Permanent Residency In Australia

Australia offers one of the most comprehensive and robust Skilled Migration Programs in the world. While the country also offers many other pathways to permanent residency such as its Business visa program, the Global Talent Initiative, and the Humanitarian visa program which includes partner visas and safe haven visas, the Skilled Migration Program remains its most popular.

Accessing the Skilled Migration Program.

A skilled visa can be loosely defined as a visa option that enables an applicant to seek Permanent Residency using their qualifications and professional skills. To access a skilled visa, applicants must do the following;

Let us inform you what are Skilled Visas.

Skilled Visas are visas that require a Skills Assessment from an Australian Governing body in order to be eligible to apply for. In order to apply for a Skilled visa, you must hold a positive skills assessment from eligible occupation. In order to determine, what an eligible occupation is, you need to familiarize yourself with the eligible occupation lists which have been put forth by the Department of Home Affairs.

1. Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL)

2. the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL)

3. the Regional Occupation List (ROL)

4. the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS)

In order to be eligible for a Skilled Visa, your occupation must be on one of these occupation lists. For further clarification on these occupation lists, you may visit the Department of Home Affairs Website at www.immi.homeaffairs.gov.au.

Once you have a skills assessment from an authorized Australian Governing body for your occupation, you will be eligible for a Skilled Visa, and you will have to lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI) with the Department of Home Affairs as a pending migrant to Australia. Once you are on the EOI lodgement web page, you will have to select which visa that you would like to apply for, depending on your eligibility. Depending on your eligibility, you may have to choose one or more visa categories out of the following;

1. Sub Class 190 – Skilled Nominated Visa

2. Sub Class 189 – Skilled Independent Visa

3. Sub Class 491 – Skilled Work (Provisional) Regional Visa

After you have selected the visa category you are eligible for, you will have to provide the necessary information, such as your scores in the English examination (IELTS, PTE), whether you have relevant industry experience, your education qualifications, etc. (you will not have to upload any document at this stage) to calculate your points. (To check how many points you can claim – https://mjlegal.com.au/immigration) Once, you have provided all the necessary information, you can submit your EOI to the department for evaluation of your provided occupation and points.

Subsequent to the successful submission of your EOI, the department of Home Affairs will evaluate your EOI with other suitable candidates. If you are above par with the other candidates, you shall receive an invitation to apply for your requested visa. Your invitation to apply for a Visa, mainly depend on the points which you claimed on your EOI, and the date of your submission of the EOI. Simply put, if you can claim a higher number of points than the other candidates, and if you can claim it before the other candidates, the chances of you receiving an invitation for a visa will increase drastically.

If you receive an Invitation for SC 189 or SC 190?

At the time you receive an Invitation for SC 189 or SC 190, you should be able to gather all the required documentation to prove your claimed points in your EOI and apply for the Visa within 60 days of your invitation. If you can provide all the required documentation to claim your points, it is highly likely that you shall be granted the Permanent Resident Visa, within the stipulated time frame.

If you receive an Invitation for SC 491?

Once you receive an Invitation from the department to apply for SC 491, you should be able to provide all the documentation and apply for the Visa within 60 days, the same as for SC 189 and SC 190. Once, your application has been evaluated and accepted by the department, you will be granted the provisional 491 Visa for 5 years. Among the many conditions of the SC 491, the main condition of this visa is to live and work in a recognised regional area for the duration of the Visa. Once you have abided with the conditions of the SC 491 Visa for at least 3 years, you shall be eligible to apply for the Permanent Residency in Australia.

We believe that this article has given you some clarity regarding the existing skilled visas and the process around these visas in order to obtain Permanent Residency in Australia. If you want to start your journey towards the Permanent Residency in Australia, our experienced Lawyers will be happy to help you and they will give you clear instructions and a pathway to Permanent Residency in Australia. If you want to contact us, give MJ Legal a call on 0477285789 or visit https://mjlegal.com.au/contact-us.