Western Australia State and Regional Sponsor

24 Nov 2023

Western Australia Invitation Round

There was an invitation round for applicants from all over Australia as well as overseas earlier this week. In this invitation round, applicants received invitations from offshore, other states, and Western Australia, with considerably very low points, starting from only 65 points.

Applicants with Health Occupations under the general stream received invitations starting from very low points (65) such as Audiologist, Enrolled Nurse, Registered Nurses nec, and Retail Pharmacist.
Applicants with IT, Engineering, and Trade occupations received invitations under the Graduate and General stream
Invitations under multiple streams, other Australian states as well as from overseas such as General Practioner, Medical Laboratory Technician, Occupational Therapist, Pharmacy Technician, Psychologists nec and etc.
invitations issued after a few days of submitting EOI

Features of the 2023—24 program

no application fee;
equal invitation ranking for Interstate and Overseas candidates;
prioritised invitations for candidates with an occupation in a WA industry sector (including building and construction, health and medical, teaching, tourism and hospitality occupations) with critical demand for skilled workers; and
reduced employment requirements for candidates invited through a WA building and construction industry sector occupation.

Boosting WA's building and construction industry through skilled migration

The State Government will deliver a $47.6 million boost to Western Australia’s building and construction workforce in the 2023—24 State Budget.

This includes a range of new initiatives to ramp up local training and attract skilled workers from overseas.

The additional funding is targeted to further grow the State’s residential construction workforce and accelerate delivery of the current pipeline of homes, as well as expand industry capacity to deliver new housing supply to keep pace with population growth in WA.

Amendments to State Nomination

Additional amendments will be made to the State Nominated Migration Program (SNMP) criteria for 2023—24, including:

waiving the requirement to provide a 6-month contract of employment for visa subclass 190 applicants for building and construction trade occupations; this is great new for applicants in holding civil construction draftsperson, carpenters, bricklayers and similar occupations. If you are
prioritising of invitations for applicants in WA to retain skilled workers in the State, with applicants residing in the rest of Australia and overseas ranked equally; and
prioritising of invitations for industries with critical demand for skilled workers, including building and construction, health and medical, teaching, tourism and hospitality occupations.

Western Australia State and Regional sponsorship is the only program among all Australian states, which allows applicants to apply for Skilled Migration program even if they reside in other Australian state. So, you can apply for WA Skilled Migration program (subclass 190/491) if your occupation is in the relevant list. The relevant list is based on where you are currently residing, may it be in Western Australia, other Australian state or overseas.

Criteria for Western Australia State and Regional Sponsor

People residing overseas are now eligible to be considered for Western Australia (WA) State nomination. Invitations to apply for WA State nomination will be via the ranking system, giving preference to applicants currently residing in WA, followed by those residing in Australia and then those residing overseas.

New applications for State nomination are now being accepted.

Note that, you must have a positive Skills Assessment in a nominated Western Australian Occupation (on the stream which you are applying for)

What is Skill Assessment?

Your Skills (sometimes including Degree + Work experience) must be accredited by an Australian Skills Assessing body and you must have a positive outcome before applying for Skilled Migration in Australia.

Following are examples of few of the most popular Skills Assessment bodies in Australia:

AACA – Architects Accreditation Council of Australia, Inc
AASW – Australian Association of Social Workers
CPA - Chartered Public Accountants
TRA – Trades Recognition Australia
VETASSESS – Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services

Eligibility criteria for Western Australia Skilled Migration (General Stream, Schedule 1)

Occupation List: Have an occupation listed in the following Western Australian Schedule 1 Skilled Migration Occupation List.
Work Experience in Australia/Overseas: At least 1 Year of Australian/overseas work experience in the nominated (or closely related) occupation
Job Offer/Contract in Western Australia: Have a contract of employment for full-time employment for at least 6 months in the nominated or closely related occupation (only applicable for subclass 190). No need to have a job contract for subclass 491.

Eligibility criteria for Western Australia Skilled Migration (General Stream, Schedule 2)

Occupation List: Have an occupation listed in the following Western Australian Schedule 2 Skilled Migration Occupation List.
Job Offer/Contract in Western Australia: Have a contract of employment for full-time employment for at least 6 months in the nominated or closely related occupation (only applicable for subclass 190). No need to have a job contract for subclass 491.

Eligibility criteria for Western Australia Skilled Migration (Graduate Stream)

Occupation List: Have an occupation listed in the following Western Australian Schedule 2 Skilled Migration Occupation List.
Study Requirement: Evidence of 2 years Western Australian study