These are points tested categories for Permanent Residency, available to skilled applicants under the age of 45 years. Points are awarded for an applicant’s age, English language ability, employment experience, qualifications, etc. Additional points can also be awarded for Australian work experience, Australian qualifications, partner’s skills, etc.

Applicants for these visa categories need to nominate an occupation on the relevant  Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List and Short-term Skilled Occupation List  and have their skills assessed by the relevant Skills Assessing Authority.

Applicants applying under the State Sponsored Skilled Nominated category must be sponsored by an Australian State or Territory Government.

Under the current Regulations, applicants for Skilled Points Tested Visas must first lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI) with the Immigration Department. The Department reviews EOI’s received and periodically issues invitations to lodge visa applications, to candidates with the highest ranking.

These programs allow Australian employers to nominate applicants for Permanent Residency, which will allow them to work and reside in Australia permanently. This visa is suitable for applicants who have a suitable job offer in a skilled occupation, from a suitable Australian employer.

Applicants should be under the age of 45 (Direct Entry) or 50 (Temporary Residence Transitional); however, older applicants may still be eligible to apply in limited circumstances.

RSMS is specifically for employment in areas classified as regional Australia. The requirements are less rigorous than under the ENS program, however, requires certification from Regional Bodies. Applicants approved for an RSMS visa must live and work in regional Australia for a period of at least 2 years after their visa has been granted.

There are a number of different visas available in this category. These visas are designed for investors or business people who have an overall successful record of business and/or investment activities, have significant assets and have a genuine commitment to maintain business and/or investment activity in Australia.

The Significant Investor visa was recently introduced to the business program. This visa requires an investment in Australia of 5 million dollars or more.

Commonly known as the 457 visa, this program was recently overhauled and replaced with the new Temporary Skilled Shortage (TSS) Subclass 482 Visa. This program allows employers to sponsor applicants for Temporary Residency and allow them to work in Australia for their sponsor only.

This visa is suitable for applicants who have a suitable job offer, in a skilled occupation, from a suitable Australian or overseas employer.

In some cases, employment experience alone will satisfy the skills criteria of this visa. Due to this, the TSS visa may be an alternative when applicants are not eligible under the General Skilled Migration program, due to lack of formal qualifications. This visa is often a stepping-stone to achieving Permanent Residency via the Employer Nomination Scheme, although recent changes have limited the opportunities to convert to Permanent Residency.

This visa allows parents to migrate to Australia permanently, to join their children who are living in Australia as Citizens or Permanent Residents. To qualify for this visa, applicants must meet the “Balance of Family Test”.

A new Temporary Sponsored Parent Visa has been proposed to allow parents of Australian Citizens or Permanent Residents to visit for periods of either 3 or 5 years. This visa is expected to be introduced later in 2018.

This category allows Australian citizens or Permanent Residents to sponsor their partner to obtain an Australian visa.

To qualify for a Partner visa, applicants must be either married to, be in a de-facto relationship or have a registered relationship with an Australian Citizen, Permanent Resident or eligible New Zealand Citizen. Processing times for these visas have escalated in recent times with application often taking more than 12 months to process.

The Prospective Marriage Visa (often referred to as the Fiancé Visa) allows applicants to come to Australia and marry their Australian fiancé. Once married applicants can then apply for a Partner visa. The Prospective Marriage Visa is suitable for applicants who are unable to meet marriage or cohabitation requirements of the Partner visa.

Proposed changes to this category include the addition of a sponsorship application for the Australian sponsor prior to the visa lodgement.

Commonly known as the Last Remaining Relative visa, it was for applicants whose only close relatives were resident in Australia as Australian Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents or eligible New Zealand Citizens. Recent increases to the processing time of these visa categories, some times in the decades, have made them a less popular option.

Student visas allow overseas applicants to study and obtain qualifications in Australia at CRICOS (Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students) accredited institutions. In some cases, International students may become eligible to apply for further stay (Temporary or Permanent) in Australia based on the qualifications they have gained.