Hello,

I am from the States and 27 years old. I have recently lodged my application for a Work Skilled Visa-176 sponsored by family ( My uncle-dad's brother)

According to my migration agent, even though I have lodged it now Jan 2010, it will not be processed until 2012 due to the new processing priorities. Apparently my visa is number 6 out of the 7 on the priority list.

I will be graduating from my masters in clinical psychology July 2011 and would like to move soon after.

According to this visa 176, I'm going to have to wait probably until 2012 or early 2013 to get it.

I have already been to Australia on a working holiday visa. For U.S. Citizens we aren't able to come on it again.

I wanted to know, what other visa's could I use if I really wanted to come at the end of 2011 while waiting for my PR visa to be processed?

Also, do you think it really will take that long for the visa 176 family work skill sponsor to be processed or it could be ready by 2011?

Thanks so much!

I would say your agent has not done a very good job of assessing the current priority system for handling immigration applications and advising you accordingly before they no doubt welcomed their fee.

If you have a look at our sticky thread near the top of the section on latest Immigration announcements you will note what is in progress re change.
The best you could hope for is if the occupation you have had your qualifications assessed for comes out on one of the State Migration Plans and you were prepared to seek nomination for that would give you a priority level 2.

If not, under the current system with priority and capped numbers, the wording for lower priority applications has been that they'll not likely be assessed before 2011/2012 for different situations of application and that so that means most probably not before at least 2012/2013 for applications already made.

Some lower priority applicants have twigged to the desirability for higher priority in seeking employer sponsorship and have opted that way, it likely to be a trend and so I would not be surprised if the 2012/2013 for other existing lower priority applicants blows out some.
Already last year and for early this year, the government announced that some existing Category 5 applications that had previously been close to being granted would again be processed within projected higher priority numbers not reaching the total GSM numbers Cap but that processing has been for relatively few so far.

The new changes to the immigration points and priority assessments will mean that many more professionals will likely opt for Employer Sponsorship and/or State Migration Plans, and if total numbers in those categories is to Capped level, then no lower priority applications would be processed; it being quite an uncertain indefinite wait for lower priority applications, especially seeing as the queue is likely to grow.

The other thing that has happened with recent changes is about 20000 applications made up to 2007 and not processed are to be cancelled and that is quite possible in the future too if a massive waiting pool exists.

So the best approach for any applicants is to look for either Employer Sponsorship or to see if a State has their occupation on a Migration Plan.

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed analysis!! I really do appreciate it!!

Well actually the thing is because my B.A. is not in psychology, I can't apply under the work skilled as a psychologist! If that was the case, I would be in a higher priority pool! But my B.A. is under film and media studies and so I am applying as a Private drama teacher which currently has 50 pts and is in the SOL.

Luckily, I'm not really paying for the fees either, my uncle is since he's sponsoring me!!! =)

So if I wanted to find an employer sponsorship it would have to be in the entertainment industry, which is not really my field of interest anymore as I'm getting my masters in clinical psychology!

The only other option I would have is to go as a student visa because according to the assessment for psychology, I have only completed a 3 yrs BA degree in psychology and still need to do the honors 4th year. So I could go as a student visa, finish the one year and then apply as a psychologist.

Or once I get my doctorate done in the States, which would be done by 2014, I could move to Australia as a Psychologist! But thats 4 years from now!!! And I was really hoping to move next year.

So from what you are saying, even though my application has been lodged, most likely I won't get my immigration until 2013?? Do you see this changing at all. If people are dropping their application to go the employer sponsorship route.. wouldnt that make it better for family sponsored skilled workers?

Re 2013, I'd say that is a bit optimistic and it is not so much that people drop applications but what some existing 175 [fully independent] and 176 [ state sponsored] applicants are doing is to seek employer sponsorship [ usually a 457 temporary residency visa and they can be for up to four years].
There is something of a gamble with a 457 in the sense that holding a 457 is reliant on maintaining a sponsor [ though it does not need to be the initial one ] and so if the sponsorship is lost for whatever reason you have a period of time [ 28 days from notice to do so ] to leave Australia unless you have found another sponsor or applied for a different visa [ giving one more time to find another sponsor ].

The upside for those maintaining sponsored employment [and many if not the majority do] is that after two years, if employer is eligible and agreeable, an aplication for Employer Sponsored permanent residency may be put in and that could be done earlier if the applicant has skills assessed [ most likely ].
All this time, the 175/176 visa application will stay in the system and with a ES PR application by applying for the oddshore version, the visa is fee free because a fee has been paid for the 175/176, a slight catch there as because it is an offshore situation, a person has to leave Australia [ be offshore] for the visa to be granted.

If more people use the Employer Sponsor approach [ and that is what the government hopes ] , there may be less 175/176 visa applications but the more higher priority ES visas will leave less room for them to be considered.

The recent changes are a continuation of change and reviews throughout 2009 to combat the growing GFC and also an onshore visa application situation which has ballooned out of control with a massive increase of international students doing lower skilled courses but ones that then enabled them to be eligible for PR visa applications and then many subsequent family visas occurring too, so where we go with the GFC and immigration generally other than the new priority system to be implemented in immediate furure is anyones guess and having an occupation on the SOL will not alone give a high priority.

A requirement for applying for the onshore equivalent of a 176 family sponsored visa [ the 886 ] is to have done two years study in Australia and with international student fee rates that can be expensive, but something you may want to consider.
It'll still mean that you do not necessarily have a high priority application but with an onshore visa, there is a bridging visa granted that bridges between when a student visa finishes and another visa is granted.

I've seen comment that employers are loathe to employ people on bridging visas and so again, it may be better to seek employer sponsorship.