The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has announced changes to occupational ceilings in SkillSelect from 1 March 2014, after conducting an evaluation of the program late last year.
The changes are:
- State and territory nominated visas will no longer be subject to occupational ceiling limitations.
- The minimum ceiling for each occupational group will be 1000 invitations.
Traditionally, positions in certain occupational groups under the General Skilled Migration program such as Engineering and Information Technology have filled up quite quickly. As such, the removal of the state and territory nominated ceiling is likely to benefit these positions in particular.
The department says invitations will be issued on a pro rata basis, which means they will release a certain number of invitations each month in order to maintain a steady intake of applications throughout the year.
The arrangement means for migrants working in one of the following occupation types and that are eligible for a General Skilled Migration visa are likely to be extended an invitation at some point in the near future, even if they do not receive it immediately.
- Chemical and Materials Engineers
- Electronics Engineers
- Other Engineering Professionals
- ICT Business and Systems Analysts
- Software and Applications Programmers
- Telecommunications Engineering Professionals.
Details of the cut-offs for these occupations will continue to be included in the regular invitation round reports.
