<blockquote class="Quote" rel="SAP_Melaka">Sharing this information from my friend in Aus
On 18 April 2017 the Australian Government announced a range of changes to Australia’s
visa programme. These were announced at about midday on 18 April and come into effect at midnight on 18 April. That means the changes are immediate.
Before going into detail, there are a few important points to note:
• The focus of these changes is on the 457 work visa. This is not a skilled migration visa.
• The Australian Prime Minister stressed that Australia is the most successful multicultural country in the world and wants to keep it that way. Foreigners will always be welcome in Australia.
• The requirements to obtain a 489, 189 or 190 skilled migration visa have not changed. The pass mark remains 60 points and the points table has not changed.
• There have been changes to the list of occupations eligible for the 489, 189 and 190 visas but the impact of these changes will be minimal and most of the occupations removed are ones that I have never even received an enquiry about.
• The state nomination process for the 489 and 190 visas remains the same. This is the most significant change to the work and skilled migration visa programme since July 2012. The changes in July 2012 were widely publicised and appeared, on the surface, to be significant but had very little impact on anyone’s eligibility for skilled migration. The changes announced on 18 April 2017 are similar.</blockquote>
This was copy-pasted from a newsletter from an agency here in Singapore.
Cheers!