Victoria opens permanent residency doors for all occupations under its 2022-23 migration program

Opening its migration program for 2022-23 on Thursday, the Victorian government invited both onshore and offshore applicants from all skilled occupations listed under the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) to submit their interest for the Subclass 190 skilled nominated visa stream and the Subclass 491 skilled work regional (provisional) visa.

Victoria opens its migration program for 2022-23. Credit: blue sky in my pocket/Getty Images

Key Points

• The Victorian government said that its 2022-23 Skilled Migration Program is now open.
• All occupations on the relevant Department of Home Affairs occupation list are now eligible.
• Open to applicants living in Victoria and overseas, the program provides skilled migrants with a pathway to permanent residency in Victoria

The state government said that its 2022-23 Skilled Migration Program is now open.

"Open to applicants living in Victoria and overseas, the program provides skilled migrants with a pathway to permanent residency in Victoria," the statement said.

"The skills that successful applicants bring to Victoria benefits employers and the broader Victorian economy. The program provides two visa pathways," it added.

The government said "as with previous years, applicants will first need to submit a Registration of Interest (ROI) and then be selected on competitive merit to apply for visa nomination."

Before submitting a ROI, applicants should ensure that they meet all eligibility requirements and ROIs will be assessed until May 2023.

Visa application - approved Credit: maybefalse/Getty Images

The government pointed out that the selection process was highly competitive and there were over 15,000 RoIs submitted in the 2021-22 program.

The government has also encouraged applicants who were not selected previously, to submit a new Registration of Interest for the 2022-23 program.

Thirty-year-old Tanmay Jhawar was granted a PR visa just three days ago and is glad the process is done and dusted.

Tanmay Jhawar is an IT professional who currently lives in Melbourne. Credit: Supplied by Tanmay Jhawar

"I was granted a visa on 9 August and I am so relieved now. I work in the IT sector and I had filed my PR last year so I believe if there is an urgent job requirement in the state, the visa process will not take too long," he opined.

According to a Melbourne-based migration expert Neha Singh, this year presents a great opportunity for applicants who could not get an invite last year as the program was only aimed at applicants from specified streams like science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM).

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She says it was also a great opportunity for the people who could not meet the state nomination requirements earlier.

"This time they have opened up for all the occupations which are in the skill level 1, 2 and 3. You just need to be working and you have to show the evidence of working," she said.

"In my opinion, the government would be still prioritising some occupations like healthcare, social services, STEMM sector, advanced manufacturing, chef, cook, and early childhood," she added.

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