Receiving Permanent Residency in Australia under the General Skills Migration Scheme is becoming increasingly more difficult. After the Department of Home Affairs increased the minimum points requirement to 65 in June this year and decreased the occurrence of invitation rounds to just once a month, many applicants are finding themselves running out of time. 
Applicants are now looking for alternative options and many turn to state sponsorship in the hopes of securing permanent residency. State sponsorship can be a good pathway for Applicants if they do not meet the points requirement under the Independent 189 streams, as the State can provide an additional 5 points (or 10 for Regional State Sponsorship) which can be very beneficial.
However, even this option is now becoming increasingly difficult. On 22 November 2018, due to the popularity of certain occupations, a number of occupations were removed from the Queensland State Sponsorship list – Brisbane Skilled Migration Queensland (BSMQ). Occupations now removed from the list include Finance Manager (132211), Registered Nurse (Aged Care) (254412), Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) (254415), Developer Programmer (261312) and Software Engineer (261313).
This is further to the occupations that were removed between July and October 2018. These occupations include Civil Engineer (233211), Electrical Engineer (233311), Mechanical Engineer (233512), Accountant (General) (221111) and Engineering Technologist (233914)
Although the occupations are only temporarily suspended, there is no news of when the occupations may re-open, and many Applicants will unfortunately, find themselves without any options.
In the meantime, creativity and persistence are crucial in receiving Permanent Residency. The General Skilled Migration scheme is constantly changing and evolving. If applicants are looking to other states for state sponsorship options, the assistance of a Migration Agent can be invaluable. Each state have differing requirements, which can then again be different for different occupations. A good migration agent will provide the best advice on how to increase your points score and secure an invitation quicker.
If you are interested to know more about state sponsorship, whether you or someone you know can apply, please feel free to contact Migration Guru to see how we can assist. Migration Guru has assisted in countless visa applicants and has more than 50 years of collective experience in a dynamic team of Solicitors and Migration Agents in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra and Hobart. This experience ensures that staff can advise and navigate client’s through the new changes to State Sponsorship to find their best visa options. We wish to remind readers that the first consultation with Migration Guru is free of charge.
Our team may be contacted by via email on info@migrationguru.com.au or by calling 07 3036 3800. Readers are encouraged to follow us on Facebook for all the updates to Migration Law – https://www.facebook.com/migrationguru/
