Beat the 1 July 2012 changes - engineers apply now for Australia immigration!

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Engineers looking to emigrate to Australia can apply under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Program. Specifically, Australia has a shortage of mining engineers needed to fill lucrative positions in Australia. Newly graduating mining engineers have starting salaries of about Aus$100,000. Mining Engineer immigrants to Australia should earn a lot more. Applicants will need to meet the basic requirements for GSM, pass the Australian immigration Points Test and pass an occupation skills assessment to qualify for an Australian visa.

It is important to note that beginning 1 July 2012, Australian immigration will be introducing huge changes to their skilled migration program. It is expected that under the Australian immigration system fewer people will qualify and processing times will be longer. If you wish to come under the current skilled immigration programme you should apply for a skills assessment as soon as possible. You need to be ready with your skills assessment and, have passed the English language test before you can submit your immigration application.

GSM is for professionals and other skilled migrants who have skills in particular occupations required in Australia and who are not sponsored by an employer. Australian Immigration uses a Skilled Occupation List (SOL) as part of their points system. In order to qualify for skilled migration to Australia, you must nominate an occupation from the SOL.

The following are occupations listed on the SOL for Engineers:
  • Engineering Manager
  • Electrical engineer
  • Mechanical engineer
  • Civil Engineer
  • Structural engineer
  • and more
In order to qualify for one of these occupations, applicants must have a level of skill commensurate with a bachelor degree or higher. In some instances relevant experience and/or on-the-job training may be required in addition to the formal qualification. Registration or licensing may also be required.

Before emigrating to Australia as a skilled migrant you need to have your skills assessed by the relevant assessment authority for your occupation. For this occupation you will need to be assessed by Engineers Australia. They assess professional qualifications in engineering for the purposes of skilled migration to Australia.

Once you have your positive assessment letter from Engineers Australia, you can apply for the skilled migration visa electronically and count your assessment points in the points test in order to qualify for the visa.

For the complete list of occupations on the SOL list please visit our information page.

If you would like to apply for Australia's General Skilled Migration program WorkPermit.com can help. WorkPermit.com is a specialist visa consultancy with over twenty years of experience dealing with visa applications. We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details.