General Skilled Migration

Have you got enough points for you GSM visa?

The General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa program also known as the points tested migration program.

After dealing with so many GSM visa applications over the years, we noticed that most clients are often quite surprised to find out that their actual score is lower than they thought it would be, calculating your correct points score is crucial to receiving an invitation and can have devastating consequences to the visa application if points are overclaimed where he/she is not entitled to.

Brief Overview

The General Skilled Migration (GSM) program is primarily for applicants who have skills that are in demand in Australia.

There are four main visa subclasses which are part of the GSM program:

• Skilled Independent visa subclass 189
• Skilled Nominated Visa subclass 190
• Skilled Regional ( provisional visa ) (subclass 489)
• Skilled Regional ( provisional visa) ( subclass 489)

All visa applicants in the GSM program must have their occupation listed in the relevant skilled occupations list. Applicants must also show that they have obtained a positive skills assessment in their nominated occupation and have at least competent English language ability.

The Allocation of Points and SkillSelect 

Applicants are allocated a number of points according to their age, qualifications, English language proficiency, work experience and other factors.

This allocation of points is determined via an online system called SkillSelect. On SkillSelect applicants are asked to complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) where all their personal details (such as age, etc) are recorded and points are allocated accordingly. It is very important to note that an EOI is not visa application and there are no costs associated with it.

If an applicant’s EOI receives a minimum score of 60 points, the applicant will generally receive an invitation to apply for their chosen visa subclass. Applicants with a higher score are given preference over applicants with a lower score.

Consequences of presenting a Wrong Score in the EOI

Migration regulations are complex and the EOI form gives applicants a false impression that it is a very simple process.

If an applicant claims points which he/she is not entitled to and therefore received an invitation to apply for a skilled visa based on false information, there is generally no way of amending the EOI or simply declaring a mistake was made, by law Immigration would have to refuse the visa application.

This is just one of the reasons why we strongly recommend applicants seek professional advice from a registered migration agent, before their initiate the skilled visa application.

Here at First Class Migration Australia we have a team of very experienced and skilled migration agents, with more than 10 years of experience and we are very confident we can guide you through the process.

If you have any enquiries in relation to a skilled visa or would like to assess your eligibility to GSM visas or any other visa subclass, please contact us on .