The Department of Immigration and Citizenship will conduct two invitation rounds in July 2013, occurring on 1 July 2013 and 15 July 2013. These invitation rounds will also consider occupations which had previously been closed because they had reached their occupation ceilings.
The breakdown of invitations available in the July 2013 invitation rounds are as follows:
1 July 2013
| Visa Subclass | Maximum Number |
|---|---|
| Skilled – Independent (subclass 189) | 1150 |
| Skilled – Regional Provisional (subclass 489) | 100 |
15 July 2013
| Visa Subclass | Maximum Number |
|---|---|
| Skilled – Independent (subclass 189) | 1150 |
| Skilled – Regional Provisional (subclass 489) | 100 |
Source: http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/
These are significant rounds because they are the first ones to apply the new Schedule 1 of the Consolidated Skilled Occupation List (CSOL). Schedule 1 of the new CSOL specifies the occupations which are eligible to be considered under the Skilled – Independent (Subclass 189) Visa.
Furthermore, many anticipating migrants and their migration agents are eagerly awaiting the July invitation rounds because they will reset the occupation ceilings. Chemical and materials engineers, ICT business and system analysts, telecommunication engineering professionals and software and application programmers are among those whose occupations have been capped for the 2012-2013 Migration Year.
The 1 July 2013 signifies the start of the 2013-2014 migration year, and all previous occupation ceilings will be reset, bringing the anxious wait for many to an end.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has also announced that there will be system outages starting 28 June 2013 until the 1 July 2013, a critical time for many migrants. Applicants are urged to ensure their applications are lodged prior to this time if they want to apply under the current visa application pricing and policies.
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