The Department of Employment had recently released its recommendations for changes to Immigration Occupation List.

These recommendations will most likely influence the planned overhaul of the current occupation list in March 2020. 

We suggest that you do not panic as these are purely recommendations by one government department to another and it does not yet confirm a government decision.  

The recommendations are in the form of a bulletin which has traffic light colors Red, Yellow and Green which are allocated accordingly to certain occupations.

Red Color
Occupations under this color are flagged for removal from the occupation list.

If your occupation is marked in Red Color then we recommend expediting the process of your Skills Assessment and if you have received a positive outcome and if you are eligible then you should lodge a State Nomination as soon as possible. Lastly, if you would have received an invitation it is strongly recommended to lodge your visa application as soon as possible.

Yellow Color
Occupations under this color are flagged for movement between the different types of occupation lists.

This can be beneficial for those occupations being moved from STSOL or ROL list to MLTSSL list as eligible applicants will then be able to make a direct application for permanent residency without the need of a State Sponsorship. This also signifies that a particular occupation has a high demand in Australia.

Conversely, if an occupation is being moved from MLTSSL list to STSOL or ROL list, it would result in restriction of migration options as eligible applicants would then have to secure a State Sponsorship (depending on its availability) to move forward with application of a Regional or Permanent Residence Visa.

It would also impose restrictions on applicants for employer sponsored permanent visas as they would have to be working in regional areas to move forward with their future applications.

Green Color
Occupations under this color are flagged to be added to the occupation list.

This is great news for applicants whose occupations are mentioned on this list as depending on their eligibility or location of work or State Nomination availability they may now be eligible to apply for Regional Visas or State Sponsored Permanent Residency or Employer Sponsored Permanent Visas or even Work Visas.

Amendments To Caveats
Below mentioned occupations will still be available on the relevant occupation lists however, new caveats are proposed in relation to them which may potentially restrict eligibility of applicants.

Possible implication could be that when applying for employer sponsored visas or even State Nominations (where a State may specifically require an employment offer for an applicant to proceed with a Regional Visa) then, an employer would have to guarantee an annual salary which corresponds with the figure listed in the below table.

The benefit of this is that applicants whose nominated occupations are mentioned in the below table will be guaranteed a higher annual income by their employer as compared to the current Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold of $53,900.

The downside however, is that most employers would be reluctant to sponsor an applicant for these occupations considering that they would be required to pay them a high salary.

How Can We Assist You?
We can assess your eligibility for available visa programs and assist you through all stages of visa application including Skills Assessment.

To know more, please contact us or book a consultation with our Registered Migration Consultant Sunny Soni.