FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS ON SKILLSELECT – EOI
Andrew Woo, Migration agent @ Taylor & Scott Lawyers discusses;
The latest results for Round 8 January 2016 show that the cut-off scores were as follows:
8 January 2016
Visa Subclass Points Score Visa date of effect
Skilled – Independent (subclass 189) 60 14/12/2015 3:04PM
Skilled – Regional Provisional (subclass 489) 70 15/12/2015 1:47AM
It is notable that the point scores remain the same in comparison to the previous round, but there is great demand for ICT Business and Systems Analysts, Accountants and Software and Applications Programmers. Invitations for these occupations will continue to be issued on a pro rata basis. It indicates that 60 points on EOI will generally attract an invitation from the Department of Immigration.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Can I submit an EOI even if I have not completed an English test and skills assessment prior to submitting an EOI?
The short answer is YES although the specific criteria for Subclass 189 or 190 only insist that the applicant have evidence of a favourable skills assessment by the relevant assessing authority and at least IELTS 6 in all four components of the test at the time of invitation not at the time of submission of EOI.
From a practical point of view, as the latest results suggest, 60 points on EOI may warrant an invitation from each round without having to wait in the queue. Hence, once an EOI has been submitted in the system provided that it is over 60 points, an invitation will be issued in a matter of a few weeks. The skills assessment takes quite some time to be completed by the relevant authority (more than 10 weeks in some cases). So, unless a favourable assessment has been done by the authority prior to the submission of EOI, the person will not likely have the evidence of the skills assessment available at the time of invitation.
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Can I provide incorrect information in the EOI to inflate my points score and bump up the ranking of my EOI to receive an invitation early?
This is absolute No-No, because one of the criteria for visas under SkillSelect is that the applicant’s score assessed at the time of invitation should not be less than the score stated in the invitation to apply for the visa.
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What if I have made inadvertent errors when entering data in SkillSelect resulting in them being given a higher invitation score?
The government has clarified its own position in those circumstances and announced that departmental officers may correct an applicant’s invitation score in cases of inadvertent errors in the EOI if the corrected invitation score would have been high enough to receive an invitation in the same round or subsequent rounds. The Department will first seek the affected applicant’s permission before correcting their invitation score.
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What if I realise that I have made inadvertent errors before the issuance of an invitation or my circumstances have changed to guarantee a higher invitation score?
The SkillSelect can be accessed to update data at any stage before the issuance of invitation. The applicant must update his or her EOI to reflect the real status of the applicant in terms of points score. Of course, it will be of benefit to the person to update any additional qualification or experience to claim additional points and bump up the ranking in SkillSelect.
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What different details would an invitation contain?
By and large, the invitation will indentify the person to whom the invitation issued, the visa subclass, the time frame within which the person must lodge a visa application and also any other information provided in the EOI (nominated occupation, claims against the points test factors and points test score).
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What should I do if I have received an invitation due to inaccuracies in my EOI when it should not have been issued but for the inaccuracies in the first place?
Usually, for a valid application, the applicant must lodge a visa application within 60 days after the issuance of the invitation. In this case, if the applicant goes on to apply for the visa, the application will be refused for the same reason in the above Q 2. What must be done instead is to wait for the 60 day period to expire, update data in the EOI and then wait for another invitation at a later date. It is important to note that if a visa application is not made after 2 invitations issued for the same EOI, that particular EOI will be permanently removed. The prospective applicant, however, may lodge a fresh EOI.
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Can I update the details in the EOI if an invitation has already been issued and is still valid?
The answer is NO as the EOI details are frozen for the 60 day period after an invitation has been issued and cannot be accessed by the applicant. Upon expiry of that 60 day period, the EOI will become accessible again.
ANDREW WOO (Registered Migration Agent No. 1383628)
For more information, Contact Lachlan Riches (Registered Migration Agent No. 9473887) or Andrew Woo (Registered Migration Agent No. 1383628) on 1800 600 664 or complete the Contact Form on this page.
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