Migration procedures to Australia changed

Australia has been a favourite destination among Sri Lankans for many years, and to date, the desire among many people to live in Australia remains unchanged.

As many migrate under the Skilled Migration category the newly announced processing guidelines by the Department of Immigration will provide some indication to the current processing regime. From January 1, 2009, there has been an announcement of a special list by the name of Critical Skills List (CSL).

In the Australian Migration process, one must know there are few lists that need attention. Basically, one’s skills must be in the Skills Occupations List (SOL) to be eligible for migration.

In addition, there is further list by the name of Migration Occupations in Demand (MODL). This becomes very confusing to an applicant. What you need to understand is the MODL and the CSL listed occupation receives priority processing.

According to the current procedures, government sponsored migration applications receives the highest level of priority. CSL occupations are preceded by the MODL occupations and least priority is received for occupations under the independent and relative sponsored categories.

In summary, there will be processing delays for the least level of priority, while case allocation will be done faster for occupations in government sponsored and CSL occupations.

CSL or relative sponsored

When considering the applications lodged by Sri Lankans, majority stands at either CSL or relative sponsored.

In terms of occupations receiving priority, Accountants, Engineers, ICT professionals and limited trades level occupations can be highlighted. It must be noted that in particular instance of an accountant, to receive priority in the highest level, one must have score 7 in each band in the IELTS test.

When speaking about Sri Lankan qualifications that are recognised for migration, all university degrees and technical level qualifications stand the highest scope. Also, ICASL and CIMA, ACCA are some of the qualifications recognised in the accounting industry.

Most recently CIMA fellow members are being recognised by the CPA Australia, providing them the CPA membership access. Another opportunity for accountants that stands out is the confessional English option.

What this means is, certain state governments in Australia are prepared to sponsor them for migration if they have not met the required IELTS score, but has scored overall band score of 5.5. It is vital to know that all state governments are willing to sponsor accountants provided they have met the basic migration criteria.

Engineering

Engineering is one of the other occupations that receive priority. Almost all Engineering categories receive highest level of priority in terms of processing, at the same time, most of the State Governments are willing to sponsor applicants with Engineering skills.

When applying for migration as an engineer, as opposed to many other occupations, applicants must reveal their competencies with their engineering skills.

You are required to produce a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) with your IELTS score of 6 in each band for skills assessment prior to lodging for the visa. All degree level qualifications in engineering and Members of Engineering Council UK are recognised as professional engineers.

One of the other occupations that receive priority under the CSL processing is ICT professionals. ICT is one of the rare occupations that do not require a qualification to migrate.

If one possesses work experience for more than 7 years, the applicant can migrate through the RPL system. Of course, having a qualification provides the opportunity with less years of work experience.