Australia Immigration processing time will be changed after 30 June 2010.
The Immigration Minister Chris Evans has set new priority processing arrangements which apply to the following visas starting from 8 February 2010:
1. Applications from people who are employer sponsored under the ENS and the RSMS.
2. Applications from people who are nominated by a state/territory government agency under a state migration plan agreed to by the minister.
3. Applications from people who are nominated by a state/territory government agency and whose nominated occupation is on the Critical Skills List (CSL).
4. Applications from people who are neither nominated nor sponsored in priority groups 1, 2 or 3, but whose nominated occupation is listed on the CSL.
5. Applications from people who are nominated by a state/territory government agency whose nominated occupation is not listed on the CSL.
6. (i) Applications from people whose occupations are listed on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL).
(ii) Aplications from people who are sponsored by family and whose nominated occupation is not listed on the CSL.
7. All other applications are to be processed in the order in which they are received.
CSL (Critical Skills List) and MODL are revoked by this new law and processing time for new applicants who lodged applications before 8 February 2010 or after will take fourth priority processing .
Australia
Immigration
Processing
time (Approx)
|
Countries |
Applicant
in Australia
at time application is
lodged
| Applicants outside Australia at time application is lodged |
|
Country (s)
classifications |
Low
Risk* |
High Risk*
|
Low
Risk |
High
Risk |
|
General Skilled Migration (GSM)
2
|
18-20 months
|
18-24 months
|
18 months
|
24 months
|
|
Skilled – Regional Subclass 887
3 |
12 months
|
12 months
|
n/a |
n/a |
|
Skilled – Regional Sponsored
Subclass
487 |
18-20 months
|
18-24 months
|
n/a |
n/a |
|
Skilled – Regional Sponsored
Subclass 475 Only (State/Territory Sponsor)
|
n/a |
n/a |
12
months |
18
months |
|
Skilled – Graduate Subclass
485 |
5 months
|
5 months
|
n/a |
n/a |
|
Skilled – Recognised Graduate
Subclass
476 |
n/a |
n/a |
7
months |
7
months |
1 Applicants applying for
an Offshore General Skilled
Migration
(GSM)
visa can be either
in or out of
Australia at time
of lodgement though must be offshore at
time of grant.
Exceptions apply
for holders of a
Special category Visa
(Subclass
444),
who can be in or out of
Australia at time
of grant for an Offshore GSM visa.
2 This includes the
following permanent GSM visas:
Skilled – Independent
(Residence) visa (Subclass 885)
(Onshore)
Skilled – Independent
(Migrant) visa (Subclass 175) (Offshore)
Skilled – Sponsored
(Residence) visa (Subclass 886)
(Onshore)
Skilled – Sponsored
(Migrant) visa (Subclass 176)
(Offshore)
3 The Skilled – Regional
(Subclass 887) visa is only available to
holders of the
following
provisional GSM
visas:
Skilled – Independent
Regional (Subclass 495)
Skilled – Designated
Area Sponsored (Subclass 496)
Skilled – Regional
Sponsored (Subclass 487) (Onshore)
or
Skilled – Regional
Sponsored (Subclass 475)
(Offshore)
* Low risk applies to
Nationals from countries which issue
Electronic Travel
Authority (ETA)
eligible
passports. A list of these can
be
found on the department's website.
High
risk
countries are
those which are not
ETA
eligible.
At
time of typing,
the current low
risk
countries are:
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Brunei
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong
Kong
SAR
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Malta
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
San
Marino
Singapore
South
Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United
Kingdom
United States Of
America
Vatican City
If
your
country is
not listed above then your process
considered
in hight risk countries and
eligible for
ETA processing
system.
An ETA is equivalent to a visa, but there is no stamp or
label in your passport and there is no
need for you to visit
an Australian
diplomatic office
to submit an
application.
Applications for ETAs can
be submitted
through travel agents
or airlines.
The ETA is issued electronically by a computer system
operated for the Department of
Immigration And Citizenship
(DIAC) of
Australia.
When an application for an ETA is submitted, all you need
to do is enter the details from your
passport and your credit
card
information.
The application is processed
immediately.
Approved applications are
electronically
recorded on
Australian
Government
systems.
When you arrive at an airport for check-in on a flight to
Australia, the airline check-in staff
can electronically
confirm that you have
authority to board the flight to
Australia.
Note:
Applications which submitted
incomplete or missing documents or
forms data then the
processing
time will
take much longer then
mentioned in
table above and also
depending on the
completeness and
complexity of the
case.
International Lawyers & Immigration
Solicitors
