Dear valued customers and collegues,
Greetings from down under!

Belated Happy Deepawali for those of you who celebrate!

With lot of anxiety and curiosity amongst the masses of international students in Australia and the migration applicants within and outside Australia waiting to hear about their visa applications finalised, thought, these updates could be of some relief.

The gist of the message is, "Australia has not closed the door for migration altogether. rather, it has decided to be more of a need based approach in short, medium and longer term. The newly announced Skilled Occupation List - Schedule 3 has replaced the Critical Shortage List, As a result, many occupations in that list including accounting applicants have seen their applications finalised in recent months. There are many applications yet to be finalised despite being in the schedule 3.


- Non Priority Occupations such as Cooks and Hairdressers still to take extra time for processing

Under the current ministerial direction in force, the not in priority occupations such as Cooks and Hairdressers will still take time to be processed. That is because the applications with priority occupations are processed earlier despite them being lodged at later date.  
- New Hope and Good News for past applicants affected by priority processing

Some states and / or territories including Victoria and Australian Capital Territory have opened their doors for many more occupations that are not in Schedule 3 SOL. Applicant's that were not eligible to apply under independent category in the past may now qualify to apply under state sponsored / regional categories provided they meet all other qualifying criteria such as English, work experience etc. Past applicants who are waiting under independent category may also be able to apply for the state sponsorship and fall under priority processing. One of the requirements with ACT is higher english, for example, overall 7 in English with 7 in speaking is the starting point for English.

- Further Hope with State Migration Plans (SMP) in more states

As more and more states get closer to the completion of their state migration plans, past and present applicant's seem to be more optimistic towards their occupations being included in the SMP lists. However, they would still need to wait until they are approved by the minister and publicly available for use.

- Priority is still there for Certain Visa Applications

Applicants are still given higher priority under Employer Nomination Scheme, Regional Migration Scheme or State Sponsored Category. Many applicant's who do not qualify otherwise may qualify under these programs if that is available for them or if they are eligible under these categories. For those applicants who do not qualify for permanent categories due to the lack of their past work experience may consider business sponsored long stay visa to gain more work experience and at later stage to seek permanent residency options. These options may also be suitable for applicants who have been waiting for their GSM visa applications finalised for long, provided either sponsors or states are ready to sponsor them.

- How come my friend already got visa and not me?
Most of the time, the cir***stances between applications could be differnet. Lodging similar applications at the same time doesn't guarantee the outcome would come at the same time and in similar fashion. Patience is required by applicant's as the processing times are affected due to many reasons including ministerial directions time to time to better reflect the Australian Skills Shortage needs.

- I am an Overseas Student ready to apply for my TR/PR but English is holiding me behind, what do I do??
There could be many options after you explore and discuss with your adviser. They may include:

- Enrolling in IELTS intensive preparation cl***es after discussing with qualified and experienced trainers or examiners

- Enrolling in another course you are interested in, apply for additional student visa permit and allow time for extra preparation.

- Going for another related course to upskill etc.


- What are the popular options??

Many students have chosen Bachelors / Master's of Accounting or IT,
Diploma of Management, Business or Accounting and for English improvement or gap filling, there are IELTS, General or Academic English Courses.

For diploma or advanced diploma holders, the bachelor's degree programs (including accounting) may finish in as little as 1 Year. 

Other popular option for master's degree students this year could be Master's of Project and Program Management (closely related to the Construction Project Manager occupation in SOL 3). Professional advice must be sought in deciding these options.

- How much does it cost?

The English courses start from A$160 per week, Diploma courses start from A$1100- per 3 months and bachelor's in accounting courses start from A$3500 for the first semester and A$4500 thereafter. Professional Year courses are also available for very compe***ive prices. For more information, watch this space or visit below:

Happy reading,

Man Khatri
RMA 0639036

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Man Khatri, RMA, MMIA, MBA, B.Tech., Grad Cert (Fin), JP
Principal Consultant
4Nations International
Registered Migration Agents & Education Consultants
City Office: Level 4, 309 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000

Postal Address: PO Box A819, Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia
T: +61 2 9267 3660, F: +61 2 8569 0343
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web: http://www.4nations.com.au/

Business Hours: 9am - 5pm Sydney 
Time (City Office Only)

Disclaimer: Although enough care has been taken for the accuracy of the information covered above, consideration of personal cir***stances is not included in this information. Therefore no action should be taken relying solely on this information without seeking proper professional advice.

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