PMSOL Australia | The Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) | Post-Pandemic Travel
Is your business facing skills shortages for critical roles that can’t be filled from the local labour market? Did you know your business may be able to access priority Government visa and nomination processing if you engage a skilled migrant with an occupation listed as critical to Australia’s post-pandemic recovery? During the pandemic, skilled visa applicants with an occupation listed on the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) may be able to access priority processing, enabling your business to engage skilled overseas professionals more quickly. If you’re a skilled individual wanting to work in Australia, you may also wish to find out more – here’s what you should know about the Critical Occupation List for Australia Immigration.
"*" indicates required fields
Australia’s Post-Pandemic Focus on Critical Skills
Thankfully for many businesses, after almost two years of requiring workers to be granted Critical Work Travel Exemptions to enter the country, participating States and Territories in Australia re-opened their international borders to skilled migrants from December 2021. Critical Work Travel Exemptions to enter Australia are no longer required to enter the country, and applicants only need a valid work visa. International testing and quarantine requirements may also apply depending on the State or Territory of arrival.
These relaxed restrictions mean employers are no longer limited to engaging overseas migrants that meet a Critical Work Travel Exemption – they can once again engage any skilled migrant that is eligible for a skilled visa. However, the Government is still prioritising the processing of visas for Critical Work or a Critical Sector in several ways. One of these ways is through a Ministerial Direction, which has been issued to prioritise visas for skilled applicants whose occupation is on the PMSOL or if their work is in a Critical Sector.
The Ministerial Direction directs the Department of Home Affairs to prioritise permanent skilled migration visas in the below circumstances and in the following order:
#1 Visas for applicants with either:
-
- Employer-Sponsored or Regional Sponsored applications where the nominated occupation is specified in the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL)
- Employer or regional-sponsored applications for occupations in the Agricultural Sector
- Global Talent Visa applications
- Business 188 Visa applications
#2 Occupations within a Critical Sector
It also provides direction for TSS 482 and 457 Temporary Skilled Visas to be prioritised in the following order:
#1 Visas for applicants with either:
-
- Nominated occupations specified in the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL)
- Nominations lodged in relation to a Global Talent Employer-Sponsored Agreement
- Nominations lodged in relation to an Agricultural Sector Occupation.
#2 Visas for applicants with nominations lodged for an occupation in a Critical Sector not mentioned in the PMSOL.
The above summary indicates the top 2 priorities for Government skilled processing, as per the Ministerial Direction. Subsequent priorities were also provided in the Ministerial Direction.
What is the Critical Occupation List for Australia Immigration?
The Australia Immigration Priority Occupation List was first announced in September 2020 to enable overseas skilled migration to fill several critical occupations in support of Australia’s COVID-19 recovery.
It is a skilled occupation list that allows businesses to sponsor visa applicants under a critical occupation with priority Government Visa and Nomination processing for the following visas:
It is important to note that the PMSOL is a temporary list and priority occupations may change in response to the COVID-19 impact on the labour market and as per the National Skills Commission and industry feedback. When the PMSOL was first announced, it only listed 17 occupations but since then, extra occupations have been added and the list has grown to 44 occupations.
Which occupations are on the PMSOL Visa? | Priority Skilled Visas Australia
A total of 44 occupations are now listed on the PMSOL for access to priority processing:
- Chief Executive or Managing Director
- Construction Project Manager
- Accountant (General)
- Management Accountant
- Taxation Accountant
- External Auditor
- Internal Auditor
- Surveyor
- Cartographer
- Other Spatial Scientist
- Civil Engineer
- Geotechnical Engineer
- Structural Engineer
- Transport Engineer
- Electrical Engineer
- Mechanical Engineer
- Mining Engineer (excluding Petroleum)
- Petroleum Engineer
- Medical Laboratory Scientist
- Veterinarian
- Hospital Pharmacist
- Industrial Pharmacist
- Retail Pharmacist
- Orthotist or Prosthetist
- General Practitioner
- Resident Medical Officer
- Psychiatrist
- Medical Practitioners nec
- Midwife
- Registered Nurse (Aged Care)
- Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency)
- Registered Nurse (Medical)
- Registered Nurse (Mental Health)
- Registered Nurse (Perioperative)
- Registered Nurses nec
- Multimedia Specialist
- Analyst Programmer
- Developer Programmer
- Software Engineer
- Software and Applications Programmers nec
- ICT Security Specialist
- Social Worker
- Maintenance Planner
- Chef
(Last updated on 4 January 2022 – you may wish to seek professional migration advice so that your circumstances can be assessed with the most updated information).
What about migrants who don’t have an occupation on the PMSOL?
Especially now that Australia’s international borders have opened to skilled migrants across participating States and Territories since December 2021, skilled visas are being processed for applicants with occupations on the standard skilled migration occupation lists. This is also the case for applicants already in Australia. However, PMSOL occupations may take priority as the Department of Home Affairs focuses on boosting post-pandemic recovery. It will be interesting to see which occupations are added to the list as more businesses appear to be facing labour shortages that have worsened during the pandemic.
About Interstaff | Skilled Visa Specialists Since 1988
Our migration agents would be happy to assess your candidate’s eligibility for skilled migration and whether they meet Australia’s critical skill classifications for visa and migration purposes. We begin by reviewing a copy of your candidate’s resume including their skills, experience, and qualifications, and then advise on the options available and application requirements. During a consultation, our migration agent will also provide advice on any visa conditions that you may need to be aware of so you can make a more informed decision. After the consultation, you can choose to engage our services to manage the sponsorship, nomination and visa application and receive ongoing advice on how to prepare the evidence requirements.
If you would like to understand your options to migrate through the Critical Occupation List for Australia Immigration pathways, we encourage you to get in touch with Interstaff’s Registered Migration Agents servicing Perth, Melbourne and Sydney on 1800 449 858 (Free Call Within Australia) or +61 8 9221 3388 (International).
Sources:
Interstaff’s Registered Migration Agents
The Department of Home Affairs – PMSOL, Ministerial Direction, Critical Skills and Sectors, 408 Visa
“I just wanted to say thank you and to let you know you have been very helpful and professional during this process. I would definitely recommend Interstaff to any of my friends in the future if they require immigration assistance.”
Chris, Partner Visa
On behalf of my family and I, we would like to thank the staff at Interstaff for working around the clock to achieve our goal of Permanent Residency. They are a great team of professionals and handled our case with very high standards. We greatly appreciate it – thank you!
MICHAEL & VIOLET, PERMANENT RESIDENCE VISA
We applied for the Offshore Partner 309/100 Visa with the advice and representation from the team here and am happy to say, after a very long period apart from my partner due to Covid, our application recently got granted the 309 Visa with my partner looking to arrive shortly and our plan is to apply for the 100 visa mid/late next year. I highly recommend the team at Interstaff for any Partner Visa applications and I feel the fee is well worth the peace of mind you have given the high level of experience the team here offers and knowing you will be represented correctly/reliably based on the evidence you provide.
ALEX , PARTNER VISA