The South Australia (SA) Regional DAMA and the Adelaide City DAMA have been both extended and expanded.
The SA Regional DAMA now includes 128 new occupations from various sectors including construction, trades, agribusiness, ICT, health, education, and renewable energy.
We submitted suggestions to the Government of South Australia to include certain occupations on the DAMA list. We welcome the inclusion of occupations such as Registered Nurse in Child and Family Health, Registered Nurse in Disability and Rehabilitation, Winery Worker, Sheep Farm Worker, and others on the list.
The 'Winery Worker' occupation is a valuable addition, especially since South Australia has a strong wine industry.
Other important occupations added to the list include Truck Driver, Bricklayer, and Floor Finisher.
This is excellent news for those seeking permanent residency pathways!
The annual nominations for the SA Regional DAMA have increased from 750 to 2000, valid until June 30, 2025.
Concessions
South Australia continues to offer age concessions up to 55 years, a 10% reduction in the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), and other concessions in English and work experience.
South Australia DAMA Occupation List
The SA DAMA comes under two agreements which list eligible occupations and concessions available:
Adelaide Innovation and Technology Agreement: the occupations are restricted to employers in the Adelaide Metropolitan region. The only concession that applies to these occupations is that they all have a pathway to permanent residency, and include an age concession.
South Australian Regional Workforce Agreement: includes some occupations eligible to employers in the whole of South Australia and some occupations eligible for employers only in the postcode range 5220 to 5734 (non-metropolitan SA). The agreement includes a range of occupation-specific concessions concerning:
Skills and experience
TSMIT
English
Age
Permanent pathway
Review the lists to see if your occupation is eligible and what concessions apply.
Do you need help with an Australian visa application?
South Australia (SA) offers many opportunities for skilled migrants. With 503 occupations listed on the SA Skilled Occupation List and four available streams, you may be eligible to apply.
South Australian Graduates Stream
International graduates who have selected South Australia as their study destination are given preference within the General Skilled Migration program.
The criteria to apply include:
Have completed your qualification at a South Australian education provider
A minimum of 50% of your qualification must have been completed in South Australia
Must have resided in South Australia for at least one year during your studies
Have been residing in South Australia for at least the last 12 months
Have been working for the last 6 months, and be currently employed, in a full-time (at least 30 hours per week) job that is relevant to your nominated occupation
Stay informed about the February immigration News by watching this video and have a privilege information about States Nomination in ACT, SA and WA for 190 - 491 visas and NZ path to PR. The article will bring highly important topics related to processing times and new actions from the Australia Government.
General Skilled Migration
The federal government has given out 35,000 189 invitations in December.
This is the biggest round on record for Australian immigration. This is causing many ripple effects across the migration system. The skills assessment bodies are now getting clogged up with new applications as everyone rushes to put in a skills assessment to try take advantage of these new opportunities.
Another example is that many of the states are trying to come up with more attractive criteria because of all the 189 visas that are providing competition.
Queensland State Nomination
Queensland has adjusted its policies and is now prioritizing skilled workers living and working in Queensland. Those who meet the requirement should get ready for an application. More details are in the article below.
South Australian State Nomination
The final allocations for South Australia are for GSM subclass for 190 and 491 8,000 Places, for Business Innovation and Investment Program 70 Places.
There is no more business visa allocations to the states and territories as of the announcement in December. It's clear that the new government is focusing on skilled migration and that business visas are on the backburner as each state nomination.
ACT State Nomination
The ACT has received 4050 nomination places equally distributed across the 491 and 190. Only ten places have been given to the Business and Investor Program. This is a significant uplift in nomination places compared to the previous years for the 190 and 491.
WA State Nomination
Western Australia is one of the high-performing states at the moment. There were over 5000 invitations in December for skilled migrants from Western Australia. The state has seen a successful year so far with easier requirements and more generous invitations.
Today, a total of 16,085 invitations have been sent out for migrants both onshore and offshore for western Australia. One of the reasons for the increased numbers is that the foreign on one visa does not now require a job offer or a job contract.
The Western Australian Government will have an invitation round every month. The invitation round will occur in the first week of every month. This allows adequate time for the processing of the large number of applications. I feel like every time I meet with a client and they want to know about their best state nomination options, I end up talking about Western Australia.
This is because the Western Australian criteria are often lower than the other states
We will be making a separate video to discuss the WA state nomination requirements in detail.
Working Holiday Visa
Working holiday visas from the 19th of January 2022 to the 30th of June 2023, working holidaymakers in any sector anywhere in Australia may continue to work for the same employer or organization for longer than six months without requesting permission.
Backlog Status Update.
The new government was left with almost 1 million visas in the department in June 2020, so Andrew Giles has posted on his Twitter account saying that there have been over 4 million visas processed since June 2020 to the backlog is now down to 600,000, with a promise to improve this by the middle of 2023.
Migration is expected to rebound to the pre-pandemic levels, according to a recent report.
General News
In other general news, recently, universities in Australia have backed a reset in migration policies. It states that the current migration system is not delivering the required talent to meet the needs of the economy. This comes as the country faces a skills crisis leading to calls for a refresh of the migration system. The Government is now aiming for a more targeted approach to migration that aligns with the country's economy and needs.
New Zealander’s path to PR.
Good news for New Zealanders. The process of obtaining permanent residency in Australia has become easier with the elimination of the income and health checks for those who have already lodged a 189 New Zealand stream. This helps make the process a lot quicker. The change is aimed to improve the relationship between New Zealand and Australia.
International Students are Back in Fashion.
International students are seen as a key to the migration program. International students are not only a source of revenue for universities, but also a potential source of future migrants. The fact is that many international students end up staying and becoming permanent residents. Now the government is recognizing that these students bring a wealth of knowledge, skills and cultural diversity to Australia.
We hope that international students may be given more pathways when the reviews to the migration program are announced later this year.
Pacific Workers and Their Families.
Labor is being urged to boost regional migration. The Pacific Worker families are expected to join their mine applicants in 2023-2024 under a new scheme. There are calls for an increase in skilled migration cap and for early learning pathways to be added to universities for free. A former official has stated that Australia is on track for a migration boom in 2023, with arrivals exceeding Treasury forecast.
The skilled migration program attracts skilled migrants worldwide and onshore graduates and workers as its benefits that the country can bring to each family.
Not surprisingly, Australia receives thousands of applications every year under the skilled migration program, which is highly competitive.
Those who are not highly skilled in their occupation might consider the Small Business Owner (SBO) pathway to aim for permanent residency.
Queensland was the first state to launch this program, and it has been increasingly popular over the years.
As of July 2021, four states in Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, Canberra, and South Australia, have this program officially in place.
You may not be aware that South Australia even has this stream. Very few articles talk about the small business owner skilled migration stream in South Australia.
This blog will give you full details of the South Australia small business owner stream.
Before that, watch out video for the quick overview of the Small business owner stream South Australia 491/190
