How are they going to do that?

– More visa options for Regional Areas
– More flexible requirements for those visas

Occupations in demand in South Australia

As the conference took place in South Australia, there was a focus of the state and representatives from industry bodies told in first-hand what occupations are in shortage in the state:

– Architects

– Butchers

– Bakers

– 3000 people needed in the Primary Industry Sector by 2020: Managers, Facilities Managers, Farm Managers, Production Horticulturalists

– Chefs/Cooks/Restaurant Managers: according to the Restaurant & Catering Association there will be over 28,000 positions to fill in hospitality by 2020: 8.000 Cooks, 10.900 Chefs and 13.100 Restaurant Managers.

– Advanced Communications: South Australia has now a Space Agency and these professionals are really needed

The Rise of the DAMA

There was a lot of focus on the DAMAs (Designated Area Migration Agreements) and they covered the existing ones in:

– South Australia,

– the Northern Territory,

– the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area

– the Warrnambool area

But it was great to see other states and regions also talking about their interest in getting DAMAs too, such as Queensland and Tasmania.

New Regional Visas Announced

The 2 visas below will come into effect in November and they have a focus on regional employment:

– Skilled Employer Sponsored (Provisional)
– Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)

The permanent visa connected to these 2 temporary visas above will only be available in November 2022, for workers who stay in the job for at least 3 years. It will be called:

– Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) Visa

The Skilled Employer Sponsored (Provisional) visa will have 9000 places a year and around 700 occupations on its list, which is 450 more occupations than those that appear on similar lists for non-regional areas.

The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa will have 14,000 places a year and around 500 occupations on its list.

We still have to wait for legislation to come out to give you more details on these visas but we know they will come into effect on the 1st November 2019, they will be valid for 5 years, and they will have “priority processing”.

Visa holders will have to be living and working in regional areas for at least 3 years before they can apply for the permanent visa, the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) Visa.

The government wants to reduce the number of permanent visas to be granted and increase the number of temporary visas. We think we will also see an increase in state/territory-nominated visas.

Some Visas will cease to exist

For the new visas above to come into effect, the Department will discontinue the RSMS (Subclass 187) and Skilled Regional (Subclass 489).
If you have already lodge an application for these visas, or lodge before November 2019, you will not be affected.

As of now it seems the Skilled Permanent State/Territory-Nominated Visa Subclass 190 will continue to exist.

Incentives for Students in Regional Areas

There will be an extra year also granted to Graduate Visas under the Post Study Work Rights. This will be for people who complete a Bachelor, Master, or PhD for a minimum of 2 years in a regional campus, regardless of what they are studying.

Applications for this visa will open only in 2021.

Visa Fee Increase

The Federal Budget last week also announced that visa fees will increase 5.4% from 1st July onwards.

The Federal Budget last week also announced that there would be Scholarships for international and domestic students to study in regional Australia for higher education or vocational education qualifications.

Erica Carneiro
Co-Founder, Director and Registered Migration Agent 0532487