The Department of Immigration and Citizenship announced on 8th February a package of sweeping regulation changes affecting skilled migration that will come into effect mid-2010 – likely on July 1. These upcoming changes will negatively impact the ability to migrate of thousands of prospective migrants once in effect. This will be the most comprehensive reform of the skilled visa regulations in more than twenty years.

These new regulations will see an entirely new and scaled down Skilled Occupation List (the occupations eligible to migrate) implemented. These changes will also likely involve a new stricter visa points test and caps on the number of visas available in specific occupations.

Fortunately, for those who apply before the upcoming regulations are enacted, their applications should not be affected by the changes. There now exists a window of opportunity while the current favourable regulations still exist where your eligibility for a permanent visa remains assured. By applying now under the current regulations, your application will always be assessed against the current favourable criteria. In order to be in a position to lodge your final visa application before July 1 requires that a skills assessment first be obtained. A skills assessment application can take a number of months to process, so in order to beat the regulation change requires starting the visa process as soon as possible.

Details of the new Skilled Occupation List are not set to be released until late April, therefore it is not known which occupations will remain eligible for skilled migration. Other details involving the new points test and visa caps on specific occupations are also not yet known. By the time information on the new regulations is released in April, it is very unlikely that those who are negatively affected will have enough time to have a skills assessment approved and visa application lodged before the new rules come into force. Therefore, everyone who wishes to migrate to Australia should protect their ability to migrate by taking advantage of the window of opportunity that now exists.

What these upcoming regulation changes shows is that while Australia is still welcoming migrants and the actual number of visas available is unchanged, with so many people wishing to migrate the Australian government is significantly tightening its eligibility criteria.  Immigration2oz.com are at the forefront in keeping informed on these new regulations as more information becomes available. They will be emailing everyone they meet on further developments so please ensure you fill out one of their Eligibility Assessment Forms and include your contact details. To discuss your migration options and how to protect your ability to migrate you can contact them on +44 (0) 797 4349937 or email john@immigration2oz.com Immigration2oz.com offer FREE visa eligibility assessment.

This factsheet is based upon the Immigration Minister’s announcement of 8/2/2010 and the Points Test Review Discussion Paper. For further information visit - http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/whats-new.htm