‘Visas in three days’ for teachers and nurses who want to come to Australia

Visas for teachers and healthcare workers are now being assessed within days after the Australian government changed the way it prioritises skilled visa applications.

Skilled visa applications for teachers and healthcare workers are now being assessed in just three days after a change to how skilled visas are prioritised.

The Department of Home Affairs has stopped using the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) to rank skilled visa applications as it was seen as outdated and no longer reflected the critical workforce shortages seen across Australia.

The list, which was introduced in September 2020, previously identified 44 occupations on the wider Skilled Migration Occupation List (SMOL) to fast-track amid the COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Its use was discontinued from 28 October this year.

The list included occupations such as engineers, chefs, accountants, psychiatrists, programmers and pharmacists. It also included healthcare workers such as nurses and doctors, but not teachers.

The Department of Home Affairs says the new Ministerial Direction No. 100, which directs department staff to perform certain actions, now prioritises visas in the health and education sectors.

“These applications are now being assessed in three days,” a spokesperson for the department told SBS News.

The change applies to all skilled visa nomination and visa applications that are yet to be decided, as well as new applications lodged including temporary, employer-sponsored and regional visas. The full list is below.

It also removes priority for the global talent and business innovation and investment programs.

Occupations now being prioritised include school teachers, health and welfare support workers, childcare centre managers, medical scientists, counsellors, psychologists, social workers and medical technicians.
New order of priority for skilled visa applications
Under the new ministerial direction, skilled visa applications are now being decided in the following order of priority:

1. Healthcare or teaching occupation applications;
2. For employer-sponsored visas, applicants nominated by an Approved sponsor with Accredited Status;
3. Those for a designated regional area;
4. For permanent and provisional visa subclasses, visa applications that count towards the migration program, excluding the Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa;
5. All other visa applications.

For all categories above, priority will be given to holders of eligible passports as not all visa streams are open to every nationality.

Within each category, priority is given to applicants located outside Australia for provisional and permanent skilled visa applications.

News source: SBS News