Changes to Skilled Visas as of January 1, 2010
Published by Nora Lamont on Wednesday 23rd of December, 2009
Skills Assessment for Onshore GSM applications: subclasses 885, 886 & 487
From 1 January 2010, applicants for Subclasses 487, 885 and 886 must have obtained a suitable skill assessment from the relevant skills assessing authority prior to making their visa application.
If the suitable skills assessment is not provided with the application, the application will not be valid.
JobReady Test (JRT) for onshore GSM applicants
From 1 January 2010, applicants for Subclasses 487, 885 and 886 nominating a trade occupation will be required to undertake a JobReady Test as part of their skills assessment.
From 1 January 2010, these applicants must have obtained a suitable skill assessment dated on or after 1 January 2010.
Work experience requirements for offshore GSM Subclass 475, 175 & 176 applicants. From 1 January 2010, offshore GSM visa applicants nominating a trade occupation will not be able to apply for a GSM visa based on meeting the Australian study requirement. They will have to satisfy the recent work experience requirement (12 months relevant work experience in the last 24 months).
English language requirements
From 1 January 2010, the English language requirement for all GSM applicants who nominate a trade occupation will be a minimum of 6 in each of the four components of the IELTS test (Competent English)
For Skilled – Regional Sponsored GSM visa subclasses 475 and 487, the threshold English language requirement will be an average of 6 in the IELTS test.
Vetassess Skills Assessment changesThe new assessment procedures mean that the qualifications must be in a field of study highly relevant to the nominated occupation, at least one year of employment in a field closely related to the nominated occupation, there is some allowance for extra work experience to make up for shortfalls in qualifications. All Vetassess occupations are classified as group al B , C or D, and these reflect different qualification and employment requirements.
For subclass 485 applicants, the Vetassess skills assessment requires a qualification in a field of study highly relevant to the nominated occupation, but does not require work experience. The work experience will be required when they apply for another GSM visa after they have gained work experience.
