Invitations For Pro Rata Occupations
This post reflects the legal landscape as of the date of publication. Laws may have changed since then. Please consult a legal professional for current information and personalised advice.
Each year, Australia’s Minister for Immigration sets a limit on the number of skilled migrants allowed per year for each occupation category. This quota is called an ‘occupation ceiling’.
Some of the more popular occupations reach the ceiling before the end of the financial year (1 July – 30 June) and then no further invitations are issued for that group for the rest of the financial year. These more popular occupations are subject to ‘pro rata’ arrangements. Essentially this means the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) will only release a certain number of invitations each month in order to maintain a steady intake throughout the year of these particularly popular occupations. So, who is particularly affected?
- Accountants 2211
- Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers 2212
- Electronics Engineers 2334
- Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers 2335
- Other Engineering Professionals 2339
- ICT Business and System Analysts 2611
- Software and Applications Programmers 2613
- Computer Network Professionals 2631
Because invitations are limited in each round, these occupations are subject to higher minimum points to satisfy and longer waiting times for an invitation.
The Expression of Interest system is a competitive one and does not always result in a successful invitation from the department. The period of time it takes before an invitation is sent to you is dependent on many factors, those of which include:
- the amount of points you hold and
- the time in which you reached this points score
This process is further complicated if you fall under the pro rata arrangements. It is also important to note that Skillselect first allocates available places to Skilled – Independent (subclass 189) visas and then remaining to Skilled – Regional (subclass 489) (Provisional – Family Sponsored) visas. If all places are taken up by subclass 189 visas then there will be no invitations issued for subclass 489 visas.
The recent results of the 9 August 2017 round of invitations may prove helpful in determining your prospects in receiving an invitation (specifically the minimum points that are required if you are under a pro rata arrangement). These results can be accessed via the website (https://www.border.gov.au/WorkinginAustralia/Pages/9-August-2017-round-results.aspx). All of the pro rata occupations required at least 70 points in this round.
To improve your prospects, you need as many points as possible and to lodge as soon as possible. Not as easy as it sounds, we know. Once you get your head around the points visa system you can think it is pretty straight forward that said we’ve seen some unfortunate circumstances where individuals manage to get an invitation by themselves but once they lodge the visa, they find out from DOHA they did it incorrectly. Moral of the story? Don’t gamble with your future, if you wouldn’t fix your car yourself why do you want to do your visa yourself?