Skilled workers will always be needed for Australia.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship are coming under constant criticism for the changes being made to the Australian immigration program which now includes suspension of General Migration Visas.
Most of the criticism accuses the DIAC of not giving visa applicants enough notice on the changes, something the DIAC seem to be very good at doing. Back in September of last year the DIAC made changes to the priority processing system that affected not just new applicants but existing ones too. This change was implemented so swiftly that many state governments struggled to explain it to their sponsored visa applicants.
Many changes since then have made it more difficult for migrants with general skills to get into Australia. The MODL was scrapped in February and it was announced that most visa applications lodged before September 2007 will not be processed and applicants affected would receive refunds. Around 20,000 prospective migrants to Australia are thought to have been affected.
The Government and the DIAC made it clear that they were focusing on highly skilled migrants to Australia and that this would be reflected in the new Skilled Occupations List which would gradually replace the CSL. The SOL as it would be known, would be available to view at the end of April and would replace the CSL mid 2010.
