Changes to General Skilled Migration program
8 February 2010 —
Minister Evans has today announced significant changes to the General Skilled Migration Program.
Some detail is already on the DIAC website here.
The major changes involve:
- The Migration Occupation in Demand List is abolished as of today, 8 February 2010.
- GSM applications lodged before 1 September 2007 and not finalised will no longer be dealt with and those affected applicants will be given a refund of their visa application fee.
- A new Skilled Occupation List, to replace the MODL and the Critical Skills List will be introduced later in 2010
- There will be a review of the Points Test
- Changes to priority processing [see: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/priority-processing.pdf ]
The Minister will be officially making the announcement at a meeting in Canberra this morning. The MIA has a representative at that meeting and we will provide further details as soon as it becomes available.
PRESS RELEASE: Migration Program still uncertain
The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) congratulates the Minister on a long-overdue overhaul of the migration system, but says yet-to-be-announced policy will have major implications for current and prospective visa applicants.
"We sympathise with the 20,000 people who have had their applications cancelled as they are sure to be disappointed. They do, however, have some measure of certainty, which is something that current international students and those already in the migration pipeline and affected by priority processing don't have" said CEO Maurene Horder.
The MIA sees improvements coming from this new migration process and welcomes a closer matching of skills and employment outcomes. However, the MIA waits with interest to see the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL), due for release in April, and the points test review.
"As long as these details are unknown, current and potential applicants are in the dark about Australia's migration requirements. Applicants still only have vague government information to use when making life-changing decisions."
A range of unregistered agents on and offshore as well as education institutions took advantage of the clear pathway that government had legislated for people who satisfied Australian study requirements.
"It's disappointing that the Minister is trying to use migration agents as a scapegoat when problems with the migration system were actually caused by governments and not by migration agents." said Ms Horder.
The MIA agrees that skilled migration is vital for Australia's future prosperity and urges it to make the immigration process as clear and fair as possible for those wishing to live, work and study in Australia.
