Immigration News: February 2022
Tasmania and Queensland recently provided updates on their Skilled Migration Programmes.
Tasmania has limited quota left and is focusing on priority cases first, while Queensland is unlikely to open to offshore applicants this financial year.
Tasmania’s 2021-2022 Skilled Migration Program update
Tasmania has announced it has a limited quota remaining in its Skilled Migrant Program.
Tasmania had 2,200 places for the subclass 491 visa, of which it has used 1,274 places. There were 1100 places available for the subclass 190 visa, of which Tasmania has used 731 places.
There are thus less than 1,300 places remaining and Tasmania has received around 1,000 new applications since December 2021. Tasmania also still has to finalise around 300 applications, which means that it is likely that the state will significantly exceed its available quota.
Tasmania to focus on three priorities when managing its quota of places
To manage its limited quota, Tasmania has decided to focus on the following three priorities:
- Candidates with employment and a skills assessment related to critical roles, such as health, allied health, infrastructure, and engineering, and directly in line with that role
- Candidates with employment and a skills assessment related to the Tasmanian Skilled Occupation List
- Candidates with employment directly related to their nominated skills assessment
Any remaining applications that are deemed suitable will be ranked competitively and considered for any remaining nomination places.
Outcomes for applicants who are not in the three priority areas may not be available until later in the program year, which ends on June 30, 2022.
Please note these employment criteria
Employment as mentioned in the priority areas listed above is defined as employment with a well-established Tasmanian business that has been operating in Tasmania for at least 12 months.
Tasmania define a ‘well-established business’ as one that actively operates in Tasmania with:
- Permanent business signage
- Active/ongoing online presence, advertising and marketing
- A Tasmanian address as a registered business location
- A local landline contact number
- An ongoing office space (not a residential address) that is not ‘casual’ or ‘virtual’ (including corporate/co-shared offices)
- Permanent representation of employees at the stated business location
Further to this, the employment must be full-time for the Working in Tasmania categories but it can be part-time (a minimum of 20 hours) for Tasmanian Graduates, if that employment has been of at least 3 months’ duration.
Update on Queensland state nominations in the 2021/2022 Migration Program Year
Due to the current high number of applications for Queensland State Nomination from temporary migrants onshore who are living and working in Queensland, it’s unlikely that Migration Queensland will open to offshore skilled applicants this financial year.
This does not include business applicants – Migration Queensland is still open and processing business applications from offshore.
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