Emigrating to Australia is About to Get Easier!

Anyone considering moving to live in Australia will be well aware of the complexities involved in applying for a visa to live, work, study or retire in Australia.  But the good news is that recent changes from the Australian Immigration Department to the most popular migration programme for skilled workers may make it easier for native English speakers to emigrate to Australia with the General Skilled Migration Program or GSM.

Yes you read it right – emigrating to Australia is about to get easier!  The significant changes to this programme will come into effect in September 2007 and in this article we detail the changes and how any skilled worker can to go about emigrating to Australia under the General Skilled Migration Program.

Changes to the General Skilled Migration Program for Immigration to Australia

On the 1st of September 2007 four significant changes will come into effect relating to the GSM program for immigration to Australia.  GSM is often the only visa programme worth considering for skilled workers seeking a permanent or temporary residence visa to live in Australia.  The changes are as follows:-

1) Subclass Restructure – the 15 old visa subclasses will be restructured and moulded into 9 subclasses which are further divided down into just four basic types making it far easier to identify which programme is most likely to suit you best –

i) skilled – regional
ii) skilled – graduate
iii) skilled – independent
iv) skilled – sponsored

2) English Language Competency – because Australia is seeking well educated individuals who can integrate fully and quickly and who can communicate effectively in their new work place, the Minister for Australian Immigration and Citizenship is placing a whole new level of emphasis on English language competency which means if you’re a native English speaker and you do well in your International English Language Test you’ll receive 25 points towards your final score and be 25 points closer to living in Australia!

3) Work Experience Relevance - anyone who has completed at least a years relevant work experience in Australia which is directly related to the nominated profession on their visa application can be awarded an extra 10 points.  Note this does not apply to those who undertook the work experience before qualifying.

4) Skilled Graduate Visa - this is a new type of temporary visa to allow foreign students who have already been studying in Australia for the past two years but who are not yet eligible to apply under the General Skilled Migration Program to remain in Australia for another 18 months to get the skills and experience they need to apply under GSM.

How to Emigrate to Australia under the General Skilled Migration Program

If you are aged between 18 and 45, you have excellent English language ability, you are not sponsored by an employer in Australia, you have recently acquired relevant work experience and you have skills or qualifications for a specific occupation that Australia is seeking as detailed on the latest Skilled Occupation List or SOL, then you should consider emigrating to Australia under the General Skilled Migration programme.

Click here to be redirected to General Skilled Migration page on the Australian Government’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s website – you can begin your application online from this page or find out any additional information that you require.