Overseas Teachers And Nurses To Get Australian Visas In Three Days!

Changes to how skilled visas are prioritised mean that applications for teachers and healthcare workers are now being assessed in just three days.

Previously, the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) had identified 44 occupations on the wider Skilled Migration Occupation List (SMOL) to fast-track amid the COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

Its use was discontinued on 28 October this year. The list included occupations such as engineers, chefs, accountants, psychiatrists and pharmacists. It also included healthcare workers such as nurses and doctors, but not teachers.

The Department of Home Affairs says the new Ministerial Direction No. 100, which directs department staff to perform specific actions, now prioritises visas in the health and education sectors.

“These applications are now being assessed in three days,”
Australian Migration Department Spokesperson

The Australian Government has introduced a change to processing skilled visa applications that will affect temporary, employer-sponsored and regional visas.

The full list of occupations being prioritised is below.

It also removes priority for global talent and business innovation and investment programs.

Occupations now prioritised include school teachers, health and welfare support workers, childcare centre managers, medical scientists, counsellors, psychologists, social workers and medical technicians.

Contents hide

1 New order of priority for Australia skilled visa applications

2 The new criteria apply to these skilled visas:

3 Australia Visa applications are now being processed faster!

New order of priority for Australia skilled visa applications

Under the new ministerial direction, skilled visa applications are now being decided in the following order of priority:

Healthcare or teaching occupation applications;
For employer-sponsored visas, applicants nominated by an Approved sponsor with Accredited Status;
Those for a designated regional area;
For permanent and provisional visa subclasses, visa applications that count towards the migration program, excluding the Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa;
All other visa applications.

For all categories above, priority will be given to holders of eligible passports, as not all visa streams are open to every nationality.

Each category gives priority to applicants outside Australia for provisional and permanent skilled visa applications.

The new criteria apply to these skilled visas:

Subclass 124 (Distinguished Talent)
Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme)
Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme)
Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment) (Provisional)
Subclass 189 (Skilled – Independent)
Subclass 190 (Skilled – Nominated)
Subclass 191 (Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional))
Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled))
Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage)
Subclass 489 (Skilled – Regional (Provisional))
Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional))
Subclass 494 (Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional))
Subclass 858 (Global Talent)
Subclass 887 (Skilled – Regional)
Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent).

Australia Visa applications are now being processed faster!

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs, the previous Personal Management System was a “time-consuming and complex assessment” because of the backlog of applications built up while travel restrictions were in place during the pandemic.

“Removal of the PMSOL will allow more applications to be processed faster, particularly for the critical Temporary Skill Shortage visa, which is designed to respond rapidly to labour market needs,”
Australia Migration spokesman

More changes are likely, with the federal government promising further to assess the effectiveness of skilled migration occupation lists. The last update to the current Skilled Migration Occupation List was 11 March 2019!!

The government has also announced a comprehensive review of Australia’s migration. Three experts are expected to deliver an interim report by the end of February and a final strategy by late March/April.

Might you be impacted by this latest news? Is this good or bad news for you?

Let us know in our comments.