Permanent Residency

An attractive option for students is to seek Permanent Residence (PR) after they complete their studies in Australia. Permanent Residency (PR) in Australia is similar to the Green Card in USA where a person can retain ones nationality to live and work in the country. There are certain skills which have a great demand in Australia. Depending on the existing and emerging skills shortages, the Government of Australia has compiled a Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL). Reviewed twice a year, the list is updated in accordance to changes in the labour market changes. Your chance of getting a PR increases if you possess any of the given expertise. Given below is a list of some of the occupations in demand for migration purposes. Few skills which are listed in Australian Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL).
•	Accountant
•	Professionals specializing in commercial cookery like Chefs, bakers and patisserie managers
•	Anaesthetist
•	Architect
•	Computing Professional with experience in CISSP, C++/C#/C, Data Warehousing, Java, J2EE, Linux, Net technologies, Network Security/Firewall/Internet Security, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, SIEBEL, Solaris, Unix.
•	Engineers civil, chemical, electronics
•	Occupational Therapist
•	Physiotherapist
•	Nursing
•	Child care Co-ordinator
•	Qualified Aged care Nurse
•	Human Resource manager
•	Welfare Centre manager
•	Community Worker
•	Health Information Manager
•	Registered Development disability nurses
•	Occupation Health & safety Officer
•	Rehabilitation counselor
•	Social worker
•	Welfare worker
Sourced from Australian Dept. of Immigration & Citizenship A government accredited certificate/diploma in any of these skills can be your pathway to a PR in Australia. You can do the short term diploma’s in one of these skills and immediately get a job. Also, few of these diploma’s can be done immediately after Intermediate. Your Australian qualification will allow you to claim extra points in the Skilled Visa Points test, which is for a total of 120 points. For full details about working or PR in Australia, please visit www.immi.gov.au There are many different types of permanent residency visas but this part focuses on skilled migration for students who have graduated from Australian study. For information on other visa options that create pathways to permanent residency for international students, such as the 'Skilled – Sponsored (886)', 'Skilled – Regional Sponsored (487)' and the 'Skilled – Graduate (485)', visit the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website

International students between the ages of 18 and 44 (inclusive) who have completed at least two years of approved full-time study in Australia can apply for permanent residency under the ‘Skilled – Independent (Residence) visa (885)’.

In order to qualify for the GSM program, you must satisfy a number of eligibility requirements relating to:

Your eligibility for the visa: you must satisfy all requirements of the relevant visa subclass.

Your study undertaken in Australia: You must have completed either a single qualification (degree, diploma or trade at an Australian institution, in Australia, in English, at a provider registered with CRICOS) that required two years of full-time study, or more than one qualification resulting in a total of at least two years full-time study in Australia. You must apply for your visa within six months of meeting these requirements and your qualification must be closely related to the occupation you nominate on your GSM visa application, in terms of both the subject matter and the level of the qualification attained.

Your location: You and all secondary applicants must be in Australia to lodge your visa application and at the time a decision is made on your application.

Your skills and qualifications: There have been changes to skilled migration, starting from January 2009. The introduction of a critical skills list (CSL) means that people seeking to migrate to Australia who have skills or qualifications in one of the occupations on the CSL will be processed in a higher priority to those applicants who do not. There is also a new priority processing direction, which gives priority to applications with employer sponsorship, state or territory sponsorship, business skills and those with an occupation on the CSL. There have been no changes to the points allocated by the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) or the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) .

Your health: you must undergo a medical examination and meet minimum health requirements.

Your character: you must be able to prove that you are of ‘good character’. You will be required to provide certified copies of police checks and other relevant documents, such as any relevant military discharge papers.

Applicants score points according to different criteria relating to:

• age
• nominated skilled occupation
• English language ability
• specific work experience
• occupation in demand or job offer
• Australian qualifications
• partner's skills

Any applicant who has one or more Australian degrees, diplomas or trade qualifications and who meets the 2 year study requirement will continue to be eligible for 5 points.

To be eligible for 15 points, applicants must complete a total of three years' study in Australia that has resulted in the applicant completing:

A Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree
A Bachelor’s degree and Honors (at least second class (division 1) or
A Bachelor’s degree with Honors (at least second class (division 1).

Applicants who have completed an Australian doctorate as a result of at least 2 years' study in Australia will now be eligible for 25 points.

Bonus points are available for applicants who satisfy the requirements of one of the following additional categories: Australian work experience, having completed an approved qualification in an area classed as 'regional Australia' or a 'low population growth metropolitan area', or fluency in one of Australia’s community languages.

If you don’t meet the above requirements you may be able to apply for the ‘Skilled – Graduate visa (485)'. This temporary visa gives students who have completed at least two years study in Australia but who do not meet the requirements for a permanent GSM visa the opportunity to stay in Australia for up to 18 months to gain the additional skills they need for permanent residency.

Please note you must gain a skills assessment result and submit your visa application within 6 months of completing your qualification. As an onshore overseas student, you will receive a concession for not having recent work experience. Provided you have suitable qualifications for your nominated occupation and you receive a positive skills assessment, you will be exempt from the recent work experience requirement. This could make gaining a skilled visa much easier.