After putting the alterations to the Skilled Occupation List in action on 1st July, 2010, the Australian immigration department is all set to have arrangements for the priority processing of the petitions filed by overseas people under the skilled migration visa program. The arrangements have been revealed by the nation’s immigration and citizenship minister, Chris Evans.

The arrangements in the aspect of priority processing take the changes to the Australian SOL, and annulment of the MODL, as well as the List of Critical Skills into consideration. The arrangements have been in force since July 14, 2010, which apply to applications under certain visa categories that have been already filed with the Australian immigration department. The arrangements also take the applications that are yet to come in future into account.

The processing arrangements made apply to specific migration schemes. They are:

• Employer Nomination Scheme or ENS;
• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme or RSMS; and
• General Skilled Migration or GSM.

Now, let us have a look at the order (the first being the matter of highest priority) of the priority processing of the applications under these schemes.

• Petitions from individuals who have been sponsored by Australian employers under the Employer Nomination and Regional Skilled Migration Schemes.
• Petitions from individuals nominated by state/territory for a nominated job position which is mentioned in that state’s migration plan.
• Petitions from individuals who have chose an occupation included on the SOL.
• Other petitions are subjected to processing on first-come-first-serve basis.

According to the Australian immigration officials, the priority processing has been considered in an attempt to comply with the various changes brought in to the nation’s migration program pertaining to the skilled migrants. According to them, the priority processing is likely to bring in the skills that the Oz economy needs.

As per the figures released by the Australian Immigration Department, over the last year the number of Oz offshore visa issued to Indian students plummeted quite drastically. A year ago in 2008-2009, a total number of 54,574 offshore Oz visa grants were issued to students from India. But, the number has fallen down if we see the figures from the month of July in 2009 to March 2010. During this period, Australia had only issued 11,862 visas to the Indian students. As compared to the 2008-2009 figures, this was a decline of 78 percent.

A few reasons like tougher immigration rules for overseas students and elimination of incentives offered for foreign students for applying for study course in order to obtain permanent residency in Australia are responsible for the declination in the numbers of Australian visas granted to Indian students.

But, the nation’s immigration minister Chris Evans has to say that the changes to immigration regulations do not affect foreign students in immigrating to Australia and going back to their home countries. But, as per the transitional arrangements made to the immigration policies, Australia allows those foreign students who were in the nation prior to February 8, 2010, as well as possess a vocational/higher education/postgraduate Oz Student Visa to apply for Australian permanent residency, given their occupations are included on the Skilled Occupation List. Those who do not meet the criteria can apply for temporary skilled graduate visa once they have completed their studies. This type of visa enables former Australian students spend eighteen months in the land of Kangaroos, during which they can acquire work experience and look for employers who could sponsor them.

Finally, the much talked-about changes to the Australian Visa program are in effect now. The changes have been in force since July 1, 2010. Let us have a look at the changes made:

• Australia’s new Skilled Occupations List is one of the many changes that have taken their effect on July 1. This is the list that focuses on the occupations that the nation needs at the time. The list is supposed to get updated each year, in order to identify the occupations that the Australian labor market needs the most. As per the announcement by the Aussie Immigration Minster, the nation has reduced the number of occupations from 400 in the earlier list to 181 in the new SOL. Occupations, such as hairdresser, dance instructor and cook have been eliminated from the new list of skilled occupations. The changes apply to all those who apply for an Aussie visa under the Skilled Migration Program.
• Replacing the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations came into force the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations. The immigration department will make use of the new standard to access information regarding occupations under various categories. The ANZSCO is the result of the collaboration between Australian Bureau of Statistics; the Employment, Education and Workplace Relations Department; and Statistics New Zealand.
• It was announced by the Australian Immigration Minister in February 2010 that those applications which were submitted before 1st September 2007 for certain specific offshore visas for skilled migrants would be cut short and ceased. Since the maximum announced limit has been reached, all the applications which fall under this category and are awaiting a decision would now be ceased. However, the application fee for the visa would be given back to the applicant.
• Effective from July 1, applicants under certain state/territory, as well as family sponsored subclasses of GSM visas are required to provide evidence that they have been nominated by a state/territory or a relative. The foremost thing that these applicants must do is to file application for an Australian Visa. Then the nominating state/territory or relative must complete the associated nomination/ sponsorship form using the TRN number, which has been earlier provided to the applicants at time of filing petition for the visa.

Now, that the changes are in effect, all the speculations and doubts will be cleared that people have regarding the impact of the changes on overseas immigrants!

Many hundreds of overseas students participated in a protest rally in Sydney on Thursday in order to show their unlikeness on Australia’s new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) that comes into effect from July 1, 2010. The new SOL does not include jobs titles like hairdressers and cooks/chefs. Apparently, the changes have made many international students furious!

The huge number of international students united for the protest and started a rally from Sydney Town Hall and ended that at the office for Australia’s immigration department. The rally was organized by the Australian Federation of International Students (AFIS). According to the association, international students are very upset with the government’s decision to bring changes to the existing skilled occupation list. It believes that the amendments which are included in the list are unfair on the part of international students who have been pursuing Australian education in a hope to obtain status of skilled migrants in the country. The rally organizer further commented that things should remain same as in the existing SOL, and students should be allowed to apply for skilled migration with the existing occupation list.

The organizer of the rally also acknowledged that the Australian government has the right to act for sake of the country and its communities, and make changes accordingly, but it should not be violating the rights of the international students, whose primary objective is to gain knowledge academically. The government has the right to bring changes to its immigration policies, given they do not violate the rights of the international students.

With rising competition and high standards of lifestyle, every student demands nothing but the best education only. Australia is a hub for overseas education and ranks amongst the top priority of every student who wants to study abroad.

Due to the recent changes made by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), students have started facing lots of problems and their strength has dropped since the last few months. DIAC have made certain changes according to which they have cut down hundreds of low level positions from its Skilled Occupation List (SOL). Because of such changes, students who have worked so hard have to face a shortage of jobs.

Another sad part of the story is the rising fees of Australian education which is quite a surprise to the students. Unlike other countries, Australia has always provided low cost education which was one of the chief reasons that students used to opt for this nation.

Let’s see how much a student is required to pay on an average to pursue his studies.

• The average cost of tuition for a beginner in an undergraduate course can be around US$10, 000-16,000 a year.
• For vocational courses, it may cost around AUS$ 5000 to AUS$ 18,000 depending on the course. Although, these charges are lower in comparison to the charges required to pay in the US, but the difference in their pattern of study curriculum makes it more expensive.

For example, the timelines for a similar post graduate study program would be around 2 years in Australia where as in Britain; it would be about a year. But this is not the end of the struggles of overseas students.

New rules and regulations by the Immigration Department for foreign students have further imposed new restrictions on them. They have to deposit a larger amount of money in banks as a proof that they can finance their studies. This booming economy would simply mean higher currency value. Thus, those students coming from developing or underdeveloped nations would have to pay much more. So, the students (especially those who are already studying in Australia) are facing a form of “No Escape Situation” as they would have to pay more. As for those who are intending to study in Australia, it is advisable to seek out other options as well before deciding.

Australia has been in the news recently for various reasons. More is being added to it with the Chinese media warning the Rudd government of the impact that it is going to have on Australian immigration. With the Skilled Migration List that is very limited post the amends brought in, the doors to immigration can be considered as being narrowed to a great extent.

With the new immigration policies in place, the agents in China have literally being taken aback. This industry sector caters to about one-third of the $17 billion magnum opus industry. This is because the students who intend to study in Australia would have financial concerns with the crisis already in place from the Indian students.

Previously, there were four hundred occupations in the Skilled Occupation List which has now been narrowed down to only one hundred and eighty one. The new list would be implemented from 1st July 2010. This change would hamper the students from China studying and those who intend to study in Australia.

According to the latest figures, the number of international students coming to Australia has gone down by 3.3% in the last four months till April. Last year, the figures showed 166, 414 foreign students when compared to only 160, 924 students this year. The trend showed a decline by 3.8% when it came to the vocational sector and 17% in the genre of English language.

Above all, it is of key importance to have an immigration policy that is migrant friendly so that more immigrants come in and contribute to the economy of the nation.

Few days after Australian immigration applied restrictions for the entry of cooks and hair dressers from the Skilled Occupation List of Australia, the restaurant industry in Australia is fuming with anger.

It has become obvious that courtesy the changes, the restaurant industry would feel the shortage of workers in the upcoming times, which indeed would reflect its revenue in future. In addition, other industries which would suffer the burden of this amendment are catering and hospitality business.

It has been believed that the changes are implemented to cater Australia’s need of workers in demand rather than depending upon those applicants who apply for short tem vocational courses and opt them as a back door for permanent residency status. Also, it has been speculated that the amendments in SOL would assist the nation to lure higher caliber Australian work visa applicant.

Also, 219 other occupations are removed, making it highly difficult for the overseas applicants to choose Australia as a prospective destination to get employment. Also, it would become mandatory for the applicants intending to work in Australia to be highly skilled in the left occupations in demand present on the list!

President of ACT Restaurant and Catering Association Fiona Wright thinks that the amendments would hugely impact the local business. She went on to say that the hotel industry is highly dependant on the overseas chefs!

The changes would destroy the industry in a major way, she further elaborated.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans has come out with certain amendments in country’s Skilled Occupation List. Certainly, Australia will become a harder place to immigrate to; especially of you are intending to choose hairdresser, cook or a dance instructor as your occupation in the country. The minister has announced curbing down almost half of the 400 occupations, making the count to as low as 181 occupations!

The amendments mean that overseas applicants planning to apply under the new skilled occupation list would have a hard time getting selected in accordance to their skills and qualification levels. The new list has given more emphasis on medical professionals like dentists, nurses and osteopaths, in addition to other occupations like IT professionals, teachers and engineers, barring out the possibilities for low-value courses like chefs and hairdressers.

The minister has come out with a final “180” highly valued occupations, narrowing the number of applicants coming to Australia and ensuring that the country adopts only those professionals which are required by it.

According to a statement by the minister, the year 2007-2008 saw the involvement of more than 5000 hairdressers and chefs out of the 41,000 visas granted to applicants. He stated that the migration system of the country should not be dominated by the courses studied by overseas people. He said that they want to give emphasis on the overseas education sector but don’t want to automatically accept the applications from chefs and hairdressers.

He said that if our hospitals require nurses, then the priority should be given to the nurses rather than loading the country with thousands of un-sponsored cooks. The new Skilled Occupation List would come into effect from 1st July 2010.

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The recent changes brought by the Immigration program by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenships (DIAC) have not been taken very nicely and is being criticized. As per the new changes, the suspension of the General Migration Visas also includes in it.

According to the critics, all the visa applicants have not been informed in prior enough regarding the changes. Similar incidents took place in last September when the DIAC had brought about certain changes pertaining to the system of priority system. These amendments had greatly affected the old as well as the new applicants. The amends were brought about so fleetly that the individual state governments literally had to work hard to make the sponsored visa applicants understand.

Similar instances have taken place which has made it difficult for the applicants having general skills to obtain a visa and come to Australia. In February, the MODL was removed and the visa applicants were divided based on the date they had applied. Those who had applied before September 2007, their applications would not be processed. Such applicants would get the refund of their application fee. It was said that almost 20,000 applicants were affected because of this amend.

The Australian Government as well as the DIAC have emphasized that they were mainly catering to the Highly Skilled Migrants. This would clearly affect the new Skilled Occupation List which is expected to slowly be the substitute for the CSL. This new Skilled Occupation List could be viewed now and by the middle of this year, it would replace the CSL.

Of late, there are lots of changes happening on the Australian immigration front. The latest is that the Australian government has announced that it is going to halt the acceptance procedure of a few particular General Skilled Migration visa applications. This would be a temporary suspension, where prospective candidates would not be allowed to file a valid application for an affected GSM visa for the period of the suspension.

The suspension period is almost one month, which starts from May 8, 2010 and likely to end at the end of 2009-10 program year that is June 30, 2010. During this period, if anyone files a petition, it would be regarded invalid and probably returned back to the person. The certain subclasses to which the suspension applies include- (1) Subclass 175- Skilled Independent; (2) Subclass 176- Skilled Sponsored; and (3) Subclass 475- Skilled Regional Sponsored. However, it should also be kept in mind that only the primary applicants of the aforementioned subclasses are entitled to the temporary suspension.

The temporary suspension is the result of growing number of pending General Skilled Migration visa applications. This temporary measure will facilitate the immigration department to make sure whether the applicants’ occupational profiles for GSM meet the needs of the Australian labor market or not. The period might also see the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) come into effect. The proposed amendments to the current SOL are likely to be announced by the government in May itself, which is awaiting the approval of the Governor-General in council.