Australia Immigration: Queensland Is Welcoming Offshore Skilled Workers

03 Dec 2019

Our Concentration will be on the Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) visa and newly started Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 491) visa. The Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 491) visa substituted the Skilled Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489) visa effective from 16 Nov 2019.

Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) Requirements:

• A minimum of 65 points required in the points test
• Positive skills evaluation for your nominated profession
• Your age must be below 45 years at the time of receiving an invitation to apply
• Have a minimum competent language proficiency in English

Both the Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa and the Skilled Work Regional (Subclass 491) provisional visa are points tested visas, which need the applicant to satisfy the minimum of 65 points score to nominate an application on the relevant profession list.

Queensland State Sponsorship

Queensland State has various requirements based on whether you are working in the state of Queensland or Australia outside and provides a specific streamlined pathway for those who have obtained a postgraduate degree from a university in the state of Queensland. 

You will demand to apply to Business and Skilled Migration Queensland (B.S.M.Q) for sponsorship from the Queensland state. If your application is accepted, you will then require applying for your Skilled Nomination (subclass 190) visa or Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa with the Home Affairs Department (DOHA). Requirements from both B.S.M.Q and the D.O.H.A must be satisfied for your application to be victorious.

Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) Visa 

This is points tested visa, like the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa, but with state sponsorship, the candidate is given an extra 5 points. The visa comes with a commitment to live in the sponsored state for 2 years.

Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 491) Visa 

This new visa replaces the previous Skilled Regional (subclass 489) visa. On the latest points test, Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa applicants will get 15 extra points (before only 10 extra points). This visa permits skilled workers to reside in regional Queensland for a tenure of 5 years and has a pathway to Australia PR. 

BSMQ Requirements

The Business and Skilled Migration Queensland (B.S.M.Q) requirements for the Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa and the Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa are the same. You will require meeting DOHA requirements and also the following:

• Have a profession on the Offshore– Queensland Skilled Occupations List (Q.S.O.L)
• Have a minimum of 2 years of post-qualification work experience in the nominated profession

Queensland’s Occupation Lists

There are 96 professions on the list for offshore appellants for the Skilled Nominated subclass 190 visa and Skilled Regional subclass 491 visa. This is considerably less than the 363 professions available for onshore applicants.

The following professions were excluded from the QSOL lists effective from 11 November:

Onshore and Offshore– IT

• Analyst Programmer ANZSCO 261311
• Computer Network and Systems Engineer ANZSCO 263111
• ICT Security Specialist ANZSCO 262112
• Software and Applications Programmers ANZSCO 261399
• Software Engineer ANZSCO 261313
• Developer Programmer ANZSCO 261312
• Systems Analyst ANZSCO 261112
• ICT Business Analyst ANZSCO 261111

Offshore– Engineering

• Engineering Technologist ANZSCO 233914
• Electrical Engineer ANZSCO 233311
• Mechanical Engineer ANZSCO 233512
• Civil Engineer ANZSCO 233211

Commitment to Queensland

The 2 years period for Skilled Nominated subclass190 visa or 3 year period for Skilled Regional subclass 491 visa it starts from the date that your visa is given

Settlement Funds

Offshore applicants require proving that they have a minimum of $15,000 in cash and $15,000 in ‘other funds’. The demanded settlement funds for dependents will grow based on the number of dependents mentioned in the application.

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