Business & Skilled Migration Queensland Australia (BSMQ) has announced it will temporarily open statement nomination program (BSMQ business and skilled program) from Tuesday 29 September 2020 until Monday 5 October 2020.

BSMQ indicates the following:  

• They will only pick up NEW EOIs lodged from Tuesday 29 September 2020.
• The invitation will be closed if all supporting documents have not been uploaded in 24 hours.

In the past few weeks, some Australian states and territories have opened for state nomination with limited places. There is a big focus on nominating applicants with 'critical skills' to help Australia's economic recovery post-COVID.

Rebrand to “Move to South Australia - Skilled + Business Migration”

https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/ now has a new look.

We noticed that Immigration South Australia has changed its name to Move to South Australia.

Move to South Australia has updated its criteria for interim 491 and 190 nominations to support and prioritise South Australia’s economic recovery and public health response. 

• Acceptance of the new requirements
• Explanation of what your contribution to the recovery will be (200 words or less) in either:
  • Business activity
  • Investment activity

This is according to news published by Live in Melbourne. We expect further information following the Federal Budget around 6 October 2020.

Victoria Skilled Migration - 491 visa and 190 visa

The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that Victoria continues to use the interim allocation places beyond 5 October 2020. 

By 02 October 2020, Victoria's temporary allocation for 2020-21 were: 

• 600 places for skilled subclass 190
• 200 places for skilled subclass 491
• 400 places for the business innovation and investment program

Victoria has received more than 2,400 registrations of interest received from skilled migrants, and more than 480 application from business migrants.

On 26 November 2020, Victoria has annouced that the skilled program (subclass 190 and subclass 491) remain closed to new applications. They continue to select high calibre skilled migrants for nomination from the pool of Registration of Interest submissions.

Once Victoria receives confirmation of its full 2020-21 nomination allocations for the skilled and business migration programs, it would reopen its 2020-2021 nomination for 491 visa and 190 visa soon.

It will only select applicants to apply for Victorian visa nomination if their Registration of Interest demonstrates they are working in health or medical research and contributing to Victoria’s economic recovery and/or health response.  

To be considered for Victorian visa nomination, you must submit a Registration of Interest for Victorian State Visa Nomination.  Applicants who register their interest may then be selected to apply for Victorian visa nomination.  

To be eligible to submit your Registration of Interest (ROI) for Victorian visa nomination (subclass 190 and 491) you must

• be currently living in Victoria, and
• be currently employed in Victoria (minimum six months), and
• work in a highly-skilled occupation in health or medical research, which supports Victoria’s economic recovery and/or health response

VIC will then select the best candidates to apply for Victorian visa nomination.

We are expecting a further update from Live in Melbourne following 6 October 2020.

If you are interested in applying for a subclass 491 or a subclass 190 visa, you will need to be nominated by an Australian state or territory. At present, all the states and territories in Australia are closed for new nominations. This is because the Federal Government has not yet announced the quota for the program 2020-21 year.

The subclass 190 and subclass 491 visas are point-based visas, requiring visa applicants to have a minimum of 65 points, plus be nominated by an Australian State or Territory. 

With the significant decrease in migration numbers in the coming year, obtaining state/territory nomination is more competitive than ever. States and territories are more likely to nominate high quality applicants, especially those working in essental occupations to assist with post-COVID recovery. While you wait for state nomination applications to re-open, you may want to work on increasing your points to increase your chances of getting a nomination.

There is no indication for when nomination applications will be accepted again, therefore it is imperative that you have all your documents ready to lodge an application as soon as possible. Some states may work on a 'first come, first served' basis, as such, being prepared to apply for nomination as soon as applications are open may work in your favour.

In this article, we give you 4 tips to improve your chances of getting state nomination.