Priority Processing 

In January 2009 the Department of Immigration introduced the Critical Skills List and changed the way it prioritizes the processing of applications for skills visas. On the 23rd of September 2009 these priorities were further altered and again on the 8th February 2010 and again on the 14th July.

All applications are now processed in the following order

1: Applications sponsored by an employer under the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS)

2: Applications sponsored by a State or Territory under an approved state migration plan.

3: Applications where the applicant has an occupation on the new Skilled Occupations List (1st July 2010)

All other applications will be processed in date received order. 

At present employer nominated visas are being processed in abut 6 months but as no State Migration Plan has yet been approved we do not  know the how long processing will take for categories 2 and 3. For those who do not have any processing priority the time that will be taken can probably be measured in years rather than months!