300,000 more chances to move to Australia

The Australian budget has been and gone and I didn’t pay that much attention to it to be honest.

Having said all that though a post made in our forums suddenly made me realise that the Australian Budget had pretty large implications for all wannabe Aussies.

The Labor party budget for 2008-09 includes an increase of almost 300,000 visas to Australia in a bid to address labour shortages in Australia.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan revealed a healthy increase of almost 300,000 more permanent and temporary visas to Australia as a part of the Labor Party Budget for the 2008-09. This is the biggest annual increase in visas in the history of Australia’s migration program

The new budget accommodates for an extra 31,000 skilled migrant visas, and over 150,000 other permanent migrant visas such as family visas & spouse visas. Read the story »

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Current Australian Immigration processing lead time as of June 2008

Guys, latest Australian Visa Processing time line for June 2008.

Any comments or questions please post them in this thread on our forums.

RECEIPTING AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF APPLICATIONS

The ASPC is currently receipting new applications within service standards.

Once an application has been receipted it undergoes validity checking and an acknowledgement letter with client information and a receipt will be sent.

If an application is determined to be invalid documents will be returned and a refund of the visa application charge arranged.

As of June 2008 the ASPC Admin Section is processing applications as follows:

Onshore Applications: receipting and acknowledging applications received on 10 June 2008.

Offshore Applications: receipting and acknowledging applications received on 10 June 2008.

Once an application has been acknowledged it will be allocated to a case officer for further assessment as soon as possible, however, the ASPC receives a large number of applications and you will not be contacted immediately.

PROCESSING AND ALLOCATION INFORMATION - For the week of 10 June 2008

Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing.

Read the story »

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New ACS skills assessment fee from 1 July 2008

For those who are planning to apply to the Australian Computer Society (ACS), it’s worth noting that new fees will be applicable from 1 July 2008.

The Australian Computer Society is the approved professional organisation providing advice on skills recognition for prospective migrants to Australia .

Under the agreement between the ACS and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), those seeking to migrate to Australia as an IT Professional must complete an assessment through the ACS prior to lodging a migration application.

The new fees charged by the ACS from the 1st of July 2008 will be as followed:

Australian Recent Graduate A$360.00

Skills Assessment A$400.00

Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) A$450.00

Re-Validation/ACS MACS Members A$200.00

Appeals A$300.00

Read the story »

Popularity: 3% [?]

Changes to the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)

The Australian Immigration Minister has announced changes to the Migration Occupation in Demand List for applicants for General Skilled Migration visas.

The Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) lists those occupations and specialisations identified by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) as being in short supply.

Twelve occupations have been added to the MODL, including five Computing Professional specialisations, Electronics Engineer, Optometrist and Dental Technican, as well as the trade occupations of Binder and Finisher, Landscape Gardener and Tree Surgeon. Read the story »

Popularity: 5% [?]