Cap and Cease arrangements for offshore General Skilled Migration visa applications

The Department of Immigration and Border protection have today advised that the following visas are subject to Cap & Cease:

• Skilled – Independent (subclass 175)
• Skilled – Sponsored visa (subclass 176)
• Skilled – Regional Sponsored visa (subclass 475)

Any applications for the above visas which have not been finalised prior to today will be deemed to of not been made and a full refund will be issued.

It is expected refunds will take roughly 15 weeks to be issued.

The cap sets the maximum number of places that can be granted in the 2015–16 financial year for these visa subclasses. This total has already been reached. Therefore, applications for these visas that were not finalised before 22 September 2015 are taken not to have been made and the relevant visa application charge will be repaid to affected applicants.

If your application is affected by the Cap and Cease determination, we will send you, or your authorised recipient (if you have one), a letter of notification.

If you are needing any assistance with these latest changes please get in contact with one of our immigration agents today!