Immigration SA is introducing some changes to its general skilled migration nomination policies for international students who have been residing in SA for the long term. Immigration SA is offering greater opportunity for a nomination, with graduates of South Australia’s educational institutions benefiting the most.

• Rewarding international students that have been long-term residents of South Australia
• Expansion of the high performing graduate category for South Australian graduates
• Removal of the minimum bachelor’s degree requirement under the Chain Migration category

Rewarding international students that have been long-term residents of South Australia Immigration SA recognises the long pathway that some students take to achieving their career and permanent residency goals. Immigration SA particularly would like to recognise those current and former students that have contributed to and remained in South Australia (and no other jurisdiction) for many years, showing their ongoing commitment to the state. From 28 February 2019, Immigration SA will offer state nomination for the Provisional 489 visa to any applicant who:

• Is a current or former international student residing in South Australia; AND
• Has resided continually in South Australia since March 2012 or earlier and continues to reside in South Australia; AND
• Is currently: – working in South Australia in any occupation (does not have to be at a skilled level) for at least the last 3 months (minimum of 40 hours per fortnight); OR – studying a course with a minimum duration of one academic year in South Australia.

Expansion of the high performing graduate category for South Australian graduates Immigration SA offers state nomination without the need for work experience to students able to obtain a skills assessment where they can meet the high performing graduate settings. For South Australian graduates with a bachelor’s degree graduates or a masters by coursework after a South Australian bachelor’s degree, this work experience waiver required a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 6.0. This mark remains for those seeking nomination for a permanent 190 visa. For other students who have performed very well in their studies, but not to a GPA of 6.0 and above, Immigration SA will offer Provisional visa nomination (subclass 489) to those scoring a GPA of 5.20 to 5.99. This will allow these students to spend longer in South Australia than via other temporary pathways available, giving them more time to establish their careers. This expansion is most relevant to those students completing courses where an occupational skills assessment is possible immediately upon course completion, such as engineering and accounting/business degrees. Some courses, particularly those assessed by VETASSESS, require at least 12 months of skilled work experience before a skills assessment can be awarded. To access this waiver, the applicant must have completed their South Australia degree within the last two years and continued to live in South Australia since then. Minor change to Chain Migration Policy (removal of bachelor’s degree requirement) Since its introduction in July 2014, chain migration has allowed a pathway for many migrants to join with their family members in South Australia. For applicants with an eligible family member already residing in South Australia, the chain migration pathway offers access to occupations on the Supplementary Skilled List, but since its introduction, this required a minimum bachelor’s degree or higher. This bachelor’s degree requirement has now been removed, meaning access to a range of trade occupations that are not on the State Nominated Occupation List is now possible for those with eligible family in South Australia. The chain migration pathway continues to offer access to a provisional visa, not a permanent visa. It remains important that chain migration applicants carefully consider their likelihood of achieving skilled employment in their nominated occupation or any other occupation when making the decision to migrate, as they are being nominated primarily based on their close family links. We expect that the existing family member will be on hand to provide considerable settlement support as required. Source: Govt. of South Australia