SKILL SELECT ROUND: August 2018
The Immigration department has just released their FIRST Skill Select Invitation Round for the year 2018-19. Along with this have come 3 big pieces of news!
1) Subclass 189 and 489 family sponsored invitation are now going to be issued on the 11th of each month (unlike before, when they were released every fortnight).
2) The number of invitations for 189 occupations has increased from 600 to a whooping 1000 places per month!
3) The required points for non pro-rata occupations was 75, which has now come down to 70! Applicants who lodged their 189 application at 70 points can expect to hear good news in about 4 months!
PRO-RATA OCCUPATIONS:
| Occupation ID | Occupation Groups | Point Score | Date of effect |
| 2211 | Accountants | 85 | 6 Jul 2018 |
| 2212 | Auditors, Company Secretaries & Corporate Treasurers | 80 | 16 Feb 2018 |
| 2334 | Electronics Engineer | 75 | 16 Jun 2018 |
| 2335 | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 75 | 19 Jun 2018 |
| 2339 | Other Engineering Professionals | 80 | 27 Jun 2018 |
| 2611 | ICT Business and Systems Analysts | 80 | 5 Jul 2018 |
| 2613 | Software and Applications Programmers | 75 | 11 Apr 2018 |
| 2631 | Computer and Network Professionals | 75 | 11 May 2018 |
*The above information is true as off July 2018
Experts also predict that the scores may drop in the near future!
MINIMUM ELIGIBILITY
The points required for minimum eligibility increased from 60 to 65.
OTHER OPTIONS?
In case you don’t have 65 points (new minimum requirement), you may consider the following:
1) State and Regional Sponsorship (subclass 190 and 489)
State and regional sponsorship visas also include many other occupations from lists such as STSOL and ROL. These visa sub-classes also give you 5 extra points for state sponsorship and 10 extra points for regional sponsorship!
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR POINTS
If you’re still looking for other ways to increase your points, please read the following blog:
https://pathmigration.com/blog/tips-on-achieving-the-maximum-points
