The way skilled migration works is based on a points system. Generally speaking, historically the more points you had the better chance you have at receiving residency. But over the last 2 years, skilled migration has become more about state sponsorship that just having the most points. In this blog, we will tell you what states are better for permanent residency in 2021.
What is state sponsorship?
If you’ve decided you want to come to Australia. You have friends that are there and they keep telling you of these beautiful beaches and how you can have a great quality of life. But where you choose to go is super important if residency is your ultimate goal, as State Sponsorship has increasingly become the easiest and sometimes only way to achieve permanent residency in Australia.
State sponsorship is where different states in Australia choose the occupations they need in their state and place them on their state sponsorship list. Then, each state has their own requirements on what you need to do to gain state sponsorship.
Western Australia
For example, Western Australia has a great graduate occupation list. What this means is that if you study for 2 years in Western Australia, you have an occupation on their graduate list and you have a job offer (or post qualification experience) in your field, then you can apply for Western Australian state sponsorship.
Example:
If you are a Civil Engineer from Mexico. Then you can study an MBA in Western Australia for two years. At the end, if you have a full time job offer as an engineer when you graduate, then you are eligible to apply for Western Australian state sponsorship (permanent residency).
Tasmania
Tasmania on the other hand, has more variety in their state sponsorship list. For example, like Western Australia, Tasmania has a state sponsorship list for graduates in Tasmania. In Tasmania, if you’ve studied for 1 year you may be eligible for the 491 and if you’ve studied 2 years, then you may be eligible for the 190.
And unlike Western Australia, Tasmania also has a working in Tasmania list and an offshore list. While most states are closed to inviting people from overseas, Tasmania has opened up to offshore applications for those on the Tasmanian Skilled Occupation List and more so, for people on the list with a job offer.
Example:
If you studied elsewhere in Australia (as a Chef). Then, you could find a job and work at least for 6 months in Tasmania on your 485 visa. In this scenario, you could potentially apply for state sponsorship in Tasmania.
Queensland
Queensland is another state that in normal times, has had 4 lists. Post graduate list, working in Queensland regional list (491), working in Queensland (190) and offshore list. Each list had different requirements but in a nutshell, with the working in Queensland lists (recently open) it’s 3 months working full time in your occupation with an offer for another 12 months – 491 and 6 months working full time in your occupation with an offer for another 12 months – 190 visa.
Example:
If you study carpentry for 2 years in Queensland. During your 485 visa you could move to Gold Coast and get 3 months full time experience. Just with that time, you could apply for 491 if you have job offer for additional 12 months
Finally, it is important to mention that 2020/21 has been a different year for state sponsorship and migration in general. As you can see from the table below, different states were given different places for each visa.
All in all, every state has a different offering when it comes to state sponsorship and it’s super important to have a personalised plan based on your particular case. And there will likely be an plan a, b and maybe c. COVID has also had a big impact but given the Australian economy is doing well again, unemployment is low and many industries are again, experiencing a skill shortage, we hope to see bigger numbers for state sponsorship in 2021/22
Remember all the previous examples are general in nature and it is better to contact us to have your personalised strategy to get permanent residency in Australia!