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Despite a flurry of news reports suggesting Australia and New Zealand may consider a merger, New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key has dismissed the idea saying is not the answer to New Zealand’s problems.

Former Commonwealth Secretary-General and New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Don McKinnon disagrees and believes a merger with Australia is inevitable and driven by people, rather than politically motivated.

“It’s a debate that’s going to go on, but no political leader in New Zealand is going to win an election advocating this issue,” he said. Continue Reading

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Jason Cameron, one of the Registered Migration Agents who regularly contributes in our forums recently posted a link to the new Skills Occupation List stating : Anyone interested in future skilled occupation list mid this year can gain some insight into the occupations that Skills Australia are proposing/considering. You can find the draft list on page 87 of the following link.

Philip Bullock, chair of Skills Australia introduces the document as part of ‘a National Workforce Development Strategy for Australia, stating the objective to sustain economic growth, avoid future skills shortages and raise productivity by increasing and deepening the skills of Australia’s workforce.

You can read the full document by clicking on the following link: New Skilled Occupations List 2010

The new SOL got a mixed result within our forums and we’d be interested to get your own views by posting a comment below.

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From 12 March 2010, all applicants applying for either a Skilled—Regional Sponsored (subclass 487) visa, Skilled—Independent (subclass 885) visa or Skilled—Sponsored (subclass 886) visa will be able to use an existing suitable skills assessment to lodge a valid visa application.

This will allow applicants nominating a trade occupation for the above visa subclasses to provide a skills assessment pre-dating 1 January 2010 and is in line with the minister’s announcement on 8 February 2010.

This change should alleviate the concerns of international students and stakeholders regarding the amendments introduced on 1 January 2010. These amendments required onshore General Skilled Migration applicants who nominated a trade occupation to provide a skills assessment dated on or after 1 January 2010 to make a valid application. Continue Reading

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The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) updated the Critical Skills List this weekend with many computer professionals breathing a huge sigh of relief!

When the DIAC announced changes to the Australian immigration procedures on the 8th February, the Migration Occupations in Demand List became defunct. This left many people with occupations previously in the MODL in the dark about their chances of a successful Australian visa application.

Computer professionals had to have an occupation listed in the MODL in order to qualify for the CSL. With the MODL gone this was now impossible to achieve. Thankfully for many of these IT professionals, their quandary is now over as the CSL includes many computing occupations on the list. Continue Reading

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Almost 90 per cent of temporary skilled migrants who were granted Subclass 457 visas in 2009-10 to date are managers and professional workers, new figures show.

The average total salary package for all new Australian temporary skilled migrant workers is almost $100,000 – an increase of $10,000 on the same time last year.

The highest paid workers on a Subclass 457 Australia visa were in the mining industry, with an average total remuneration of $169,000, followed by the financial and insurance services sector at $127,600.

Temporary skilled overseas workers in Western Australia were the highest paid with an average total remuneration of $114 800, followed by New South Wales ($101,100), Queensland ($97,900), Victoria ($94,200), Tasmania ($94,100), Northern Territory ($85,500), ACT ($83,600) and South Australia ($81,700). Continue Reading

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As a result of the recent General Skilled Migration (GSM) changes we wrote about on the 8th of February, a review of the GSM Points Test is to be undertaken in the first half of 2010 and a discussion paper will be placed on the department’s website for public comment until 12 March 2010.

The discussion paper has now been published and an excerpt of the paper is provided below:

The review of the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Points Test is part of a comprehensive reform of the skilled migration program. The Government has agreed on the following important principles which should underpin a new Points Test: Continue Reading

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The Australian Minister for Immigration yesterday announced significant changes to the General Skilled Migration (GSM) program.

Changes include:

• Cap and Cease of offshore GSM applications lodged before 1 September 2007
• A new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) to come into effect in mid 2010
• Abolition of the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)
• Revocation of Critical Skills List (CSL) from mid 2010
• Changes to Processing Priorities and introduction of new State Sponsorship arrangements
• Pre 1 Jan 2010 Trade Skills Assessments will be accepted by DIAC from 1st Quarter 2010

Many of these changes have transitional provisions to ensure that the impact on international students studying in Australia are minimised. Continue Reading

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Today, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced a number of changes to the General Skilled Migration program.

 Let’s look at the key changes. We’ll cover these changes in more detail further on in this article.

• Offshore General Skilled Migration Visa Applications made before the 1^st September 2007 will be capped and then ceased.
• The current Critical Skills List (CSL) will be revoked and will be replaced by a new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) effective from the middle of 2010.
• The current Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) will be revoked and replaced with the same (and more targeted) Skilled Occupations List.
• The General Skilled Migration (GSM) Points Test will be reviewed to evaluate the effectiveness of the current test.
• New priority processing arrangements will be introduced for certain skilled migration visas.

Quite a lot to take in huh? We’ll try to break down the changes into a little more detail and as always, if you get stuck or have any further questions then feel free to pop into our forums. Continue Reading

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Further information on the requirements for the TRA job ready program has become available. The job ready program applies to people living in Australia who wish to apply for skills assessment in a trade occupation.

Stage 1: Provisional Skills Assessment

The provisional skills assessment requires applicants to show 6 months of work experience, 6 minimum in IELTS and an Australian Certificate III qualification.The following clarifications have been made by TRA:

• You must have worked for the equivalent of 2 days per week over a 6-month period.
• Work can be counted if it is part of the course – for example an industry placement – providing it is in a commercial environment rather than work on the premises of an educational institution.
• Overseas work experience cannot count – the work must be in an Australian workplace Continue Reading

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This article describes the evidence required for making a successful Australian spouse visa application as well as several other useful tips and hints on how to select the best professional adviser.

1. SPOUSE VISAS ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO OBTAIN UNLESS YOU HAVE A JOINT BANK ACCOUNT OR LEASE

Not true as many couples do not have these important documents but still succeed. We can show you how to compensate with other even better evidentiary documents from yourselves, friends and family. Continue Reading

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Skilled Independent Migration Visa is one of the categories within the General Skilled Migration or Skilled Visa group which can be applied for both on-shore or from within Australia or off-shore or applicant is not in Australia.

The General Skilled Migration caters to those who are not sponsored by an employer and the applicant applies on the strength of his own qualification in this type of visa.

Generally, the applicant must have skills and qualifications for an occupation listed on Australia’s Skilled Occupation List (SOL), must be over 18 and under 45 years of age, with good English language ability, and recent skilled work experience or a recently completed eligible Australian qualification, among others. Continue Reading

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Pension Transfers are not the most exciting part of emigrating to Australia, it certainly won’t have you jumping for joy like when you finally get you visa in your hand, but when you realise that what you could save on tax by having correct, timely advise could be more than all your other emigration costs put together you’ll realise it’s time to think very seriously about making the most of transferring your UK pension to Australia.

Darion Pohl, a pension transfer specialist and director of Prism Xpat, revealed to me 7 common pitfalls that many UK migrants make when considering transferring their UK pension to Australia.

I must point out that any tips and information in this article is general in nature, is information only and should not in anyway be construed as being financial advice. Each person’s financial situation will be different and you should seek professional advice from a cross border pensions specialist to determine the best way to act. Continue Reading

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The welcoming country down under beckons you to check out vast landscapes, rugged mountains, pleasant, sunny climate and rich culture. Australia definitely has the best ingredients to make a comfortable and convenient life. Perhaps these are some of the reasons it has remained a favorite tourist destination.

The wonders in this country have just lured many visitors from different nations. However, while visiting for a great vacation is a good option for a million people or so each year, emigrating to Australia is a wise choice for hundreds of thousands of migrants. Immigration is no surprising thing. It has been happening for a long time.

Australia is one of the least heavily populated countries. People actually get much relief after seeing crowded streets and overpopulated cities elsewhere. Continue Reading

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There are plenty of people wondering whether to emigrate to Australia. The lure of a new life with higher living standards and better prospects for your children has always been a big draw for new migrants. But as someone who decided successfully to emigrate to Australia from the UK, what really motivated me was to hear the stories of those who had gone before me. So, this article is the first in a series in which I will be telling how it was for me, why I made the move and what sort of experiences I had along the way.

Unlike what many people say it was less the push of the old country rather than the draw of the new one that made me emigrate to Australia. In other words I found the attractions of Australia more compelling than the reasons to stay behind. Having already spent two long holidays in Australia I was fairly confident of what to expect. Continue Reading

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If you’re emigrating to Australia from the UK you’ll probably be worried about getting your visa, passing the medicals, figuring out where to live and getting a job. Rightfully so, but there’s one step that far too many Brits think about too late or even worse, not at all and this could be costing them Tens of Thousands of pounds!

Pensions are not the most thing to talk about but I was lucky enough to talk to Darion Pohl of Prism Xpat. Darion has many years and countless qualification in the area of UK to Australia pension transfers and he made the whole area interesting and understandable and when he talked about the huge amount of money that many Brits emigrating to Australia can save is they make the right financial decisions then I became really excited!

He revealed to me 10 essential tips that every Brit planning to emigrate to Oz should seriously consider. Continue Reading

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Many people proceed with shipping to Australia their belongings unaware that they will be subject to some of the strictest customs and quarantine regulations in the world. The majority of immigrants to Australia place the responsibility of shipping their possessions squarely on the shoulders of the shipping company they hire.

Some will do their research and are interested to know for themselves all the latest regulations that can affect the shipment of their belongings. In any case, your items must be cleared by customs and quarantine before you can take possession of them, so it is good to have an idea of what you are dealing with.

Australia is known for having some of the tightest quarantine restrictions in the world, and they have a good reason for this. Since Australia is actually a secluded continent, it has been spared from many of the pests and diseases that affect animals and plants throughout the rest of the world. Its isolation acts as a natural barrier against invading pests and diseases. Continue Reading

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