Australia: New Skilled Visa Processing Priorities Released

The Department of Home Affairs of Australia released a new Ministerial Direction providing the order of priority of processing for skilled nominations and visa applications. Under the new Direction, applicants for employer sponsored nominations and skilled visa applications will be prioritized in the following order: Those in relation to certain healthcare or teaching occupations are first in priority; those lodged or nominated by an Approved sponsor with Accredited Status are second in priority; those in relation to an occupation to be carried out in a designated regional area are third in priority; those that count toward the migration program (excluding Subclass 188) are fourth in priority; and followed by all other visa or nomination applications. Furthermore, the Australian government will continue prioritizing provisional and permanent skilled applications lodged by applicants located outside Australia and holders of Hong Kong SAR and British National (Overseas) passports. Both new and existing applicants who have lodged their applications but have not yet received a final determination will be able to benefit from the new Directive.