With The Pandemic Going On, Will Australia Stop Accepting Permanent Visa Applicants?

Just to keep you informed that Australia’s financial year falls between 1st of July to 30th of June the following year and a new fiscal year means changes will be applied to the next financial year, i.e. 2020-2021 regarding Australia’s migration policy and intake numbers for certain visa categories.

Now that the world is experiencing pandemic, will Australia stop accepting permanent visa applicants, especially from the Philippines?

The answer is a resounding, NO.

As a matter of fact, Australia is looking for migrants to fill their skill shortages.

However, Australia is currently prioritizing onshore applicants to for health reasons and offshore applicants are experiencing some delay with visa application processes.

Is it the best time for Filipino professional migrants to start their SkillSelect visa application?

The answer is a resounding, Yes.

Filipino professionals can take advantage of this period to start the process, especially in preparing the documents, information and populating the many forms required and of course, reviewing for their English exam – which RESPALL Migration Australia is renowned for achieving positive results for their clients in the past 21 years.

But are there any changes now?

The Department of Education, Skills and Employment, is responsible for regularly reviewing the skilled migration occupation lists. These lists are the employer-sponsored, points-tested, state-nominated, and training visa programs.

Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the List of Eligible Occupations remains unchanged.

However, not only the skills shortage might change but also the states and territories’ policies.

The Australian Government has not yet allocated nomination quotas to the states and territories for the 2020 to 2021 program year.

1. Australian Capital Territory is currently open for nomination; however, the number of invites has decreased from 485 to 8
2. Northern Territory remains closed to offshore applicants and there is no indication when the new criteria will be released.
3. Victoria will announce when they will start to accept new applications for Skilled Nominated (Permanent) visa (subclass 190) and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491).
4. New South Wales has opened their Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) applications but closed last 26th of June 2020; and is only applicable for onshore applicants.
5. Queensland is also closed for nomination and is waiting for the allocation of migrants for this financial year.
6. South Australia will be opening on August but no specific date has been released yet.
7. Western Australia made changes from their list last 16th of June 2020 which prioritized Medical Practitioners.
8. Tasmania nomination remains open but will announce the new criteria once quotas have been allocated.

The latest update of the SkillSelect invitation round for Skilled Independent (Permanent) visa (subclass 189) and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) – Family Sponsored was last April 2020.

Total of invited applicants from May and June invitation has not been released and occupation ceiling has not been updated.

This does not mean that you cannot commence and continue your visa application but rather use this quite period to your advantage as ‘there has never been a better time to migrate permanently to Australia from the Philippines as a Skilled migrant than NOW!

Thank you and if you require more detailed SkillSelect Visa information, understand the cost and fees involved and ‘attain a written prospect of success’ from RESPALL Migration Australia then we suggest you sign up and upload your UPDATED RESUME. MABUHAY!