Skilled-Australian Sponsored visa of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship(DIAC), Australia, operates on a points based system that focuses predominantly on the skills, qualifications and work experience of the Australian skilled migration applicant.

This visa offers applicants the opportunity to migrate to Australia on the basis of their skills and/or educational background. In addition, the applicant needs to meet the basic criteria of English language ability and have their skill and qualification in an occupation in need and then satisfy the points test of 100 to qualify for skilled temporary residence.

The stream of migration to Australia targets people who are highly skilled and who will quickly make a contribution to the Australian economy

The points requirement is open to change and is dependent on decisions made by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA).

This application is supported by a sponsor to ensure that the applicant meets the necessary points requirement.

Duration

This type of visa entitles people emigrating to Australia to gain permanent residency status. After a two-year period, providing relevant criteria have been met, the visa holder may apply for Australian citizenship.

Eligibility Criteria

Age

An Australian visa application for Skilled Sponsored Migration must be lodged before the applicant reaches the age of 45.

Skills & Qualifications

The main applicant:

• Must meet the qualifications and/or work experience requirements of the appropriate skills assessing body for their profession and must have been assessed as suitable by the relevant body for the nominated occupation;
• Must nominate a skilled occupation that appears on the most recent version of the Skilled Occupations List;
• The candidate must have been in an occupations on the Skilled Occupations List for 12 of the last 24 months.

Sponsorship

The visa applicant must:

• Be related to a sponsor as a non-dependant child, a parent, a brother or sister, or a niece or nephew;
• They should also be 18 years of age or over;
• The nominated sponsor must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or in certain cases New Zealand citizens may also act as the sponsor.

Assurance of Support

To migrate to Australia under this category, the applicant must have an assurer. The assurer must also meet several requirements, including having a certain income level.

Health & Character

There is strict health and character requirements that must be met before any permanent Australian visa of more than 12 months will be granted. Those people attempting to migrate will be required to:

• Undergo a medical examination and chest x-ray undertaken by one of a panel of doctors selected by the Australian authorities, and;
• Obtain police certificates for all countries in which they have lived for more than 12 months in the 10 years leading up to the application.

Processing Times

The current processing time for the Skilled Sponsored migration visa is about 6-18 months from the date your application is lodged.