TeeTMI

1.the pro and cons of this visa Numerous, but generally Pro the 457 is generally quicker to obtain, Cons it is temporary if you are looking at permanent residence in the long term and changes can occur 2.Also when you want to apply for permanent residency it says you need to be in full time employment for 12 months and stay in area for 2 years. Do you have to be employed in the same field that you applied for the visa ( Your skills that you was assesed) or can you do any job 4. IF wife works for 12 months can this satisfy the visa condition for 12 months employment for permanent visa application I am not sure where you are getting the 12 months requirement from - I think you may be referring to a visa other than the 457? Whilst on a 457 you can apply for permanent residence at any time you do not need to wait. To apply for a permanent resident the primary applicant - and that could be yourself or your wife - you need to meet the requirements of the permanent visa you apply for.

For the 190 subclass you are looking at the following costs purely for the visa: Primary Applicant $3,520 Secondary Applicants >18 $1,760 Secondary Applicants <18 $880 Which is $7040 - there will then potentially be costs to the sponsoring state - and the migration agents fees. Check you are using a registered migration agent. There is some more info here https://www.mara.gov.au/using-an-agent/working-with-your-agent/what-to-expect-from-your-agent/ there used to be a page which provided average fees, but their site has been updated recently so the link has changed Tee

Just issued by DIBP

Hi Debbie Welcome to the forum. On the subclass 190 your family will be permanent residents and have the same work rights as Australians. Your older children can work / go to college. Tee

Just to confirm - these are the correct current fees Primary Applicant $3,520 Secondary Applicants >18 $1,760 Secondary Applicants <18 $880 For the permanent residence skilled / employer sponsored visas.

So the following: 2613 Software and Applications Programmers 60 7/05/2013 1.18 pm means that invitations were issued to anyone who had submitted an EOI application with more than 60 points (i.e. 65+ points), plus any one who had a "deeming date" up to 7/5/2013 at 1.18pm. Because this is a popular set of occupations DIBP decided rather than the quota for this occupation be used up early that they would operate a pro-rata system across the whole year. This means that the remaining quota of places was spread out equally across the year. It means that applications will be sent out to a set number of applicants on each occasion with the highest points on each selection. How long you would expect to wait will depend upon your points score and the other applicants in the pool that you are competing with on the day of the selection. For example in the most recently published round the following was posted. [TABLE] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]Software and Applications Programmers[/TD] [TD=align: right]60[/TD] [TD=align: right]13/6/2013 6.09 pm [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

The DIBP occupational ceiling quotas are determined and set by DIBP according to their criteria. The individual states and territories decide and set their occupational quotas according to their individual needs relating to demand for the occupation in their state.

The points scores and the visa dates of effect cut-offs for the occupations being issues on a pro-rata basis in the 7 October 2013 invitation round were as follows: Occupation ID Description Points Score Visa date of effect 2331 Chemical and Materials Engineers 70 28/09/2013 12.25 pm 2334 Electronics Engineers 65 11/09/2013 12.54 am 2339 Other Engineering Professionals 70 20/09/2013 12.04 am 2611 ICT Business and Systems Analysts 65 26/08/2013 12.19 am 2613 Software and Applications Programmers 60 7/05/2013 1.18 pm 2633 Telecommunications Engineering Professionals 65 31/08/2013 12.01 am

These visas come under Family Visas, the quota issues / year was halved this year which will slow things further http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/family/other-family-visa-queue.htm "Other Family category from 1285 in the 2012-13 financial year to 585 in the 2013-14 financial year. Most of the 585 Other Family visa places will be allocated to the Carer visa category with fewer places allocated to the Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative visa categories. This reflects the priority that is given to the Carer visa by the Australian Government." "It is currently estimated that lodged Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative visa applications, that have not yet been assessed, are likely to take up to 16 years to be released for final processing (calculated from 1 July 2013)." Tee

As part of your investigation you might want to consider the waiting period relating to the quotas for this visa. If your BIL has other options they might be preferable? Tee

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has changed its name to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP), an official announcement is expected sometime this week. Harder to say as an acronym, and I imagine it will mean new Forms somewhere down the line.

State Sponsorship Changes VIC Changes have been made to the Victorian State Migration Plan September 2013 with some occupations removed and others added. There are also changes to the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) requirements and specialisations for other occupations. ACT Due to high demand, all occupations within ANZSCO 2613 ‘Software and Applications Programmers’ are now closed. This closure will not affect applications recently submitted or verified. Tee

The points scores and the visa dates of effect cut-offs for the occupations being issues on a pro-rata basis in the 2 September 2013 invitation round were as follows: Occupation ID Description Points Score Visa date of effect 2331 Chemical and Materials Engineers 75 5/01/2013 12.50 am 2334 Electronics Engineers 65 5/04/2013 9.50 am 2339 Other Engineering Professionals 75 5/04/2013 9.51 am 2611 ICT Business and Systems Analysts 75 23/08/2013 12.19 pm 2613 Software and Applications Programmers 65 9/08/2013 10.44 pm 2633 Telecommunications Engineering Professionals 75 24/06/2013 12.33 am Tee

Update on the allocation of places to occupations that have reached their quotas/ceilings DIAC state "Half of the remaining places will be allocated for state or territory government nominations and the other half will be allocated for the invitation rounds for Skilled Independent and Skilled Regional (Provisional). These arrangements will commence on 2 September 2013." Tee

You might like to take a look at the current WA list yourself and check that? Assuming Construction Project Manager http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/SKILLEDMIGRATION/Pages/Occupationsindemand.aspx Tee

The off-list has additional selection criteria and are not open to general applicants. The off-list is for international students that studied at a recognised South Australian institutions (plus meet additional criteria length/level of study, and work experience...).

South Australia have updated their list of state funded occupations on the 16th August South Australia (SA) SNOL Tee

A bit more info on the number of places remaining in these occupation groups re this years occupational quota/celings Occupation ID # EOIs waiting / # places remaining 2331 Chemical and Materials Engineers 113 / 179 2334 Electronics Engineers 178 / 256 2339 Other Engineering Professionals 214 / 193 2611 ICT Business and Systems Analysts 691 / 462 2613 Software and Applications Programmers 1546 / 3467 2633 Telecommunications Engineering Professionals 205 / 186

The latest update for the Occupations which reached their ceilings last year is as follows. DIAC have stated that they will be allocating invitations to apply for the following occupation groups on a pro-rata basis across the year. Details can be found at the SkillSelect website, however for the 05 August round of invitations they have allocated invitations as follows: Occupation & Code Points Visa date of effect [TABLE] [TR] [TD]2331[/TD] [TD]Chemical and Materials Engineers[/TD] [TD]65[/TD] [TD] 2013-07-22 23:00:00.310 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2334 [/TD] [TD]Electronics Engineers[/TD] [TD]60[/TD] [TD] 2013-05-26 18:01:16.580 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2339[/TD] [TD]Other Engineering Professionals[/TD] [TD]65 [/TD] [TD] 2013-07-25 07:41:35.940 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2611[/TD] [TD]ICT Business and Systems Analysts[/TD] [TD]65 [/TD] [TD] 2013-07-20 15:30:50.177 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2613[/TD] [TD]Software and Applications Programmers[/TD] [TD]60[/TD] [TD] 2013-05-28 00:00:49.197 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2633[/TD] [TD]Telecommunications Engineering Professionals[/TD] [TD]65 [/TD] [TD] 2013-07-26 00:42:26.267 [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] So if you are looking to submit and expression of interest under one of these occupations think tactically. Tee

Yep, you pay after an invitation when you submit your application. Tee

Hi Guys I hate popping into your thread with what is likely to be bad news for some, but I just thought I would mention the visa application fees will be increasing 1st September - by about 15% by the looks of things. If you are close to submitting and can do so by the 1st it is probably worth lloking into this a bit more and trying to avoid the increases if you can do. http://www.comlaw.go...ils/F2013L01534 Tee

Visa Application Charge Increases 1st September News just coming in that there will be an increase in many visa application charges as of the 1st September 2013! As an example the Skilled Independent basic charge will increase from $3060 to $3520. Primary Applicant $3,520 Secondary Applicant >18 $1,760 Secondary Applicant <18 $880 http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013L01534 This along with the additional applicant fees introduced in August will be a real blow to many would-be visa applicants. Tee

Occupational Ceilings Last year several occupations reached their occupational ceilings early and it appears that this may occur again for the 2013/2014 year. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) have advised that invitations for certain occupational groups in the points-tested migration program will be issued on a pro-rata basis over the 2013/14 program year. They have advised that the states that at the current time they will not be able to nominate any applicants from these occupations for a 190 visa (whether this remains the case is uncertain?). Occupations impacted by this policy change include: ICT Business and Systems Analysts - 2611 Chemical and Materials Engineers - 2331 Electronics Engineers - 2334 Telecommunications Engineering Professionals - 2633 Other Engineering Professional - 2339 Software and Applications Programmers - 2613 DIAC have advised that the total of the occupational ceiling will remain the same but the pro-rata approach will mean that invitations will be staggered and issued to selected individuals over the course of 2013/14 in twice monthly occupation rounds. Tee

Along with the extra consideration given to parents on the SC600, they also bought in a maximum stay of no more than 12 months in any 18 month period.

You can apply for PR at any time you are eligible for one of the available visas. The 2 year transitional route currently requires you to have been working for your sponsoring employer, on a 457 visa, in your nominated occupation for at least 2 years. At the end of that 2 year period your employer must have met their obligations, e.g. training Australians, and be in a position to offer you a permanent employment in order to nominate you for the permanent visa. Both you and your employer must meet the required selection criteria for this pathway. If your aim is to remain in Australia over the long term and you are eligible for PR now then I suggest you give it serious consideration. Tee