Australia is a nation built by immigrants, willing and unwilling. Almost all of Australia’s 22 million citizens are descended from settlers who moved down under after 1900, or who made the switch themselves. Those wishing to join them today will discover that that Australia has some of the toughest visa regulations on the planet. There are a number of routes to getting an Australian visa, but the most certain route is through being a skilled worker in certain fields.
Though the total immigration quotas are the highest that they have ever been, the rules regarding who can come in are also getting progressively stricter. In February the Australian government made a whole raft of changes to their policies regarding who could come to the country. The ‘Critical Skills List’ was revoked, it was replaced by an entirely new list. The CSL was replaced by the Skilled Occupation List or SOL, though for applications dating before 1 July 2010 the old rules still apply.
This is the list of favored occupations for visa applicants prior to the changes, and this is it after. A notable disappearance from this list are Computing Professionals. On the old list there were no less than 7 categories of Computing Professional who qualified for entry, on the revised list there are none. This may reflect Australia’s commitment to halting the march of new technology and the information economy, epitomized by plans for censoring the Internet with a Chinese style firewall.
There are still a large number of occupations that are likely to get you approved for Australian residency. In the new list, Dancers and composers have favored status along with “Musician(instrumental)” – does this explicitly exclude singers? Other jobs that can get you into Oz include Ships Officer, Cartographer, medical professionals of various stripes and park rangers. If you have a deep and abiding love of guarding picnic baskets book your flights to Australia now!
Park Rangers of the world - Australia needs YOU.
Australian Migration Specialist
Sep 13th, 2010The list has been modified keeping in view current trends and market requirements. Having said that, there is no reason computer professionals do not fit in. Employ the services of Australian migration experts and they will guide you to a proper category and filing of application.
Vanessa O'Sullivan
Feb 22nd, 2011Very informative post and I found the information quite interesting.
The skills Australia needs changes regularly so it’s worth checking the Australian immigration website now and then.
First Choice Australian Migration
Jun 19th, 2011Migration agents in Perth can help with the immigration process. The laws constantly change, hence the importance on relying on professionals that monitor and understand these changes.