Engineers And Skilled Technicians At Advantage With Australian Migration
Skilled workers and technicians have been at an advantageous position in Australian migration compared to other professions. Even more so this year, when the Australian Government has introduced a wide range of amendments to current legislation to benefit engineers with prospective migration plans.
The main areas that the new changes are affecting include, but are not limited to, the Skills Assessment process, IELTS English language testing, recognition of qualifications and other accreditations and turnaround periods of results.
In the past, all engineers applying for migration in Australia had to demonstrate fluency in English by passing the requisite IELTS test. The new legislation allows applicants to sit an online TOEFL IBT (Internet Based Test) in order to prove their skills in English.
In addition, student visa holders undergoing a Bachelor of engineering, a masters or Phd program from a recognized institution will be exempt from the English language ability testing requirement.
The CDR condition (Competency Demonstration Report) can only be bypassed by an applicant with an accredited bachelor degree. The regulation enables certain Masters qualifications to be recognized as valid for a CDR exemption, allowing undergrads from overseas intuitions to undertake the specified Masters and subsequently getting the CDR condition waived.
In relation to processing times of Skills Assessment, the usual turnaround period is 13. Certain types of engineers and employers, however, enjoy the benefit of a 5-day turnaround period under the new priority-based processing service.
Skilled Recognised Graduate Visas (subclass 476) for 18 months are now on offer for interested applicants who have completed an engineering qualification with an accredited and registered educational institution, within the last 2 years.
Unlike the Graduate Temporary 485 visa, applicants need not have graduated from an Australian university to be eligible for the new visa.