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STATE / TERRITORY NOMINATION

STATE / TERRITORY NOMINATION FOR AUSTRALIA: State nomination assists an applicant to obtain a skilled migration visa from the Australian Government. The state nomination can assist an applicant to qualify for a skilled migration visa from the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs by providing additional points given to the principal applicant under the subclass 190 or subclass 491 application. 

The State Governments nominates skilled migrants who are willing to live and work in their respective state / territory and who have the skills and experience required by the state qualifying under state nomination.  

•    SUBCLASS 190 – SKILLED NOMINATED VISA:  The subclass 190 is processed based on the points and allows skilled workers who are nominated by an Australian state or territory government live and work in Australia as a permanent resident. An applicant must be nominated by an Australian state or territory government before applying for this visa. View: The Skilled Nominated Visa (Subclass 190)

•    SUBCLASS 491 - SKILLED WORK REGIONAL (PROVISIONAL) VISA - STATE OR TERRITORY NOMINATED: This visa will enable the applicant to qualify under skilled workers for an applicant to live, work and study in designated regional areas of Australia for 5 years. At the third year you are eligible to apply for a Permanent Residence visa.   View:  Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (subclass 491)

Under the new Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa allows skilled workers and their families to live, work and study in regional areas of Australia for up to five years. The visa provides alleyways to permanent residency after three years.

 

There are two streams under state nomination Family sponsored and State nominated:

FAMILY SPONSORED: The family sponsored visa requires the applicant to have a relative living in a regional area of Australia who is willing to sponsor and that the applicant has an occupation on the Medium- and Long-Term Skilled Shortage List (MLTSSL)

It also requires the applicant to lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI) and are invited in the monthly invitation rounds which are competitive and built on the points achieved in the points test.

STATE NOMINATED:  The state nominated visa is measured to be easier as there is a longer list of occupations available and you only often only need to achieve the minimum points to get an invitation. To apply for this visa in this stream, you still need to lodge an EOI but the invitations are referred as soon as the state or territory approves the nomination of an applicant.

To determining whether to nominate an applicant, state or territory nominating helps raise to their own criteria, which vary from state to state. As a initial point, all applicants must show they have an occupation on the relevant state or territory occupation list, and that they have a sincere purpose to reside in that state or territory towards contributing to the nominated state.  

Also, the State and territory works provide number of different 'streams' and usually cater to onshore skilled applicants, offshore skilled applicants, and current tertiary graduates. Some states also provide choices for small business owners, or applicants with family living in the state or territory.

An applicant must meet the requirements and check if the State/Territory information carefully before making an application towards the state nomination. Each application is assessed based on the point system set by the Immigration department and points are awarded in various selection standards such as  Age, Qualification, Work experience and Language proficiency. The new pass mark has been set as 65 points as minimum pass mark on General Skilled Migration Program

To obtain state nomination for Australian PR an applicant needs to be nominated by an Australian territory or state government agency.  

•    The applicant should score a minimum of 65 points or more based on the information provided in the Expression of Interest (EOI) application. 

•    Under state nomination an applicant can qualify under Skilled Nominated visa under different subclasses and should meet the nomination requirements. 

•    The applicant should have a positive skills assessment at the time of invitation.  

•    The applicant should be aged under 45 years of age at the time of invitation to achieve maximum points to qualify. 

•    An applicant can apply for state nomination and should meet the required visa requirements, and see if the occupation is on the State Skilled Occupation List,  before lodging an application with the Department of Home Affairs.

PLEASE NOTE: State nomination does not automatically result in the grant of Residence visa. An application must also be assessed by the Department of Home Affairs against several visa-specific requirements to qualify in granting the Residence visa. 

THE BENEFITS OF STATE NOMINATION ARE:

• Access to an extensive list of occupations in the particular state of nomination 
• Additional points towards the Department of Home Affairs points test for the 190 and 491 visas 
• Priority visa application processing for the subclass 491 visa

2022-23 MIGRATION PROGRAM:  Australian Government, Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has planned the 2022-23 Migration Program to boost Australia’s economic recovery and drive social strength outcomes in the post-pandemic environment. The 2022-23 Migration Program have a planning level of 160,000 places.

STATE AND TERRITORY GOVERNMENT NOMINATE AN APPLICATION: The Federal Government recalls final responsibility for Australia's migration program, with the allocation of available places across program streams and making decisions on visa applications. Under arrangement with the Federal Government, state and territory governments can nominate a limited number of applicants under skilled, business and investor visa subclasses.

• States usually select an application-based invitation process to ensure that state nominees are affiliated to the skills needs of the state's economy.
• An applicant cannot directly apply for state nomination.
• The state nomination selection process of inviting applicants happens throughout the financial year. 
• There are no set dates or and rounds are not announced beforehand the selection process of state nomination. 
• The applicant should be considered in a state invitation round, and the applicant must meet the basic criteria such as the visa class set by the Home affairs. 
• The applicant’s occupation should be within an ANZSCO unit group identified on the State Skilled Nominated Skills List; AND should be eligible for the Skilled Nominated visa for which the applicant is nominated.
• An applicant can be either currently residing in Australia or offshore, and have continuously done so for a minimum period of six months. 
• The applicant must meet the minimum skilled work experience and point score for your unit group under which the applicant is applying and should be in the Skilled Nominated Skills List next to the name of unit group. 
• For skilled migrants, state nomination can assist you to qualify for a skilled migration visa from the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, providing additional points towards your subclass 190 or subclass 491 application. 
• Before an application is made for the state nomination, the applicant should have the minimum requirement for his application to be selected from the Department of Home Affairs visa requirements, the applicant’s occupation should be on the State Skilled Occupation List and should have the eligibility to qualify.
• State nomination does not automatically result for an applicant to be granted a visa. The application need to be assessed by the Department of Home Affairs against several visa-specific requirements, you will only be granted a visa if all requirements are met.

 

Find below the eight different states that allow an applicant to nominate an application:

 

State/ Territory	Links to requirements
New South Wales	NSW Skilled Migration Nomination Requirement 2021-2022 (190 Visa) NSW Subclass 190 Skilled Occupation list Skilled occupation list for NSW 491 visa NSW Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) requirements NSW 491 Regional Skilled Occupation list (Stream 1) NSW 491 Regional Skilled Occupation list (Stream 2 and 3)
Victoria	Victoria Skilled visa nomination program 2021-2022 (190 and 491 visa)
South Australia	South Australia Skilled Migration Program 2021-2022 (190 and 491 visa) South Australia’s Skilled occupation list
Western Australia	Western Australia 190 and 491 nomination requirements. Western Australian skilled migration occupation list (WASMOL)
Northern Territory	Northern Territory 190 Visa requirements NT Migration Occupation List
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)	ACT Canberra Small Business Owner Pathway ACT Skilled Migration Nomination Requirements (190 and 491 visa) Canberra Matrix Points Calculator
Tasmania	Tasmania 491 Visa Requirements (2021-2022) Tasmanian Skilled Occupations List (TSOL) Tasmania Small Business Owner Stream – 491 visa Tasmania Skilled Migration Nomination Requirements (2021-2022) Tasmania 190 Visa Requirements (2021-2022)
Queensland	491 visa criteria for Queensland Queensland Skilled Occupation Lists Far North Queensland DAMA 491 Visa – Queensland Small Business Owners Pathway

 

 

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