There was a number of news from Australian states and regional authorities about their visa nomination schemes over the last month, with a number of changes.

The Government authorities have also been working through how to manage the upcoming closure of the 489 program Victoria The Victorian government is due to launch their new online portal on Monday 29 July and has changed the process from actively issuing invitations based on a lodged EOI, to allowing applicants to lodge an application for nomination with the state directly. New South Wales NSW introduced an online system to show the availability of occupations for nomination. This only gives an indication of the likely number of invitations, not an indication on the likelihood of being invited. Some occupations in the NSW skilled occupation list are now subject to additional criteria (requirements). Please review the requirements before you apply. These requirements include following: • The applicant must be living in NSW at the time of application. • The applicant must be working in the nominated occupation for 1 year in NSW. All the occupations which require this condition are indicated on the new skilled occupation list. You can find the new occupation list here: https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/live-and-work-in-nsw/visas-and-immigration/nsw-skilled-occupations-list/nsw-190-priority-skilled-occupation-list Riverina regional area now CLOSED!! RDA Riverina has announced on their website that the regional area is now not accepting the EOI(s) for the Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa – 489 visa. They have mentioned that the nominations for all the occupations are CLOSED! Northern Inland now CLOSED!!! RDA Northern Inland has just announced on their website that the regional area is now closed and not accepting any applications. Due to high demand of the region, any applications received after 9:45 am – 22 July 2019 will not be accepted or processed further. All the applications submitted till now will be processed by 10 September 2019 South Australia From 26 July South Australia has increased the ‘high points’ pathway score to 85 points, though some occupations have already been excluded from this pathway. SA Occupation list updated Availability status of some occupations changed! Low Availability 251312 Occupational Health and Safety Advisor 141311 Hotel or Motel Manager Source: https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/skilled-migrants/lists-of-state-nominated-occupations Queensland QLD state has released its new QSOL and the nomination criteria! QLD state has now released it’s new nomination criteria and the new QSOL for the migration program 2019-20. The highlights of the updates are as follows: Onshore Applicants • For 489 visa – applicant must be living in the regional QLD for 3 months. • Must be working full-time in the nominated occupation for 190 visa – 6 months; and 489 visa – 3 months (Full time = 35 hours per week) • Have evidence of ongoing employment for 1 year with QLD registered employer. Offshore Applicants • Minimum 2 years of post qualification experience in the nominated occupation. • Overseas PhD Graduates: If you have job offer of 12 months or more from QLD registered business, your work experience requirement may be waived. QLD Post-Graduate Applicants • Must have completed 100% of qualification in QLD based institution. • Must have graduated in last 2 years. (Qualification must be related to the nominated occupation). • Provide full-time employment in the nominated occupation (or a closely related occupation) with QLD employer registered in Australia. • Provide evidence of ongoing employment of 12 months in the nominated occupation (or a closely related occupation) with QLD employer registered in Australia. • If you are applying for 489 visa: You must be living in a regional area and working for an employer in regional area. • QLD PhD Graduate: Applicant must have completed the 100% qualification from QLD based institution and job offer may not be required unless stated otherwise. Specific Occupations: • Accountant and related occupations require: Minimum 70 points; For 190 – Minimum 1 year experience (6 months in QLD); For 489 – Minimum 3 months of work experience in REGIONAL QLD. (Experience must be post qualification in both the visa categories). (Available only in Working in QLD – Onshore list) • ICT and related occuaptions: Requires 70 points. In some lists, many occupations require post qualification experience. (check the conditions for individual occupation before applying) • Chef and cook occupations: requires different levels of experiences depending upon the list. Not available for Working in QLD list. • Teaching related occupations: most occupations require registration with the Queensland college of Teachers Complete occupation list available here: https://migration.qld.gov.au/skilled-occupation-lists/#accordion-item-5 Australian Capital Territory The latest information from the ACT shows that 523 invitations were issued in July based on their updated ‘Canberra Matrix’. This gives a higher preference to applicants who are living and working in Canberra, especially those who have been resident for a longer period of time. Northern Territory NT continues to operate as usual, however, processing times for offshore nomination applications are currently taking around 6 months. Western Australia No recent significant changes ACT Invitation Round – 22-07-2019 New invitation round results published. New invitation round results published today! Results are as below: Invitation date: 22 July 2019 Number of Invitations Issued: 329 Matrix score range: All Matrix submitted with 125 to 70 points 65 point matrix submitted on or before 15 June 2019 The next invitation round will be held on or before 7 August 2019. Source: http://www.canberrayourfuture.com.au/portal/migrating/article/canberra-matrix-invitation-round/