The Queensland government has announced today that the state sponsorship list will remain closed on the 1st of July. This is because the Queensland Government has not received their allocation of places from the Department of Home Affairs to invite potential occupations to apply for residency.
Normally, the Qld government receives allocations of places in July and October to then invite certain occupations to apply. Last year, the program for the 190 visa opened in July for 24 hours and again in November for 24 hours making it competitive to receive an invitation.
Note: Other states including Victoria have also made similar announcements this morning
What this means for you?
This means that for those of you looking for state sponsorship you will need to wait until Queensland has reopened its list and be prepared to lodge the EOI when the state opens.
As per conversations with Qld government and the information on their website, this may not happen in July – and is dependant on when they receive the allocation from the Department of Home Affairs.
What to do next?
Given the current changes with COVID19, it’s important to look at all options and potential pathways to residency. Analysing whether other states may provide options for you if they open earlier or looking at moving to regional areas to be eligible for the 491 visa (as there are generally more places allocated to this visa since November 2020).
Looking at the possibility of Employer Sponsorship through visas such as the Temporary Skill Shortage 482, Regional Employer Sponsored 494 or perhaps the Employer Sponsored 186 direct entry.
FROM THE QLD GOVERNMENT website:
BSMQ has not yet received advice from Home Affairs in regards to Queensland’s nomination allocation for FY20-21 and when we will be able to re-open the business and skilled program. Once we receive advice on nomination allocation, we will post details to the BSMQ homepage and across our social media channels.