Expression of Interest for General Skilled Migration

A new process for skilled migration will soon be introduced which will require applicants to first make an Expression of Interest before being invited by the Department to lodge a Skilled Visa Application.

This will apply from 1 July 2012 and will affect the following General Skilled Visa:

• Skilled Independent
• Skilled Sponsored
• Skilled Regional Sponsored

This means that it will not be possible to apply for anyone of these visas without first being invited to do so by the Department.  Instead, applicants must first complete skills assessment and English testing (IELTS), then make an Expression of Interest (EOI) via the internet.

The EOIs will be assessed on a periodic basis based on:

• The number of  invitations issued for the nominated occupation in the program year
• The applicant's likely points score
• Order of application

Assessment of EOIs will be fully automated and based purely on data entered into an online form, with no attachments or documentation being submitted. DIAC may then issue an invitation to apply for a visa. Applicants must then lodge their application within 2 months of the invitation being issued.

An "occupation ceiling" or quota will apply for people applying for independent migration. Should the numbers be reached in a program year, no further invitations will be issued for that occupation. Family sponsored or state/territory government sponsored applicants may not be affected.

The EOI will typically be held in the system for 2 years. During this time, applicants can elect to have their details published to employers and state/territory governments. Employers may then nominate applicants for RSMS or ENS visas, and state/territory governments for sponsored and regional sponsored visas.

State and Territory governments will only be able to nominate from applicants who have made an EOI. Nominated applicants will still be part of the invitation process and will be issued with invitations at the same time as independent and family sponsored applicants.

DIAC will be able to more restrict the number of visa applications to what can reasonably be processed within the program year. In 2010 the size of the general skilled pipeline peaked at some 150,000 applicants - the Department of Immigration is currently obliged to process those valid applications.

The new selection model will have serious consequences for people who need to apply for skilled migration within a tight timeframe - for example:

• International students who need to lodge for an onshore visa prior to expiry of their current student or graduate skilled visa; and
• People who are soon to go up an age bracket and so become ineligible for skilled migration

No bridging visa will be issued when an EOI is lodged, meaning that impact would be particularly severe on onshore applicants. Of particular concern is that the system will be introduced on 1 July 2012, but the first round of invitations will not be made until January 2013. This means the general skilled stream would effectively be frozen for some 6 months, having a devastating impact on people who were planning to make their application during this period.

Transitional provisions are very limited - only people who held or had applied for a skilled graduate subclass 485 visa on 8 February 2010 would be able to apply outside the new selection model from 1 July 2012.

There will be an element of luck in obtaining a skilled visa, as it will not be apparent prior to making an EOI whether an invitation to apply will be issued. Applicants should contact Legal Migration Services for further advice on their own circumstances.