Recognised By: THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA & PREMIER/GOVERNER & CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF POLICE OF VICTORIA Victoria's first Melbourne Monthly Newspaper since October 1993

Immigration

08/11/09 | Return | Print |

The new immigration processing priorities

With effect from 23 September, the Immigration Minister announced a new set of processing priorities for dealing with skilled migration applications which has thrown many people into a state of panic. Details can be found at the Immigration Department’s website, but essentially the position for permanent visa applications is that top priority will be given to applicants nominated by employers pursuant to the Employer Nomination Scheme or Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme. Second priority goes to those whose skills are on the Critical Skills List (which is a quite short list). Then come those who are nominated by a State or Territory government, those whose occupations are on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) and those who are sponsored by a family member. Other applications will be processed in the order in which they are received.

Applications for Skilled Graduate visas will be processed with priority given to those who have completed a PhD in Australia, followed by those with an occupation on the Critical Skills List, followed by those with Masters or Bachelor degrees, and, again, finally all other applications in order of date of lodgment.

Applications which have already been received but not yet finalized are also subject to these priorities, and therefore will be delayed beyond what applicants might otherwise have expected.

The Department has estimated that applications which are not in one of the priority categories will take at least 2 years if the applicant is onshore, or at least 3 years if the applicant is offshore.

The Department states rather bluntly, in effect, that if offshore applicants don’t like it and are not eligible for some other kind of visa, then they just have to lump it or else withdraw the application and go home. Withdrawing the application, however, will not result in any refund. Onshore applicants, however, can normally wait in Australia until the granting of the visa, and are normally allowed to work while waiting. The problem as I understand it, however, is that employers are often unwilling to give jobs to people who do not have permanent residence or at least temporary residence.

The Department also points out that it is no use writing and requesting special treatment for your application. I would endorse this. It is absolutely futile to do so, and in fact it is counterproductive, because if Immigration officers have to spend time answering such requests and complaints, they will have less time to get on with the job of processing applications. As a migration agent I would also say, don’t keep bugging your migration agent with repeated questions about what is happening to your application. Migration agents have no more power than anybody else to speed up processing.

The current situation is not likely to last indefinitely. But nobody can say for how long it will be in place. In the meantime, the best bet will be to see if you are eligible for some other kind of visa, such as employer sponsorship or State/Territory sponsorship. This may mean making a second application.