Australian State Nomination updates
The ACT and NSW Migration programs reopen to overseas candidates whose occupation is included in the respective skills list. This means that half of the Australian states/territories are now prepared to nominate offshore applicants, with the other two being South Australia (certain occupations only) and Tasmania (for occupations included in Tasmanian Skilled Occupation List)
NSW uses a selection-based invitation process for the submitted Expressions of Interest (for nominations under Sc 190 visa) and Registrations of Interest (for nominations under Sc 491 visa), where for ACT nomination under either visa subclass applicants need to additionally complete the Canberra Matrix, a merit based assessment tool where you can score points for occupation, employment, English, study, close family ties, etc.
Only Matrix with a nominated occupation on the current ACT Critical Skills List will be selected and, if ranked, invited to apply for ACT nomination. Latest ACT Critical Skills List can be found here: https://www.act.gov.au/migration/skilled-migrants/act-critical-skills-list. It has over 60 ANZSCO occupation Unit Groups and gets updated every 4 months. Different criteria apply to those seeking nomination under Sc 190 and Sc 491 visa.
The NSW Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) occupation list includes over 50 ANZSCO occupation Unit Groups and can be found here:https://www.nsw.gov.au/topics/visas-and-migration/skilled-visas/nsw-skilled-occupation-lists. Certain occupations require a minimum three years’ work experience in that nominated (or closely related) occupation.
NSW Invitation rounds occur throughout the financial year; there are no set dates, and they are not announced beforehand.
A list of participating NSW regions and their occupation lists can be found here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/topics/visas-and-migration/skilled-visas/nsw-skilled-occupation-lists
Applicants seeking nomination from NSW under Sc 491 visa can only submit a Registration of Interest during a submission window. Submission windows for the 2021-22 financial year are the months of August, October, January, and March.
