As of 1 July 2018, applicants for the General Skilled Migration (‘Skilled’) visas (Subclasses 189, 190 and 489) will need a minimum of 65 points to be invited. This is an increase from the previous minimum of 60 points.
If you have lodged an Expression of Interest (‘EOI’) and have not received an invitation for a Skilled visa, this may affect you. For those on 60 points awaiting a Sc189 invitation, 55 points awaiting state nomination for the Sc190 visa, or those on 50 points awaiting family or state sponsored nomination for the Sc489 visa, your EOI will be affected by the changes as of 1 July 2018. We recommend seeking advice from a migration agent or lawyer to explore any options you might have. If you have not already engaged Roam Migration Law to assist with your Skilled visa application, we can assess or re-assess your options for a fee of $149.
The changes will not affect those awaiting an invitation with 65 points or above. However, applicants can expect a lengthy wait time as there is currently high demand for places in the Skilled visa program. Invitation rounds in the first half of 2018 have shown that the Department has invited applicants on 75 points or above. Those in the occupation of Accountant, Engineer or certain IT professionals continue to face competition and may need 75 or 80 points to be invited. Roam Migration Law expects that there will be an increase in the number of invitations in the first part of the new financial year, which may have some downward effect on points thresholds.
