SkillSelect Update February 2015
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By Mark Webster
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
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The Department of Immigration has released a report on the 13 February SkillSelect invitation round. Prospective applicants for General Skilled Migration can gain useful insights from the latest statistics.
Required Points Score and Waiting Time for Invitation
Applicants with 60 points who lodged EOIs on 29 January received invitations on 13 February. This means that the waiting time was about 2 weeks for an EOI invitation.
We suspect that a large number of EOIs were lodged between December 2014 and March 2015, which means that the waiting time may be significantly more than 2 weeks for rounds after 13 February.
The increased demand for EOI invitations can be seen in the breakdown of invitations issued by points score. Most people invited had a score of 65 or above:
ICT Business and Systems Analysts - Ceiling Reached
The occupational ceiling for ICT Business and Systems Analysts (ANZSCO 2611) has now been reached. As a result, invitations will not be issued in this occupational group for
Skilled Independent Subclass 189 visas or
Skilled Regional Sponsored Provisional Subclass 489 - family sponsored until the new migration program opens on 1 July 2015.
Looking at the report for 13 February, the minimum points score required for this occupational group was 65.
Good News for Family Sponsored 489 Applicants
In prior invitation rounds, only a very small number of invitations were issued to 489 applicants sponsored by a family member. As a result, the required score for invitation was 65 or higher and the waiting time 6 months or more even with a score of 65.
This has changed significantly in the 13 February round. 500 invitations were issued for family sponsored 489 applicants, increased from 100 in the previous round and only 10 which were issued in the July 2014 rounds.
Minimum score for invitation was 60 and the waiting time was approximately 10 months for applicants with 60 points. Applicants with a score of 65 can expect to be invited in the next invitation round.
Family sponsorship adds 10 points to your points score. Your family member would need to be an Australian permanent resident or citizen living in a
designated area, and you will need to have a skills assessment in an
SOL occupation to be able to apply.
Update on Occupational Ceilings
Occupational ceilings are close to being reached for Accountants and Software and Applications Programmers. Invitations for these occupational groups are being allocated on a pro rata basis until 1 July 2015.
However, people in these occupations were issued invitations with a score of 60 points in the 13 February round, and the waiting time was not excessive, with some applicants who lodged an EOI on 29 January being invited.
Below is a summary of the current status of Occupational Ceilings. Apart from the above mentioned occupations, no other occupational ceiling is likely to be met in the current program.
| ANZSCO | Occupational Group | Annual Ceiling | Invitations Issued | % Used |
| 2611 | ICT Business and Systems Analysts | 1,620 | 1,620 | 100.0% |
| 2613 | Software and Applications Programmers | 5,005 | 3,999 | 79.9% |
| 2211 | Accountants | 5,478 | 4,290 | 78.3% |
| 2339 | Other Engineering Professionals | 1,000 | 602 | 60.2% |
| 2335 | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 1,680 | 954 | 56.8% |
| 2631 | Computer Network Professionals | 1,788 | 999 | 55.9% |
| 2212 | Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers | 1,188 | 548 | 46.1% |
| 2539 | Other Medical Practitioners | 1,000 | 413 | 41.3% |
| 2334 | Electronics Engineers | 1,000 | 391 | 39.1% |
| 2633 | Telecommunications Engineering Professionals | 1,000 | 346 | 34.6% |
| 2331 | Chemical and Materials Engineers | 1,000 | 275 | 27.5% |
| 2332 | Civil Engineering Professionals | 2,850 | 781 | 27.4% |
| 2333 | Electrical Engineers | 1,332 | 283 | 21.2% |
| 2523 | Dental Practitioners | 1,000 | 194 | 19.4% |
| 2321 | Architects and Landscape Architects | 1,476 | 203 | 13.8% |
| 2544 | Registered Nurses | 15,042 | 1,930 | 12.8% |
Conclusion
General Skilled Migration is a technically complex area. Understanding how SkillSelect works and how to maximise your chances of receiving an invitation is absolutely critical to success.
If you would like our assistance in applying for General Skilled Migration through SkillSelect, please
book a consultation with one of our experienced advisors.
References
