Due to Australia’s growing economy there is a considerable shortage of skilled workers in a large number of industries throughout the country.

As a result, the Australian Government, in 2005, increased the skilled migrant intake by 20,000, resulting in a skilled migrant intake for the financial year 2005/2006 of 97,500 people. It is likely that the 2006/2007 intake will remain at the same level.

If you can satisfy the government’s requirements in any of the skilled migrant categories, then your chances of successfully migrating to Australia are better than ever before.

There are two basic choices under the Skilled Migration program.

You can choose to come to Australia on a temporary basis, being from 3 months up to a maximum of 4 years, or alternatively, you can select permanent migration. In both cases immediate family members can be included in the visa, but they must all be in a good state of health.

The Temporary entry visa classes largely fall into 2 categories. The first being “Employer Sponsored” and the second is simply called ‘Other”.

Employer Sponsored is largely driven by a resident Australian company not being able to fill it’s labour requirements from the local market, resulting in them recruiting people from other countries.

The rules require the local company to meet certain criteria. Generally, the local company will handle all aspects of the exercise, including assisting with the completion of an individual’s visa application.

The rules and requirements for the Other class of temporary migration are many and varied. The best source of information is on the government’s website at www.immi.gov.au/allforms/temp_res.htm.

Permanent Migration also has two main streams open to intending migrants.

General Skilled Migration is available if you meet the following criteria:

• you must be under 45 years of age at the time of application
• your occupation must be listed on the Skilled Occupation List (Check below to see if your occupation is on the list)
• your skills must be assessed by the relevant assessing authority in Australia (Further information below)
• you must have a high level of English
• you must have recent skilled work experience

For further detailed information click on the button "Find Your Occupation/Profession".

The second is Employer-sponsored Migration. It is similar in its requirements to the temporary class, but also includes Regional Sponsored Migration, Labour Agreements and the Invest Australia Support Skills program. In all cases the recruitment and processing is generally driven by the Australian entity.

If the visa that most suits you is either the Skilled-Independent (subclass 136) or Skill Matching (subclass 134) you can improve your chances by having a job in Australia before applying. You can increase your chances of this happening by having your qualifications and employment history listed on the Skills Matching database operated by The Department of Immigration - go to www.immi.gov.au/skills/skills-apps.htm for further information.