Migration News

24 March 2010

SKILLED VACANCIES ON THE RISE
Skilled job vacancies rose 2.4% in March, compared to February. The skiled vacancies index in March was 11.8% higher than in March 2008, with increases in skilled vacancies recorded in four states, led by Western Australia with a 6.4% rise. Find out more.

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16 March 2010

WA OFF-LIST QUOTA FULL
Western Australia is no longer accepting applications for its Off-list nomination program. DIAC allocated 500 off-list places to Western Australia for the 2009/2010 year and this quota has now been met. A quota of off-list places for the 2010/2011 year is yet to be confirmed, according to the Government of Western Australia's State Migration Centre.

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15 March 2010

PARTNER VISA - RESIDENCY UPDATE
People who apply for partner visa are normally granted a temporary two year visa. After that, if the couple are still together, the partner is granted their permanent visa. This two year period is waived with applicants granted permanent visa straight away if they are in a "long term" relationship. This is defined as a relationship of at least five years or two years if the couple has a biological child together. We’ve been advised that this five year period will be reduced to three years from 27 March 2010.

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10 March 2010

JOBS BOOM IN AUSTRALIA - 1,000 NEW JOBS PER DAY
The jobs market has turned white hot, with newspaper job ads being placed at a rate not seen since the onset of the financial crisis. As many as one in five employers is planning to take on staff as business confidence climbs to an eight-year high. A near-record extra 207,300 jobs have been created since June 2009 at a rate approaching 1000 a day, pushing the unemployment rate down from its peak of 5.8 per cent to 5.3 per cent. Find out more here

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01 March 2010

SKILLED WORKERS NEEDED TO BOOST AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
The Australian government is planning reforms to address increasing skills shortages as the resource boom adds an expected $92 billion to the Australian economy over the next five years. To ensure industry demands can be met, options to boost the labour supply include streamlining of temporary and permanent skilled migration. There are 80 major new projects scheduled to start by 2015 and these projects represent a significant opportunity for skilled migrants. Australia’s unemployment is just over 5% so skilled overseas workers will continue to be in high demand. Read the "Resourcing the Future" Paper

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17 February 2010

SKILLED VACANCIES UP 4% IN TRADES
Australia skilled job vacancies in February were up 1.6 per cent on the earlier month, new data shows. Trades were up 4.0 per cent and associate professionals increased 1.3 per cent. Increases were recorded in advertised vacancies for 12 of the 18 skilled occupations monitored, it said. Increases in skilled vacancies were recorded in most states and territories in February, led by Western Australia with a 5.3 per cent rise. Read the report here

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08 February 2010

MODL LIST REVOKED; SKILLED OCCUPATION LIST BEING REVIEWED
The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced a number of changes to the General Skilled Migration. Some key changes are:

• The MODL (Migration Occupation Demand List) has been removed effective immediately
• The SOL (Skilled Occupation List) is being reviewed, and it is expected that a revised SOL will be announced by 30 April 2010, before coming into effect in mid-2010
• The CSL (Critical Skills List) will cease to exist once the new SOL comes into effect in mid-2010