Australian immigration authorities have today officially started to accept applications under the new rules for the Australian Skilled Independent Visa and the State Sponsored Visa.

These two classes of visa have changed significantly in consideration to the changing demands of Australia’s economy and those that it chooses to allow to immigrate there permanently.

Although the announcement that the list was being reduced happened a while ago, applications for the visa classes dependent on occupation were frozen pending the publication of the revised list.

Not all bad news

Many felt that the reduction of the skilled occupation list (SOL) from over 400 to 180 professions would be a cut and dry synopsis on their hopes of immigration to Australia, including a lot of students’ current and future. However, the introduction of an occupation list under the sponsored visa class means that many occupations scratched from the SOL now find themselves on this secondary list. Of course you will however be required to be sponsored by the state you are immigrating to.

These changes are aimed at bringing more of the skilled workers into the country that Australia needs, especially in these economically challenging times – is there any getting away from this by-line recently?

So while the majority of people believed this would have a devastating effect on the scope of those eligible for immigration to Australia, immigration authorities have belied the doomsayers  and kept options open for most, good news we think.

Australian immigration minister - Chris Evans