The WA Graduate Occupation List is now in effect, which means that apart from our world class universities, international students now have another reason to choose to study in WA – a priority pathway to stay in Australia. The WA State Government recently introduced the Graduate Occupation List to provide eligible international students in WA greater access to permanent residence. See if your chosen course of study appears on the WA Graduate Occupation list here. The Graduate Occupation List opens up a Graduate Stream pathway to Western Australian State nomination through either the Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated Visa or the Subclass 489 Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa.
Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated Visa
This visa allows you to live and work in Australia as a permanent resident. Before you can apply for this visa, you will need to prepare an Expression of Interest and be nominated by the State Government. This will require you to undertake a skills assessment and meet various points tested requirements to compete against others submitting an Expression of Interest under the same occupation. While the pass mark for this visa currently sits at 65 points, the number of points you need to achieve may be higher than this depending on your occupation and you will need to meet the relevant state or territory government criteria. Our migration agents can advise how you can claim the maximum number of points available to you and guide you through each step of your visa application.
Subclass 489 Skilled Regional (Provisional) Visa
Similar to the Subclass 190 Visa, you will need to prepare an Expression of Interest and meet several points tested requirements including a skills assessment before being nominated by the State Government. The main differences between this visa and the 190 visa is that the 489 only provides for a temporary stay to live and work in a regional area rather than a permanent visa. It does however provides a direct pathway to the Subclass 887 Skilled Regional Permanent Residence Visa. If you are interested in living and working regionally, find out if you are eligible with our free visa assessment.
My course/occupation is on the Graduate Occupation List – am I eligible for permanent residence?
The new WA Graduate Occupation List is now in effect, however it applies to graduates in different ways. To apply for permanent residence under the Graduate Stream, some of the occupations on the list require you to hold a Western Australian PhD or Masters Degree, whereas others only require a Bachelor or other higher degree from WA.
In addition to having your occupation appear on the WA Graduate Occupation List, you will also need to meet several other eligibility requirements – such as work experience, an offer of employment, sufficient funds and an ability to meet the English language requirements among others relating to your visa. Work experience requirements may be exempt in some cases, so we encourage you to seek professional advice if you are interested in applying for permanent residence through the new Graduate stream.
It’s also important to know occupations listed on the WA Graduate Occupation List are subject to change according to the state’s skills needs, therefore there is a chance your occupation may no longer be on the list at the time you graduate. Our migration agent team keeps up to date with any announcements made by the Government to flag occupations for removal from the list.
What are my permanent residence options if my course of study is not on the WA Graduate Occupation List?
If your course of study does not appear on the WA Graduate Occupation List, we can review other permanent residence options that may be available to you, for example through employer, partner or family sponsorship.
Studying and living in Western Australia
International students make an important contribution to the economy and it is great to see this being recognised in WA’s migration policies. As noted in our previous article, WA’s Skilled Migration Occupation List had been reduced from 178 to 18 eligible occupations for Subclass 190 and 489 Visas in 2017, therefore we are happy to see 210 occupations become listed on the WA Graduate Occupation List. It effectively opens up a pathway to permanent residence for a broader range of occupations than those listed on WA’s Skilled Migration Occupation List, which currently only lists nursing and medical practitioner occupations. The news is also welcoming given that Prime Minister, Scott Morrison confirmed last month that the Government is reviewing options to slow the flow of international student migration in Australia’s larger capital cities, Sydney and Melbourne due to population pressures.
How Interstaff can help
To find out if you are eligible for permanent residence through the new Graduate Stream and how we can assist with your application, contact Interstaff’s Registered Migration Agents for a free visa assessment on visa@interstaff.com or 08 9221 3388.
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