Visa Lounge Australia

12/11/2024

🚨 Big News for Skilled Migrants Aspiring to Become Early Childcare Teachers in Australia! 🚨

If you're looking to use Early Childhood Teaching as your pathway to Permanent Residency, here’s a major update you don’t want to miss:

Current Skill Assessing Body: AITSL
New Skill Assessing Body (from 7 December 2024): ACECQA

Key Changes:

1️⃣ No more 4-year study at Bachelors level or higher requirement – You’ll just need an ACECQA-approved Early Childhood Teaching (ECT) course or proof that your course meets equivalent standards.

2️⃣ IELTS Exemptions – If you’ve studied in Australia for at least 1 year, you’re exempt from the IELTS. If not, the requirement is 7.0 in Reading/Writing and 8.0 in Listening/Speaking.

3️⃣ Pathway Flexibility – Completing a Graduate Diploma in ECT in Australia (even with a non-related Master’s) can now qualify you for skills assessment without the need for IELTS.

Why These Changes Are a Game-Changer:
💡 Accelerated Qualification: Have a 3-year bachelor’s in early childhood teaching? You no longer need a 4th year to qualify!
💡 Simplified Pathways: With an IELTS waiver available most students who study in Australia will now get an automatic exemption

👉 If you’re interested in exploring your options, let’s chat about the best pathway for you!

03/11/2024

🛎️Department of Home Affairs Update on Skilled Visas🛎️

The Department of Home Affairs provided an update on the upcoming changes to the skilled visas at the 2024 MIA National Conference in Brisbane.

As part of this update the Department referred to the Skills in Demand (SID) visa and highlighted the following points:

Skills in Demand visa Sc 482

--Temporary skilled worker visa with up to 4 years validity

--Clear pathway to permanent residence

--Will have 3 streams - Specialist Skills, Core Skills and Labour Agreements

--Specialist Skills stream: Will be for highly skilled migrants earning at least $135,000 in any occupation except trades workers, machinery operators, drivers and labourers

--Core Skills stream: Will be for skilled employees and there will be a new Core Skills occupation List and a Core Skills Income Threshold

--Labour Agreement stream: The TSS Labour Agreement stream will be renamed the Skills in Demand Labour Agreement stream

--Work experience requirement reduced to one year

--As the TSS visa will be replaced by the SID visa existing short-term and medium-term streams of the TSS visa will close to new applications.

The Department are currently working on this, and it will commence in 2024.

email: [email protected]

16/10/2024

Fill out the below form to get in contact with our team of immigration specialists and star your work visa application.

VISA LOUNGE has helped thousands of people from all over the world get their Australian sponsored work visas.

11/10/2024

🛎️ Working Holiday Maker Arrangement with the Philippines 🛎️

Late last year it was announced that the Governments of Australia and the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa arrangement that will let up to 200 young Filipino and Australian passport holders enjoy a 12-month holiday in each other’s country each year.

The program has not launched and both countries are still finalising their administrative arrangements. The Department will publish a start date and other details on its WHM program webpage as soon as all arrangements are finalised.

This will include advice to Filipino passport holders on how to get a Letter of Concurrence (LoC) from their Government, as well as any specific application requirements for Australian passport.

20/09/2024

Migration update QLD 2024-2025 🌏

Queensland is a popular destination for skilled migrants 👥. The state is so highly demanded that the government has decided to limit migration artificially by reducing the nominations allocation for skilled visas, providing 600 spots for each temporary visa 491 and permanent visa 190 for the 2024-2025 program year. 💔

This decision is a painful one, personally affecting many migrants and our clients. We genuinely empathize with everyone who had hoped to receive an invitation to Queensland this year, as the competition is expected to be significant. ☝🏻

Queensland is introducing four streams in this year: for graduates, small business owners, skilled candidates living in-state and overseas.

State migration programs were introduced in Australia to allow States and Territories to nominate skilled and business migration applicants under a broad range of industries. This is to help meet skills shortages in their labour markets and attract business and investment.

06/09/2024

Sc 482 visa work experience policy Update

The Sc 482 visa application policy regarding work experience was amended in August.

The policy regarding work experience now appears to be more flexible as there is no longer an expectation that the work experience be undertaken in the last five years as this sentence has been removed from the current policy.

Further, the sentence that stated that casual employment should not be counted towards meeting the work experience requirement has been removed and the policy confirms that there is no requirement that the work be full time in order for the applicant to satisfy the work experience requirements.

The policy now states the following:

Work experience obtained while working full-time is preferred and would weigh strongly in an applicant’s favour, however, there is no requirement that the work be full-time in order for an applicant to satisfy clause 482.221 of the Regulations.

The period of work experience does not need to be continuous.

Contact me with any questions regarding employer sponsored visas and TSS 482 visas.

[email protected]
+61 7 3040 8444

04/09/2024

Digital Commonwealth statutory declarations

The Statutory Declarations Act 1959 was amended to allow for digital Commonwealth statutory declarations to be made through myGov.

At present, myGov is the only approved online platform that can create a digital statutory declaration.

This means a Digital Identity can now be used as verification instead of a witness verifying identity.

Other options to complete a Commonwealth statutory declaration are still available and a Commonwealth statutory declaration can still be made using a witness.

04/09/2024

Over 150 dormant VET providers shut down

The National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment came into effect earlier this year.

The Bill amended the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act to automatically lapse the registration of registered training organisations (RTOs) that have not delivered training and assessment for 12 months.

Using these amendments to legislation, the Government has shut down over 150 dormant vocational education and training (VET) providers.

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) is keeping an eye on an additional 140 registered training organisations (RTOs) who have received a warning notice.

They must resume quality training by the end of 2024 or face deregistration. Those who don’t resume satisfactory training will be found out and action will be taken to shut them down.

04/09/2024

VETASSESS shorter assessment times for professional and general occupations

VETASSESS have reduced their processing times for skills assessment for porfesssional and other non-trade occupations.

The standard assessment previously used to take 10 to 15 weeks and now it is expected to take 8 to 10 weeks.



[email protected]
+61 7 3040 8444

23/08/2024

VETASSESS shorter assessment times for professional and general occupations

VETASSESS have reduced their processing times for skills assessment for porfesssional and other non-trade occupations.

The standard assessment previously used to take 10 to 15 weeks and now it is expected to take 8 to 10 weeks.

Contact me with any questions

[email protected]
+61 7 3040 8444

19/08/2024

Offshore applications for NT nomination have reopened for the NT Family Stream and Job Offer Stream only.

Due to the significant volume of applications received to date, the Priority Occupations Stream will remain suspended.

Existing offshore applications made under the Priority Occupations Stream will continue to be assessed. There are likely to be significant delays in assessing these applications.

06/08/2024

Tasmania doubles migrant intake for 2024-25

Working closely with the Australian Government, Migration Tasmania has secured more than double the number of nomination places for the 2024-2025 program year.

With the significant majority of places going to the Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa – 2,100 of the total – Tasmania will become an attractive destination for migrants hoping to obtain permanent residency.

The Minister for Skills and Training, Felix Ellis, stated that a number of sectors were in need of skilled workers, including healthcare, building and construction, advanced manufacturing and renewable energy, and the tourism and hospitality industries.

The increased quota was in recognition of “the importance of ensuring Tasmanian businesses have access to more skilled workers so they can help deliver the services our communities need”.

Minister Ellis was expecting a “high response rate” once the Tasmanian program reopens in the coming weeks.

19/07/2024

📣 New skilled nomination allocation 2024-2025 – WA, ACT and VIC

Dear applicants for an Australian skilled visa, we have some exciting news for you!

Today, it's been announced how the nominations are allocated for certain Australian states. As expected, the number of nominations was slightly increased. I want to point out that a correlation between the number of nominations and the "regionality" of the state and/or visa is quite obvious.

💥Western Australia will receive 5,000 spots for skilled migration invitations. The state hasn't specified how these spots will be divided among the visas, but it's evident that the number of nominations has more than doubled - last year, the state received only 2,350 nominations.

💥State Victoria has published updated figures with a more detailed breakdown: 3,000 candidates will be invited to apply for the permanent visa 190 and another 2,000 for the temporary visa 491. This is a +51% increase compared to the 2023-2024 program year. For comparison, last year the state could invite a total of only 3,300 candidates.

💥The Australian Capital Territory has also released its allocation information. In the new financial year, 1,800 professionals will be invited to apply: 1,000 people for the 190 visa and another 800 for the 491 visa. This is exactly +50% more than the territory received last year.

[email protected]
+61 7 3040 8444

12/07/2024

VETASSESS Update

On Monday, July 15, VETASSESS will resume accepting new applications for two trade occupations:

Metal Machinist (First Class), ANZSCO Code 323214

Electrician (General), ANZSCO Code 341111

VETASSESS paused new applications in September 2023 so they could focus on processing current cases, and they are reopening these occupations following discussions with Trades Recognition Australia (TRA).

All of the 27 trade occupations they assess will be open to new applications from next Monday.

05/07/2024

Summary of the 1st of July Major Immigration Changes

Immigration Changes July 2024 Discover significant immigration changes effective July 1, 2024 that reshape the Australian immigration landscape.

29/05/2024

📣 Increase to TSMIT 🔔

The increase to the minimum salary threshold for the Sc 482 and 494 visas (known as "TSMIT") represents a significant rise in costs for many organisations.

Following the Government’s commitment at the Jobs and Skills Summit in 2022 and the announcement in the Migration Strategy last year, the Department has announced that the TSMIT will increase from $70,000 to $73,150 effective from 1 July 2024.

New nomination applications that are lodged from 1 July 2024 will need to meet the new TSMIT or the annual market salary rate, whichever is higher.

This change will not affect existing visa holders and nominations lodged prior to 1 July 2024.

The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that more information will be made available regarding future income thresholds and the indexation methodology, including for the new Skills in Demand visa, later in 2024.

Contact Visa Lounge Australia with any questions on:

[email protected]
+61 7 3040 8444

23/05/2024

✅ New 192 Pacific Engagement Visa to start on the 3rd of June 2024.

The Pacific Engagement Visa is a new permanent resident visa for participating countries across the Pacific and Timor-Leste which will deepen connections between Australia and the region.

Up to 3,000 visas, inclusive of partners and dependent children, will be made available annually to Pacific and Timor-Leste nationals through a ballot process.

Read our 192 visa article to learn everythign you need to know about this new pathway to permanent residency.

[email protected]
+61 7 3040 8444

Stay informed about the new 192 Pacific Engagement Visa, effective from 3 June 2024. Discover eligibility criteria and application process.

15/05/2024

The allocation for permanent visa places have been published today. The various States and Territories allocations have not been announced as yet.