Australia’s immigration policy has been on the rise in 2020. Many changes in different visa and PR categories made last year very important. Experts say it a year of complex changes un immigration policy to introduction of relaxation in new visa streams.
Introduction of new regional visas, relaxation in visa requirements, changes in points and DAMA program have made 2020 significant for new commers.
Highlights of 2020 immigration policy and changes
- changes in points for PR where more points can be claimed with these achievements
- new regional work visas for subclass 491 and 494 to be in action from November 2019 replacing 2 old subclasses
- introduction of new permanent visa starting from 16 November 2022
- High-skilled visa scheme ‘Global Talent Independent Program
- introduction of Supporting Innovation in South Australia (SISA) – Australia Business Visa
- South Australia’s addition of 174 Occupations for sponsored visas (DAMA Program)
1- Changes in Points for PR and EOI
New points distribution will be as follows:
- 10 points for those having no spouse or de facto partner
- 10 points for having a skilled spouse or de facto partner (previously it was 5)
- 5 points if the spouse has competent English
- The ones with certain STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) qualification will also receive 10 extra points
- the huge benefit will be receiving those having 15 points if they are nominated by a State or Territory government or sponsored by a family member residing in regional Australia
2- New regional work visas for subclass 491 and 494
The Australian government has introduced two regional visas for skilled migrants. The visas are Skilled Work Regional visa, with subclass 491 and Skilled Employer-Sponsored Regional visa with subclass 494. These visas will replace the visa’s subclass 489 and 187 respectively.
“The set-aside quota for these two subclasses is 25,000 seats for each year”. The regional areas include all areas of Australia except Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney.
These visa owners will be available for working and residing in appointed regional areas until they get approval for the permanent residency permit. The skilled workers will have the chance to work and resident in regional areas in Australia for 5 years”
After 3 years of residing, they will be able to apply for a permanent visa and work in appointed Australian areas.
“This type of temporary residency visa is designed for various skilled workers to work, live and study in some Australian designated regional areas together with the families, for up to five years”.
Visa subclass 491 features
There are important key features for Skilled Work Regional visa or subclass 491 to know before applying such as:
- 14000 places each year to be allocated
- over 500 occupations in the shortage occupation list
- 45 years of age limit to apply
- this kind of visa holders will be able to move from one region to another but cannot move to big cities.
“The applicant will be available to require a territory nomination or sponsorship from a qualified family member, who is a resident in regional Australian areas”.
Visa subclass 491 requirements
- You must be under 45 years of age.
- The minimum requirement for the English language is competent (such as 6 band scores of each in IELTS).
- An offer of employment from a regional Australian employer.
- You must provide a valid skills assessment in relation to the occupation for which you are seeking the nomination.
- Some territories also ask for finances to show such as onshore A$20,000 applicants and offshore $30,000 applicants.
- A tertiary or region of Australia must nominate you to apply for a work visa.
Visa subclass 494 requirements
The regional employers of Australia can recruit international professional workers for their businesses. Only those employers can sponsor you who have an agreement with the Australian government.
- You must be under 45 years of age.
- An approved employer must nominate you to apply for this stream.
- The occupation for which you are applying must be from the occupation list.
- You must also hold a skill assessment report.
- The minimum requirement for the English language is competent (such as 6 band scores of each in IELTS).
Visa fees
The application fee for this type of visa is $4045, where the partner fee amount is $2025.
3- Permanent Visa (subclass 191) from November 2022 for Regional Skilled Visa holders
Immigration Authorities Australia has been emphasizing regional migration in Australia. But the main concern in the mind of applicants has always been if they would be able to get PR after residing in such regional areas. Good news, yes it will be surely possible.
A new permanent visa (subclass 191) will be introduced from 16 November 2022 for the holders of regional skilled visas holders from subclass 491 and 494. As confirmed by immigration minister Mr. David Coleman,
“The new subclass 191 visa replicates many existing general requirements for permanent residence, and most other visas, including security, health and character requirements.”
They need to achieve a minimum taxable income of $53900 per year for 3 years. From the16th of November 2022, the PR path will be available thanks to visa ‘subclass 191’. They will also have to show that they have complied with the condition of their regional skilled visas. Of course, they must also hold a valid regional provisional visa at the time of applying for a permanent visa.
4- High-skilled visa scheme ‘Global Talent Independent Program
“Through this new fast-track PR system, initially 5,000 highly talented workers and professionals will be recruited from across the globe. The first time ever in history, the designated officers of ‘Home Affairs Australia’ will on one help applicants to apply for the programs”.
“With this program, we are targeting the world’s most highly skilled migrants”, Mr. Coleman said.
The quota of this new visa program is included in the overall cap of 160,000 under the 70,000 cap of skilled migration. The new residents will be able to live and work anywhere in Australia.
How does the program work?
This new PR program works in a unique and different way. In order to be successful, one will have to go through the following:
1- Be a professional from one of these sectors;
| FinTech |
| AgTech |
| MedTech |
| Cyber Security |
| Quantum Information/Advanced Digital/ Data Science and ICT. |
| Space and Advanced Manufacturing |
| Energy and Mining Technology |
2- Is able and likely to earn more than $149,000 (minimum threshold) salary annually.
3- Has a referral from any of the following;
- a Global Talent designated officer
- an organization or an individual with a national reputation in the same field as the candidate
How to find a designated Global talent officer in your region?
Currently, Global Talent officers have been appointed in Berlin, Washington DC, Singapore, Shanghai, Santiago, New Delhi, and Dubai.
How to apply for Visa/PR?
Once all the above-mentioned requirements are done, you will be able to apply for permanent residency in Australia through a different process.
After having a referral from the designated bodies, you will be able to apply under the ‘Distinguished Talent Visa’ stream through subclass 124 or subclass 858. Both the referee and the visa applicant will use the same portal” Global Talent Form“ for referring or applying for PR respectively.
How much does this program cost?
Applying for the visa under subclass 124 or subclass 858 will cost you from AUD4,110 alone for visa processing fees. The usual expenses such as for character certificate and medical examination are not included.
Processing timings
There are no set aside processing timings for this new visa stream, but applications will receive the highest priority processing. Highly skilled migrants in selected industries will receive a fast-tracked process to permanent residency in Australia.
What can you do in Australia on this visa?
This permanent visa program allows you to:
- work and study in Australia
- stay in Australia permanently
- sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence in Australia
- if eligible, apply for an Australian citizen
5- Supporting Innovation in South Australia (SISA) – Australia Business Visa
South Australia started this stream for entrepreneurialism and innovation. This program will be run over three years, commencing in November 2018 and ending in November 2021. This is a temporary activity visa with subclass 408.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
There are many certain requirements for example basic documentation to language skills and endorsements to applying, but generally are as follows:
- You are under 45 years of age
- You have an innovative idea to start a new business in South Australia
- You meet all good health requirements
- Hold good command of English at a vocational level
- Be endorsed by a South Australian Government entity (Department for Trade, Tourism, and Investment)
- You have sufficient funds to support you and your family
PROCESSING TIMINGS
It really depends on you that which type of documents you provide to immigration authority for application. But in general, for a letter of endorsements, it is either
option 1: Service Provider – 8 weeks or option 2: Office of the Chief Entrepreneur – 12 weeks.
For getting a visa, the Department of Home Affairs has its own processing timings that may from 2 months to 6 months.
ENDORSEMENT PROCESS REQUIREMENTS
It is a must to get endorsed by the South Australian government first to get this business visa. There are many important requirements, which you will have to fulfill in order to get success:
Age
You must be under 45 years of age. Do take in mind the timings of the process as till the final endorsement and visa grant you must not be exceeding this age limit.
Commitment to South Australia
You will have to show commitment to South Australia as the main purpose of this program is to increase economic activities in this region. Being a part of innovative business culture, you will have to make sure to reside on a primary basis in South Australia.
English Language
You must show a certain level of English language abilities. Currently minimum at the vocational level. You may submit this with any of the following tests:
| IELTS | International English Language Test System (Academic or General) |
| OET | Occupational English Test (For Health Professionals only) |
| PTE Academic | Pearson Test of English Academic |
| TOEFL iBT | Test of English as a Foreign Language, internet Based Test |
| CAE | Cambridge English: Advanced |
Do remember to present a minimum result of ‘Vocational Level’ that is with the following scores in all above-mentioned tests:
| English Language proficiency level | IELTS | TOEFL iBT | PTE Academic | OET | Cambridge (CAE) |
| Vocational | 5.0 | Listening & Reading 4.0 Writing & Speaking 14 |
36 | B | 154 |
There are exemptions for English language requirements. Passport holders and citizens of the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, United States of America, or the Republic of Ireland are exempt from providing an English test result.
Funds
You must show that you have enough money for settlement in South Australia either for alone yourself or with your family as a whole. You need to show funds in the form of cash and assets a kind of combination. In late stages, you will have to show their proofs too that you have kept money in your personal bank account and have full access to it any time. Following are the main requirements as per the latest rules:
| Family composition | Offshore Applicant: Combined cash & assets requirement |
Onshore Applicant: Combined cash & assets requirement |
| The main applicant only | Total figure between AUD $ 20,000 – 25,000 | Total figure between AUD $5,000 – 10,000 |
| Main applicant plus one (1) dependent | Total figure between AUD $25,000- 30,000 | Total figure between AUD $ 10,000 – 15,000 |
| Main applicant plus two (2) dependents | Total figure between AUD $30,000 – 35,000 | Total figure between AUD $15,000 – 20,000 |
| Main applicant plus three (3) dependents | Total figure between AUD $35,000 – 40,000 | Total figure between AUD $20,000 – 25,000 |
Where offshore refers to the term as an international applicant.
Innovative Business Concept or Proposal
In order to get endorsement success, you must be able to demonstrate that you have an excellent innovative idea or business proposal. Additionally, your business concept demonstrates a clear, competitive advantage, genuine innovation, novel intellectual property or high barriers to entry. Your project must be able to create new jobs in South Australia alongside generating good revenue. One really important thing not to forget is that your project will have at least 50% of its assets and at least 50% of your staff located in South Australia during the period of your Temporary Activity (subclass 408) visa.
Ideal Sectors of Business
There are following priority-based sectors in which your ideas will be more than accepted and applauded. However, you may bring in addition you other ideas too:
- Defence and Space
- Cyber Security, Big Data, Digital and Blockchain
- Food, AgTech
- Health and Medical Technology
- Robotics
- Media and Film
Ineligible Sectors
This stream is not open to all types of business concepts. Following are the ideas of businesses which cannot be taken into account while applying for this category 408:
- Cafés and restaurants
- Consulting firms/companies
- Employment agencies
- Export/import businesses/companies
- Franchises
- Foot reflexology
- Massage parlors
- Acupuncture
- Traditional Chinese medicine
- Herbal dispensing businesses
- Geomancy/Fengshui business
- Retail
HOW TO APPLY
Here it comes the most important factor of your application process. You will come to know now how to apply for this visa. The success of this visa is divided into to parts:
- You must meet the requirements of the South Australia Government
- You meet all requirements of the Department of Home Affairs
As a first step, you need to get an endorsement from the Government of South Australia that you are eligible of this visa stream subclass 408. There is two assessment option that you can choose yourself for endorsement:
- South Australian innovation eco-system service providers; or
- The Office of the Chief Entrepreneur.
Don’t forget that priority will be given to the applicants coming through South Australian innovation eco-system service providers.
APPLICATION PROCESS
I will here breakdown the application process into different steps so that you will be able to understand it better;
Step 1. You must create an online account on the Immigration South Australia website by filling in your personal details. Do not forget that you must have these all documents at the time of applying online:
- Your personal passport
- Your English test result such as IELTS
- Financial details of the funds you have available for settlement in South Australia.
- Full details about your business concept, idea or project proposal (see document checklist below for questions asked in the online application form).
Step 2. You will have two choose one of these two options to proceed forward:
Option one. South Australian innovation eco-system service providers (priority option)
Option two. The Office of the Chief Entrepreneur
Step 3. By selecting option one, you may choose to send an initial email directly to the service provider.
- here you have a benefit, you can straight away send an email the provider to briefly explain your business concept and ask if they would be willing to accept and support your business concept/application from you
- Once you have received a positive email response from the service provider, go to Step 4.
If you have chosen option two, you can read further info in step 4.
Step 4. From here on, go to the South Australia website to apply for your desired option. They will forward your application to the relevant authority of your choice.
Step 5. Immigration South Australia will notify you about the decision. You will find the decision option in the ‘My Applications’ tab. After getting a successful endorsement, you will have 60 days to apply to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Step 6. Now you are able to lodge your visa application as you have got an endorsement from the Government of South Australia. So apply now within 60 days with the Department of Home Affairs:
- Apply under the Australian Government Endorsed Event stream
- Include a copy of the Letter of Endorsement from the Department for Trade, Tourism, and Investment (Immigration SA).
APPLICATION CHECKLIST
You can download (click to download) here the main checklist for this visa application.
LIST OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INNOVATION ECO-SYSTEM PROVIDERS
If you are applying for a priority option that is applying for endorsement through eco-system providers, then you may email them for your business innovative idea and proposal. Here is the list to contact them:
Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC)
OPTION ONE-KEY STEPS FOR APPLYING THROUGH PRIORITY BASED ECO-SYSTEM PROVIDERS
- For getting an endorsement from Immigration South Australia, you must be having support from Eco-System providers. As their support will help you get the endorsement from the South Australian government.
- Before submitting an application, go through the websites of the above-mentioned eco-system service providers. Choose a provider for you to help you through the process.
- Once you have selected the service provider, you can directly email them about your innovative business idea and business proposal. If they think it is good enough, they can decide to support you and will directly contact you for this purpose.
- Then submit your online application to South Australia Immigration, and then they will forward your business concept or idea or proposal to your chosen service provider.
- The service provider may take up to 8 weeks to decide on your proposal.
- If the service provider thinks that your proposal is good enough to be supported, it will inform SA immigration authority about it.
- After having an OK report from your chosen service provider, the SA government will provide you with a letter of endorsement.
- This letter is valid only for 60 days after the date of issuance. You will have to apply to the Department of Home Affairs in these 60 days for a visa for subclass 408.
- It is strictly advised to apply only when you have this letter of endorsement by the SA government for participating in the SISA subclass 408 visa category. Otherwise, your application will be rejected straight away and you will lose all visa fees paid.
- The Department of Home Affairs then process your visa application, if deems good enough to be given a visa, you and your South Australian government will be provided information about it.
OPTION 2. THROUGH OFFICE OF CHIEF ENTREPRENEUR
- You cannot directly contact the office of a chief entrepreneur. You will apply to the government of South Australia online and then they will forward your application to the office of a chief entrepreneur.
- Assessment in the office of chief entrepreneur office is done quarterly. If your proposal seems good enough to be accepted, the office will inform the government of Australia that it is ready to sponsor your proposal.
- And then the same process is applied as in option one. SA government will provide you with a letter of endorsement. This letter is valid only for 60 days after the date of issuance. You will have to apply to the Department of Home Affairs in these 60 days for a visa for subclass 408. The Department of Home Affairs then process your visa application, if deems good enough to be given a visa, you and your South Australian government will be provided information about it.
THINGS NOT TO FORGET
- It is highly advised to read all information, application terms and conditions, eligibility criteria and requirements and the document checklist before applying and preparing your documents.
- You must be able to upload all supporting documentation in your online application. On the other hand, documents sent or emailed separately from your online application will not be accepted, unless requested by Immigration SA.
- Don’t forget that your uploaded documents must be scanned copies of originals.
- You must provide all documents in English. If not, then provide the official attested English translated documents.
- Upload only required documents as non-essential documents would be deleted and not be taken into consideration.
6- South Australia’s addition of 174 Occupations for sponsored visas (DAMA Program)
The South Australian government has made an agreement with the federal government for the “Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA)”. The new sponsored visa program has been started to cover the shortage of skilled workers in these designated areas of South Australia.
The new sponsored visa program will work under the “temporary shortage skill visa program (subclass 482)” and will also allow applicants to get the permanent residency afterward.
“in a range of selected positions, concessions have been offered for salary, English language proficiency, skills and experience and age factors to entertain permanent residency”.
South Australia has divided this new DAMA in two areas; Adelaide Metropolitan region with 60 occupations and South Australian Regional Workforce Agreement with 114 occupations. Both have different occupation lists and requirements with newly announced concessions.
DAMA will help employers to recruit overseas workers for their businesses with more flexible requirements than are available via the standard skill visa program.
“This new “Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA)” is expected to start in November 2019″.
1- Adelaide Innovation and Technology Agreement
This agreement offers a total of 60 occupations including Web Designer, Quality Assurance Manager, Metal Fabricator, Illustrator, Welder (First Class) and many others to support high-tech growth industries. This applies to only the Metropolitan region of Adelaide. Concessions have also been offered with the possibility of getting a permanent residency by staying in South Australia for a specified time period on a temporary visa. Age relaxation will also be given for PR, mostly under 55 and 50 years of age level for different occupation categories.
All occupations included in this category give a pathway for permanent residency.
2- South Australian Regional Workforce Agreement
Almost double occupations have been approved for the South Australian Regional Workforce Agreement including health and care, hospitality and tourism, agriculture, nursing and many other occupations with a total number of 114. Applicants under the age of 50 would be able to apply for this program under standard “temporary shortage skill visa program (subclass 482)”. This category covers the whole state of South Australia.
Many concessions (for each job, different concessions apply) have been offered for this category for different jobs such as:
- Skill assessment concession
- Age concession to apply for permanent residency
- Up to 10% decrease in Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold
- English language concession with 4.5 band score (no less than 4.0) in each module
DAMA is an employer-driven program and applicants cannot apply for a visa on their own. First, the job offer is a must and then the employer will apply for further procedure with the South Australian government.