SkillSelect Results July-August 2016

webster By Mark Webster
Wednesday, 10 August 2016

Results are now available for the July 2016 SkillSelect Invitation Rounds as well as 3 August 2016 invitation round.

The SkillSelect process is still full of surprises with many unexpected outcomes so far, even though we are only 3 rounds into the new program year.

Skilled Independent Subclass 189 Invitations

The minimum score to receive an invitation for a Skilled Independent Subclass189 visa for most occupations has been 60 for the 3 invitation rounds so far this program year.

2,202 invitations were sent for the first round on 7 July, then 848 on 21 July and 1,400 on the 3rd of August.

It appears that there were some systems issues for the 21 July round and as a result, there were no invitations issued in pro-rata occupations and this most likely impacted on the number of invitations issued on 21 July.

Pro Rata Occupations

Pro-rata occupations are those where a large number of EOIs have been lodged, and the occupational ceiling would be at risk of being met early in the program year. As a result, the minimum score for an invitation in a pro-rata occupation may be higher, or the waiting time may be longer than other occupations.

The number of pro-rata occupations has been doubled from 3 to 6. This reflects a high number of invitations being issued in the occupations of Other Engineering Professionals and Computer Network Professionals in the first two rounds of the program year, as well as the addition of the Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers occupational group which filled very quickly last program year.

Invitation numbers are below:

ANZSCO Occupation 7 Jul 2016 21 Jul 2016 3 Aug 2016
2211 Accountants 104 0 208
2212 Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers 55 0 110
2611 ICT Business and System Analysts 60 0 120
2613 Software and Applications Programmers 230 0 460
2339 Other Engineering Professionals 423 80 28
2631 Computer Network Professionals 421 140 50

In terms of points score, Accountants and Auditors have needed 70 points for a 189 invitation so far. ICT Business Analysts and Software Engineers currently require 65 points, and 60 points is required for Other Engineering Professionals and Computer Network Professionals. We expect the scores for Other Engineering Professionals and Computer Network Professionals to increase to 65 or even 70 when considering how close these occupations are to their occupational ceilings.

Minimum scores required for an invitation in these occupations are as follows:

ANZSCO Occupation 7 Jul 2016 21 Jul 2016 3 Aug 2016
2211 Accountants 70 #N/A 70
2212 Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers 70 #N/A 70
2611 ICT Business and ​System Analysts 70 #N/A 65
2613 Software and Applications Programmers 65 #N/A 65
2339 Other Engineering Professionals 60 60 60
2631 Computer Network Professionals 60 60 60

Skilled Regional Provisional Subclass 489 - Family Sponsored

This year, Immigration has announced that their policy of prioritising the Skilled Independent Subclass 189 program will continue. As a result, it will continue to be difficult to get an invitation for a Skilled Regional (Provisional) Subclass 489 visa in the Family Sponsored stream if you have a pro-rata occupation.

The number of invitations being issued so far is 100 per invitation round - this is far higher than the 10 per month we saw for most of the 2015-16 program year. As a result, the minimum score for an invitation has now reduced to 60 as of the 3 August round. Waiting time for an invitation if you have 60 points is now 50 weeks, but we expect this to reduce in the next few months, if the current level of invitations continues.

Occupational Ceilings

As the table below illustrates, there are a number of occupations where a very high proportion of the occupational ceiling has already been filled.

This would include the occupations of:

  • Other Engineering Professionals
  • Computer Network Professionals
  • Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers
  • Electronics Engineers

We expect these occupations to either be put on the pro-rata list (in which case minimum points or waiting time is likely to increase) or to be filled very quickly this program year.

ANZSCO Occupation 7 Jul 2016 21 Jul 2016 3 Aug 2016 Total Invitations Occupational Ceiling % Filled
2339 Other Engineering Professionals 423 80 28 531 1000 53.1%
2631 Computer Network Professionals 421 140 50 611 1426 42.8%
2335 Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers 391 99 72 562 1539 36.5%
2334 Electronics Engineers 71 72 41 184 1000 18.4%
2211 Accountants 104 0 208 312 2500 12.5%
2613 Software and Applications Programmers 230 0 460 690 5662 12.2%
2611 ICT Business and Systems Analysts 60 0 120 180 1482 12.1%
2212 Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers 55 0 110 165 1413 11.7%
2633 Telecommunications Engineering Professionals 37 41 28 106 1000 10.6%
2331 Chemical and Materials Engineers 33 36 24 93 1000 9.3%
2332 Civil Engineering Professionals 59 74 57 190 2174 8.7%
2333 Electrical Engineers 27 39 27 93 1254 7.4%
2539 Other Medical Practitioners 14 13 23 50 1315 3.8%

Conclusion

SkillSelect remains the most challenging part of the General Skilled Migration application process.

Coming up with a strategy to give yourself the best possible chance of receiving an invitation is very important to a successful outcome.

If you would like advice on applying for general skilled migration to Australia, please book a consultation with one of our advisors through our website.

References

SkillSelect Website

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