In a series of presentations held for Australian Immigration Lawyers and migration agents in each capital city in Australia, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) have announced the occupations available for the much anticipated State Migration Plans.

DIAC announced that the State and Territory Governments will be able to select occupations from the Employer Nomination Skilled Occupation List (ENSOL) which is significantly broader than even the current Skilled Occupation List.  It was also confirmed that all occupations currently on the ENSOL will remain on the list after 1 July 2010, however, they may be differently described to reflect the move from the ASCO definition of occupations to ANSCO. To facilitate the move from ASCO and ANSCO the Department of Immigration also indicated that a DIAC endorsed correlation table will be published on their site to assist in matching old ASCO occupations to their new ANSCO equivalent.

DIAC explained that “with the introduction of a new more targeted SOL in mid 2010, State and Territory Migration Plans will provide State and Territory Governments with more flexibility to sponsor applicants for a broad range of occupations which are not on the SOL.”

It was also announced that the State Migration Plan process will require the State and Territory Government’s to seek approval from DIAC as to the occupations to be included in their Plan based on detailed research regarding the demand for particular occupations in the area.  In addition, they will have 100 extra places to sponsor for occupations which are on the ENSOL but are not included in their State Migration Plan.

DIAC indicated that the State Migration Plans are anticipated to be at priority level 2 under new processing guidelines to be announced after 1 July 2010.

It was indicated that DIAC expect the majority the State Migration Plans will be finalised by 1 July 2010.
 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Related Australian State Migration Plan Articles:

State Migration Plan Now Available!

State Migration Plan - South Australia Planning Levels Reached

State Migration Plans Update - 2 November 2010

State Migration Plan - New Details Released

State Migration Plan - Frequently Asked Questions

Skilled Visa Processing Times

New Priority Processing Guidelines take effect 14 July 2010

State Migration Plans for General Skilled Migration Delayed

DIAC Announce Occupations Available for State Migration Plans