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.

For more information, consult an expert Immigration expert by your side. To check the new skilled occupation list Australia.