In a migration program with little emphasis on Family Visa Applicants, the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Program has played an important part in enabling Australian Citizens/Residents to sponsor their family to join them in Australia based on their skills and qualifications which will be lost under the new points test to take effect from 1 July 2011. 

Under the proposed new points system announced by Minister Bowen yesterday, sponsorship of  family members for a permanent skilled visa will be abolished.  Sponsorship of family members for a temporary skilled visa will also be made more difficult with points awarded for having an Australian family sponsor being watered down from 25 to 10 once the new points test takes effect on 1 July 2011.

The current skilled migration program enables Australian Citizens to sponsor eligible family members for both the permanent visa subclass 176 Skilled Sponsored Visa and the temporary visa subclass 475 Skilled Regional Visa.  In the same way an independent migrant is required to have: completed a skills assessment based on formal qualifications/training, possess recent work experience and meet minimum English test standards, an Australian family sponsored visa applicant must also meet these basic skills visa requirements.  However, the advantage for family members sponsoring skilled relatives under the current subclass 176 visa scheme is a reduced pass mark of 100 compared to the passmark of 120 for a subclass 175 skilled independent visa.

Where family visa applicants are unable to meet the passmark of 100 for the 176 permanent visa, they also currently have the option of applying for the temporary 475 visa where they are awarded 25 points for having a family sponsor who resides in a specified area.  The current allocation of 25 points towards the 100 point pass mark means applicants only need 75 points from other factors.  While the subclass 475 is a 3 year temporary visa, it allows visa applicants to travel to and work in the same area as their sponsor, following which they can go on to apply for permanent residence after residing in the specified area in Australia for 2 years and obtaining full time work for 1 year.  This option will made more difficult by the points reduction from 25 to 10 points intended to take effect under the new points test on 1 July 2011.

The current Australian skilled sponsored visa scheme provides a pathway for Australian Citizens/permanent residents to sponsor family members to Australia while ensuring they are skilled, have good English language skills and will contribute to Australia.  While the overall aim of the new points test is to benefit the Australian economy, it is an unfortunate consequence that Australian Citizen/residents who want to sponsor skilled family members to Australia will lose out under the new scheme.

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