Welcome to 2022 - Year of the Water Tiger!

Hello and welcome to 2022. We hope you had a refreshing holiday period and had an opportunity to catch up with loved ones as domestic borders were relaxed.

Migration Queensland has been busy processing applications over this period and we are close to filling half of our skilled nomination allocation for FY21–22. The Migration Queensland skilled program is still open, and it is a great opportunity for those working onshore in Queensland to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI), as we are open to the entire legislative instrument for state nomination, which includes 504 occupations.

Due to the high demand, we have from onshore applicants, and our limited nomination allocation, it is unlikely we will open to offshore applicants until the next Australian financial year that starts on July 1, 2022.

This opportunity for onshore migrants working in Queensland has also been heightened by previously s48 barred applicants now being able to apply for state-nominated visas from 13 November 2021.

The 491-SBO program has also been a highly popular pathway this year, and Migration Queensland has received hundreds of EOIs from applicants for this pathway. As these applications have a higher number of documents to be assessed, we ask you to advise your 491-SBO clients that there may be an extended assessment period from 4 to 6 weeks following an invitation to submit documents.

The Migration Queensland business program has progressed steadily with sufficient placements for the remaining months of this financial year, and if you have business clients interested in migrating to Queensland, now is the perfect time to start the process. Queensland has very competitive state nomination requirements in comparison to other states and territories, and with an enviable lifestyle and economy, it really is the best place to be in Australia right now.

A final kind request for agents to ensure a submission of one EOI only, and please advise your clients that we will be processing the first EOI picked up. In addition to this, please note that an email explanation to support how a skilled applicant meets a COVID priority occupation is not required (this was a requirement of FY20–21 but no longer a requirement in 21–22).

We very much look forward to working with you in 2022 and thank you for your ongoing support.