Skilla Australia has been commissioned by the Australian Federal Government to provide a new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) to be applied to the general skilled migration (GSM) program. This list is to be promulgated in April 2010 and it is anticipated that it will most likely be enacted either on or before 1 July 2010.
Skills Australia has now released a document that gives us some insight into their thinking and the sorts of occupational categories that they see as being “highly employable” between now and 2025. They also point out that this is not a definitive list however there is no doubt that it gives us an insight in where their thinking is going with the new list. There is no doubt that the list will be significantly shorter than is the case at present and most of the occupations that will be dropped off appear to be in the “trades” specializations. There are currently 100 trades based occupations listed on the SOL. A review of the Skills Australia list shows approximately 23 trades areas that they are considering for the updated SOL. Read the skills Australia Document. Page 82/83 of the document specifically addresses the new occupations.
Visa applications lodged until the introduction of the new list will be based on the existing SOL. Access Migration Services strongly recommends that if your occupation is on the existing SOL you make every effort to have your visa application lodged before the introduction of the new SOL. Better to be safe than sorry!
For more information about what is required to get your visa application lodged in the shortest possible time, call our office on 0845 644 5607 or email us at info@accessmigration.com
