The Australian Government has released the results of their latest invitation round with 1500 invitations to apply for an Australian visa issued between February and March.
As in previous months, the average number of points required to receive an Australian Visa was relatively high with candidates applying under the 189 Visa stream requiring a minimum of 75 points in order to receive an invitation. Those looking to apply under the Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489), required even more with 85 points being required as a minimum.
Points required for popular Australian occupations
| Occupation ID | Description | Minimum points score |
|---|---|---|
| 2211 | Accountants | 85 |
| 2212 | Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers | 80 |
| 2334 | Electronics Engineer | 75 |
| 2335 | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 75 |
| 2339 | Other Engineering Professionals | 75 |
| 2611 | ICT Business and System Analysts | 75 |
| 2613 | Software and Applications Programmers | 75 |
| 2631 | Computer Network Professionals | 75 |
Similarly, to previous months, those in the more sought after positions of accounting, engineering and computing-related roles, required the greatest number of points with accountants topping the charts during March with a minimum points score of 85 points being required.
SkillSelect first allocates available places to Skilled – Independent visas (subclass 189) and then the remaining to Skilled – Regional (Provisional) visas (subclass 489). If all places are taken up by subclass 189 visas then there will be no invitations issued for subclass 489 visas in these occupations.
How are you tracking?
Is this good news or bad news for your hopes for a new life down under? Are you already hitting 75 points plus or do you still have some way to go?
We’d love to hear from you. Let us know in our comments.
Having just turned 40 that was a big knock loosing those points and now only having 65. I find the emphasis on points a bit backwards with regards to age as the older you are, within reason, can mean more work experience which to me is of more value than age. But I do understand the reason for the age bands too
It may be the cynic in me Mark but I think a lot has to do with your earning/tax paying capacity.
Theoretically, the younger you are when you arrive the more you will contribute to the tax coffers while you are working before you retire.
That’s one of my theories anyway :)