating/article/act-occupation-list/