The Western Australia (WA) state government has announced the following with regards to the state migration services:

• An interim Western Australian skilled migration occupation list (WASMOL) is now in place for all new state sponsorship/nomination applications
• The Regional Certification Body (RCB) applications for subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa nominations are now open for regional WA and excludes Perth
• All applications submitted before the suspension on 13 March 2017 will be processed according to criteria and policy effective at that time

More on the changes below.

The newly elected Premier of Western Australia (WA) has moved to remove WA from the subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa programme. On Friday the 17 of March 2017, Mark McGowan MP submitted a letter to the Australian Prime Minister with the following:

"I would like to request that Perth be removed from the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS)."

State Sponsorship and RSMS for Western Australia no longer available!

The state of Western Australia (WA) recently concluded its state elections with Labor winning the election and bringing a change to state government. The new premier-elect Mark McGowan now leads the largest state of Australia and has listed the changes he wishes to implement for the state of WA.

In various news articles there has been mention of the following:

“McGowan has also promised to tear up WA’s skilled migration list that allows employers to bring in workers on 457 temporary visas. It’s a key part of Labor’s union-backed push to create more local jobs in a state with the nation’s highest unemployment rate.”

- The Australian, 13 March 2017 –

The team at Work Visa Lawyers is always happy to help deserving applicants in successfully obtaining an Australian visa. More often than we hoped for, we come across many applicants who tried to submit an application themselves and face complications thereafter, or a refusal.

Here is a recently approved client, Wenru Pan describing her experience applying for a state sponsorship by herself, and later on with Work Visa Lawyers:

Dear Work Visa Lawyers,

I would like to say a big thank to your guys and I am really appreciate how the support has been for last four months working on my 190 state sponsored permanent visa.

My situation is really tricky and I have been rejected by the state nomination when I first tried to apply by myself. Then I decided to look for help from Chris who was highly recommended by one of my friends. Luckily, my state nomination was successfully approved after Chris’ magic.

Once the trust is built, I decided to let Chris to deal with my 190 visa submission as well. We submit the documents around early November (2016) and I was granted the permanent residency on 17th December, 2016. In other words, the whole process takes less than two months. I almost break the records among who I heard has been granted the permanent residency visa!!!!

I would highly recommend Work Visa Lawyers to all of you who are intending to live/ work in Australia for a long term purposes!

Thank you all the team members from Work Visa Lawyers

Best wishes,

Wenru Pan

The state of Victoria has announced a few updates to their state nomination occupation list and business visa nomination requirements. Here is a summary of the updates.

ICT Occupations no longer available for state nomination

The following ICT occupations are no longer accepted for state nomination from Victoria:

• 135112   ICT Project Manager
• 261111   ICT Business Analyst
• 261112   Systems Analyst
• 261311   Analyst Programmer
• 261312   Developer Programmer
• 261313   Software Engineer
• 261314   Software Tester
• 261399   Software and Applications Programmers nec
• 262111   Database Administrator
• 262112   ICT Security Specialist
• 263111   Computer Network and Systems Engineer

The temporary suspension of sponsorship for the ICT occupations above will last until 6 March 2017.

Occupations removed from Victoria state nomination occupation list

The following occupations are no longer eligible for sponsorship from the state of Victoria:

• 234411 Geologist
• 234412 Geophysicist

Updates to the Business Innovation and Investment visas for Victoria

The Victorian Government has announced the following changes to the business innovation and investment visas nominated by the state government of Victoria.

• Approval from Victorian Government no longer required for change in complying investments
• A new application form for the subclass 888 Significant Investor Visa will be available in early 2017
• Significant investor visa holders nominated by Victoria are reminded to notify the state government when they arrive in Victoria
• The application form for the recently launched subclass 188 Entrepreneur Visa is now available on the LiveInVictoria website
• The factsheet about the Entrepreneur Visa for Victoria is available here
• A new application form for the subclass 888 Investor Visa stream will be available in early 2017

Additionally the Victoria Skilled and Business Migration Programme Department will be closed on the following dates:

• Boxing Day public holiday: Monday 26 December 2016
• Christmas Day public holiday: Tuesday 27 December 2016
• New Year’s Day public holiday: Monday 2 January 2017

Sources:

http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/about-us/news#.WEX_m_l9670

Comments by Chris Johnston – Principal Lawyer and Registered Migration Agent at Work Visa Lawyers

As 2016 comes to a close State and Territory departments may start looking at planning numbers and introduce a temporary suspension of nomination for certain occupations, or announce higher requirements for occupations which have a high number of applications. Visa applicants are advised to obtain state nomination from the relevant State/Territory as soon as possible before changes are introduced.

This information is accurate on 6 December 2016

Do you need help with an Australian visa application?

At Work Visa Lawyers we are experienced in assisting applicants in all matters relating to Australian visa applications. Our areas of expertise include Skilled Migration visas, Business Skills Migration visas, Employer Sponsored Work Visas, Partner and other Family Migration visas as well as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) Review, Judicial Review and Ministerial Intervention.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:

(08) 8351 9956 or +61 8 8351 9956

or   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.