Press/Media
| Shortage of Skilled Tradesmen (Workers) |
| Industrialized countries such as US, Canada, UK and Australia and other countries need trade workers. With the aging workforce, hiring foreign workers for various trades such as oil and gas, mining and the like is the only solution for them to continue growing. |
| Queensland RSMS Visa Employer Sponsor RCB Regional Certifying Body |
| The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) offers a Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS), allowing employers in regional or low population growth areas of Australia to sponsor skilled workers from overseas or skilled temporary residents of Australia for a permanent visa to work in Australia. All RSMS applications require certification by a local Regional Certifying Body office prior to lodgement with the Department.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland – Regional Certifying Body (RCB) for temporary skilled workers under the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) Regional Certifying Body Chamber of Commerce & Industry Queensland (CCIQ) is certified to act as a RCB to assist the Department by certifying a RSMS nomination before submission. CCIQ is gazetted as a Regional Certifying Body in the following geographic locations:
|
| Australia June 1, 2011 – Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has recently announced that its 457 Australia Visa Program is on track as it records its strongest year since the global financial crisis. |
| With the increase in demand for trade workers needed to work in Australia, applicants for the 457 visa have also increased. The increase in demand for trade workers have helped the 457 Visa Program exceed the 2009/10 total with months to spare. In April 2011 alone, a recorded 4,200 applications were lodge for primary 457 visas, which have pushed the total to 42,872 for the year, which is already about 4,000 higher than the total number for 2009-10.
The latest figures shows that primary visa grants are 37% higher than at the same time last year.
These figures demonstrate the importance of 457 visa program in providing an avenue for employers, predominantly in the construction and mining sectors, to employ workers when the availability of local labor is not viable. According to the spokesman of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), “ The upward monthly trends in application rates, strong year-on-year growth in the grant rate, strong jobs growth as shown by the ANZ Job Index and continued low unemployment is due to an improved economic environment and increasing employer demand for overseas workers to fill skills vacancies.” The program is considered as a short-term solution when local skilled labor is in short supply that allows employers to hire overseas workers for up to four years. Under the 457 program, the number of trade workers and technicians migrating to Australia has recorded a rise of about 70% compared with the same period last year. Data shows that there are more than 18,500 organizations that are currently employing overseas workers, with about 70 per cent of workers being employed in small and medium-sized businesses. The spokesman said, ‘A figure of 4,731 visas approved for construction workers, representing a 79% increase and 2,777 visas approved for mining workers, representing a 43% increase, were recorded in this program year to April.’ The data also shows that the 457 visas processing times are also 30 per cent lower than five years ago, with a median processing time of 22 calendar days. A new funding for a 457 processing centre in Brisbane was recently announced, which is intended to halve the 457 visa processing times. Source: australiamagazine.co.uk |
- Chander Mohan