SkillSelect minimum points requirement for 189 drops

The results of the September 11 SkillSelect round have been released by the Department of Home Affairs of the Australian government. The SkillSelect of Australia is for lodging an expression of interest [EOI] by a business person or a skilled worker that plans to migrate overseas to Australia.

 

Of the total 500 SkillSelect invitations issued on September 11, while 350 went to Skilled Independent visa [subclass 189], another 150 were issued to candidates under the Skilled Work Regional [Provisional] visa [subclass 491] – Family-Sponsored.

 

Subclass 189 is for foreign workers that have the skills required for living and working anywhere in Australia permanently. As subclass 189 is a points-tested stream, on the submission of an EOI under SkillSelect, a minimum of 65 points will have to be scored for the candidate to receive an invitation for applying to the visa.

 

The points allotted are an indicative points score based on the claims that are made by the candidate at the time of EOI submission.

 

The Skilled Work Regional [Provisional] visa [subclass 491] – Family Sponsored visa is for skilled people with a state or territorial nomination for living and working in regional Australia. Subclass 491 is also a points-tested stream.

 

Generally, the invitation rounds for subclass 189 and 491 are conducted every month. The total SkillSelect invitations issued vary from month to month.

 

As per the Department of Home Affairs, “The Government is closely monitoring migration and visa settings to ensure they are consistent with public health measures, are flexible and do not displace job opportunities for Australians, so that Australia can effectively respond to the immediate and subsequent impacts of COVID-19. As such, targeted invitation rounds have occurred since May 2020.”

 

As compared to the SkillSelect invitations issued in August 2020, September month has recorded an increase in the total number of invitations issued.

 

Visa Type	August 2020	September 2020	Change between August-September
Subclass 189	110 invitations Minimum score – 90	350 invitations Minimum score – 65	240 increase
Subclass 491	90 invitations Minimum score – 75*	150 invitations Minimum score – 75*	60 increase

 

*Includes the 15 extra points awarded for a nomination.

 

While there has been a drop in the minimum points required to receive an invitation under subclass 189, many of those receiving invitations were in the targeted sectors.

 

Certain occupation groups will be subject to a pro rata arrangement throughout the 2020-21 program year. By a pro rata arrangement is implied that SkillSelect will first make the allocation to subclass 189 from the spaces available.

 

The remaining spaces, if any, will then be allocated to subclass 491. If no spaces are remaining, then no invitations will be issued for subclass 491 in these occupations.

 

Occupations under pro rata arrangement for the 2020-21 program year
Occupation ID	Description
2211	Accountants
2212	Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers
2334	Electronics Engineer
2335	Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers
2339	Other Engineering Professionals
2611	ICT Business and System Analysts
2613	Software and Applications Programmers
2631	Computer Network Professionals

 

Applicants are advised to speed up their application process during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to get a speedy response.

 

If you are looking to Migrate, Study, Invest, Visit, or Work Overseas, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No. 1 Immigration & Visa Company.

If you found this blog engaging, you may also like …

Indian migrants are the second largest immigrant community in Australia