The Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs has advised that 10 September 2019 is the last day for states and territories to nominate subclass 489 applications in SkillSelect. This will allow applicants 60 days to lodge their Skilled Regional (Provisional) 489 visa application to the Department of Home Affairs before the visa ceases on 15 November 2019. Due to the high volume of applications, Immigration SA will stop accepting state nomination applications for the subclass 489 visa at 11am on 14 August 2019.   A new Skilled Worker Regional (Provisional) 491 visa will be introduced on 16 November 2019. All applications that have been saved but not submitted (including applications which have been ‘submitted but not paid’) will be deleted at 11am on this date. Immigration SA is endeavouring to finalise the state nomination applications for the subclass 489 visa prior to the Commonwealth deadline of 10 September 2019. If a decision has not been made on your subclass 489 state nomination application by 10 September, Immigration SA will contact you after this date. State nomination applications for the Skilled Nominated 190 visa can continue to be submitted and will be processed once the subclass 489 applications are finalised and this will most likely be after 10 September 2019.

Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs David Coleman said more than 1300 sponsorship applications and 170 visa applications have been lodged and visa grants have already started for the Temporary sponsored parent visa. Parents from South Africa, Venezuela, China, South Korea, Bolivia, the UK, Egypt and India will soon be in Australia with their families after being granted the first visas under the Morrison Government’s new Temporary Sponsored Parent Visas. The new visa, which opened for applications on 1 July, allows parents who are sponsored by their families in Australia to visit for a continuous period of up to five years. After spending a short period outside Australia, they can apply to return for another five years. The Temporary Sponsored Parent Visa is in addition to, and does not replace, other existing visa categories available to families. A dedicated team within the Department of Home Affairs has been set up to manage application applications and assist families during the application process.

Under the Global Talent Independent Program, launching this year, Home Affairs staff will be located on the ground in Germany, the US, Singapore, China, Chile and Dubai. The government is deploying recruitment officers overseas to bring thousands of the best and brightest workers to Australia. Their task is to recruit 5,000 professionals at the top of their fields in target industries, particularly the tech sector. The government has set aside 5,000 of the 160,000 places in the permanent migration stream for the new program.  According to the Home Affairs website, the global talent officers will work with local industries to identify talented people and “attend key industry events and expos, and promote life in Australia”. Highly-skilled workers identified by Home Affairs will be encouraged to apply for existing permanent visas including the distinguished talent and skilled independent visa. The announcement follows the government’s decision to entrench a pilot visa scheme designed to make it easier for the tech industry to recruit highly-skilled workers despite a low take up. Of the 23 businesses that have signed up, just five are startups, with the majority being established businesses including Coles Supermarkets and Rio Tinto.

An ‘occupation ceiling’ might be applied to invitations issued under the independent, skilled regional (provisional) visas. This means there will be a limit on how many EOIs can be selected for skilled migration from an occupation group. This ensures that the skilled migration program is not dominated by a small number of occupations. Once this limit is reached, no further invitations for that particular occupation group will be issued for that program year. Occupation ceilings do not apply to State or Territory Nominated, Employer Sponsored or Business Innovation and Investment visa subclasses. Occupation ceilings for the 2019-20 program year.   Occupation ID Description Occupation Ceiling Value 2019-20 Invitations to 11/07/2019 1213 Livestock Farmers 5,934 0 1331 Construction Managers 4,983 0 1332 Engineering Managers 1,000 0 1341 Child Care Centre Managers 1,000 0 1342 Health and Welfare Services Managers 1,785 0 1399 Other Specialist Managers 3,044 0 2111 Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers 1,000 0 2112 Music Professionals 1,000 0 2121 Artistic Directors, and Media Producers and Presenters 1,098 0 2211 Accountants* 2,746 83 2212 Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers* 1,552 47 2241 Actuaries, Mathematicians and Statisticians 1,000 6 2243 Economists 1,000 <5 1399 Other Specialist Managers 3,044 0 2111 Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers 1,000 0 2112 Music Professionals 1,000 0 2121 Artistic Directors, and Media Producers and Presenters 1,098 0 2211 Accountants* 2,746 83 2212 Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers* 1,552 47 2241 Actuaries, Mathematicians and Statisticians 1,000 6 2243 Economists 1,000 <5 2245 Land Economists and Valuers 1,000 <5 2247 Management consultant 5,269 5 2321 Architects and Landscape Architects 2,171 124 2322 Cartographers and Surveyors 1,000 <5 2331 Chemical and Materials Engineers 1,000 13 2332 Civil Engineering Professionals 3,772 26 2333 Electrical Engineers 1,000 20 2334 Electronics Engineers* 1,000 30 2335 Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers* 1,600 49 2336 Mining Engineers 1,000 5 2339 Other Engineering Professionals* 1,000 30 2341 Agricultural and Forestry Scientists 1,000 <5 2342 Chemists, and Food and Wine Scientists 1,000 6 2343 Environmental Scientists 1,472 <5 2344 Geologists, Geophysicists and Hydrogeologists 1,000 <5 2345 Life Scientists 1,000 11 2346 Medical Laboratory Scientists 1,505 <5 2347 Veterinarians 1,000 0 2349 Other Natural and Physical Science Professionals 1,000 <5 2411 Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers 2,294 5 2414 Secondary School Teachers 8,052 5 2415 Special Education Teachers 1,111 0 2421 University Lecturers and Tutors 3,407 <5 2512 Medical Imaging Professionals 1,203 0 2514 Optometrists and Orthoptists 1,000 0 2519 Other Health Diagnostic and Promotion Professionals 1,000 0 2521 Chiropractors and Osteopaths 1,000 0 2524 Occupational Therapists 1,082 0 2525 Physiotherapists 1,784 <5 2526 Podiatrists 1,000 0 2527 Speech Professionals and Audiologists 1,000 <5 2531 General Practitioners and Resident Medical officers 3,550 14 2533 Internal Medicine Specialists 1,000 0 2534 Psychiatrists 1,000 0 2535 Surgeons 1,000 0 2539 Other Medical Practitioners 1,250 11 2541 Midwives 1,218 0 2544 Registered Nurses 17,509 52 2611 ICT Business and Systems Analysts* 2,587 79 2612 Multimedia Specialists and Web Developers 1,000 7 2613 Software and Applications Programmers* 8,748 265 2621 Database and Systems Administrators and ICT Security Specialists 2,887 34 2631 Computer Network Professionals* 2,553 77 2633 Telecommunications Engineering Professionals 1,000 22 2711 Barristers 1,000 0 2713 Solicitors 4,650 <5 2723 Psychologists 1,832 0 2725 Social Workers 2,128 37 3122 Civil Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians 1,000 8 3123 Electrical Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians 1,000 0 3132 Telecommunications Technical Specialists 1,000 0 3211 Automotive Electricians 1,000 0 3212 Motor Mechanics 6,399 <5 3222 Sheetmetal Trades Workers 1,000 0 3223 Structural Steel and Welding Trades Workers 3,983 0 3232 Metal Fitters and Machinists 7,007 0 3233 Precision Metal Trades Workers 1,000 0 3241 Panelbeaters 1,000 0 3311 Bricklayers and Stonemasons 1,610 0 3312 Carpenters and Joiners 8,536 0 3322 Painting Trades Workers 3,330 <5 3331 Glaziers 1,000 0 3332 Plasterers 2,100 0 3334 Wall and Floor Tilers 1,682 0 3341 Plumbers 5,060 0 3411 Electricians 8,624 <5 3421 Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics 1,851 0 3422 Electrical Distribution Trades Workers 1,000 0 3423 Electronics Trades Workers 1,313 <5 3513 Chefs 2,738 <5 3611 Animal Attendants and Trainers 1,051 0 3941 Cabinetmakers 2,112 0 3991 Boat Builders and Shipwrights 1,000 0 4523 Sports Coaches, Instructors and Officials 4,071 0 4524 Sportspersons 1,000 0 *Occupations that are subject to pro rata arrangements. For Accountants (2211) the occupational ceiling also reflects volumes in other skilled visa categories.

DOHA has updated Regulation 5.19 with instructions to address transitional arrangements for 457/TSS visa holders Further to various enquires to MIA and the Department and discussions as to whether TRT applications can be lodged on the last day of validity of grandfathered two year Subclass 457/TSS visas, the Department has updated the Regulation. The Procedural Instructions have been updated at Regulation 5.19 with the following instruction to address transitional arrangements for these visa holders: 4.3.20 Transitional arrangements – in place from 18 March 2018 to march 2022 Decision-makers are reminded that the Government has provided transitional arrangements for certain cohorts of clients who held or had applied for a subclass 457 visa on 18 April 2017 which was subsequently granted. These arrangements are relevant to the TRT stream only. Where a nomination is lodged on or after 18 March 2018, and at any time until 18 March 2022, in relation to a client in this cohort, standard nomination requirements in place as of 18 March 2018 must be met with the exception that: occupation list requirements will not apply; and the minimum period an applicant is required to have been employed in their nominated occupation/position as the holder of a subclass 457 or TSS visa will remain at two years. However, decision makers can accept 23 months as having satisfied this requirement. This is to prevent inefficiencies resulting from the 457 visa expiring a few days short of applicants meeting the two-year work requirement, necessitating obtaining a further TSS visa to complete the two years of time worked. While this update to the PI will be loaded to Legend on 18 August 2019, the visa processing network have been advised that this can be applied with immediate effect. Associated legislative change to Regulation 5.19 will be updated in due course. * Thanks to MIA member Rick Gunn for being the first to get a response from the Department on this issue and sharing it with members.