Aussie Govt. amends GSM visa procedures from today
May 8, 2010 04:47 pm
The Australian government has amended its visa procedures effective from midnight on May 7, for General Skilled Migrants, Australian Accredited Immigration Law specialist Don Susantha Katugampola told Adaderana this morning.
He urges Sri Lankans seeking employment in
The Australian government had earlier decided to cancel some 20,000 skilled labour visa applications as it now considers this category as being unable to meet the country’s economic needs. However, it has raised this level to highly skilled, which the government believes will meet the current needs of it economy. But according to Mr. Katugampola, the number rejected would be somewhere around 14,000 only.
Mr. Katugampola said that the proposed rejection would mostly affect those who had applied under the hairdressers and cooks category. However, they could reapply if they are confident of falling under the ‘highly skilled’ category.
Meanwhile, the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship has issued a notice announcing certain amendments to the GSM visa application procedures.
Excerpt of the announcement:
Amendments to prevent primary applications for certain General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa subclasses
Commencement: 8 May 2010
Client summary
From 8 May 2010, the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Regulations) are amended to prevent applicants seeking to satisfy the primary criteria for a Subclass 175 (Skilled – Independent), Subclass 176 (Skilled – Sponsored) or Subclass 475 (Skilled – Regional Sponsored) visa from being able to make a valid visa application during the period commencing on 8 May 2010 and ending on a date specified by the Minister in an instrument in writing.
The purpose of the amendments are to prevent certain
applications for GSM visas being made on or after 8 May 2010 until after a
specified date as a result of anticipated changes to the Skilled Occupation
List (SOL). The changes to the SOL are
designed to better target
Transitional provisions
The amendments to Schedule 1 apply in relation to a purported application made by a person seeking to satisfy the primary criteria for the grant of a Subclass 175 (Skilled – Independent), Subclass 176 (Skilled – Sponsored) or Subclass 475 (Skilled – Regional Sponsored) visa during the period commencing on 8 May 2010 and ending on a date specified by the Minister in an instrument in writing.
