Highlights
- Registrations open for Victoria’s Skilled Migration program 2021-22
- Department of Home Affairs allocates 4,000 places for Subclass 190 and Subclass 491
- Requirements for minimum experience and hours worked removed in seven target sectors
From today, Victoria’s skilled migration program opens for new registration of interest (ROI).
In this program, 3,500 places for the Skilled Nominated visa Subclass 190 and 500 for the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Subclass 491 have been allocated by the Department of Home Affairs.
Candidates currently living and working in Victoria will be assessed based on their (science, technology, engineering, and maths) skills in target sectors.
The target sectors include health, digital, medical research, life sciences, agri-food and advanced manufacturing.
Under major changes to the 2021-22 program, the requirements of minimum experience and hours worked have been removed for these sectors.
Applicants who had submitted their interest in the previous financial year and were not selected can also re-apply.
For the Skilled Nominated visa Subclass 190, an applicant can register interest for a permanent visa in the above-mentioned target sectors. Applicants for the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa Subclass 491 will have to work in designated regional areas for five years.
Following the ROI, the selected applicants will receive nominations from the state for permanent residency visas under subclass 190 whereas subclass 491 will offer a visa for a five year period. 
Unlike New South Wales, in Victoria, an applicant has to first submit his/her ROI, based on which the state offers visa nominations.
Abhijeet Singh, an accountant working in Victoria. Source: Supplied by Abhijeet Singh
For 2021-22, an applicant can submit his/her ROI any time between 7 July and 29 April 2022.
Preeti D’silva, a Sydney-based migration agent working with Better Life Migration, told SBS Hindi that her client who was a clinical trial coordinator, received instant approval after she was able to show that her work was critical to the public health sector and economic recovery from COVID-19 in Victoria.
Ms D’Silva added that while applicants had to prove six months of worked hours and experience in target sectors earlier, as a result of the changes made to Victoria’s state’s program for 2021-22, applicants will now only need to show their skills falling under the target sectors or related closely to those sectors.
“For example, if your skills are related to cyber security, hospitals or medical research, you will automatically fall under these target sectors and do not require any worked hours or experience,” she explained.
Victoria will also accept casual employment, Ms D’Silva said, adding that suburbs like Parkville, Footscray and Docklands have been identified as business precincts. This means applicants applying under subclass 190 using STEMM skills with work based in such business precincts will receive top priority.
For those whose skills have not been included, Ms D’Silva said there were other options available such as the Temporary Skilled Shortage visa Subclass 482, Skilled Employer-Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 494) or Employer Nomination Scheme Subclass 186.
Abhijeet Singh, a Melbourne-based accountant has been waiting for his permanent residency for the last seven years. His skills have not been included in Victoria’s migration program 2021-22 under the two subclasses.
For him, the Temporary Skilled Shortage visa Subclass 482 remains another option.
"My skills do not fall under Subclass 190. Under Subclass 482 my skills have been approved but I will now have to show work experience of four years to acquire my permanent resident status," Mr Singh told SBS Hindi.
