SkillSelect – the New Australia Migration Policy | Australia Visa Immigration Information

SkillSelect – the New Australia Migration Policy

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July 5, 2011 – The Australian Government has made recent major reforms on its Australia migration visa policies.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has decided on a major reform in the way Australia selects skilled migrants that is set to undergo a reform in the middle of next year, the Skilled Migrant Selection Register (SkillSelect).

Under the SkillSelect, prospective visas for Australia applicants will undergo two-stage visas to Australia application process, in which the visa applicant is required to submit an online “Electronic Expression of Interest” (EOI) form in order to register their interest in applying for a skilled visas Australian. Then, based on the submitted EOIs, selected prospective applicants would be invited to lodge a visa application.
The new system in selecting skilled migrant workers is designed to ensure a match between the number of applicants and the number of available program places and, thus, target the best and brightest skilled migrants that are ideally suited to the current labor demands in Australia as well as streamlined visa processing times.
Set to commence on 1 July 2012, SkillSelect is said to benefit the local labor market as it has the ability to address regional skill shortages.
The Government hopes that this new form of online Australian visa application process will help the state and territory governments to make the most of the benefit derived from their state and territory Migration Plans as well as assist in the resolution of skills shortages by identifying quickly and easily prospective workers with the requisite skills and attributes; thus, reducing advertising and recruitment costs to businesses.
Currently, new applicants for independent, family or state/territory sponsored migration is required to submit an EOI and be issued with an invitation before lodging a visa application, unless eligible for transitional arrangements. The first round of invitations is expected to occur in January 2013.