We mentioned earlier that the Migration Regulations are updated many times a year.
Often this means a revision to the occupations on the Skilled or Sponsored Occupation Lists; or a change in the eligibility criteria for a certain visa.
More recently, the Department of Immigration has been streamlining the visa subclasses (e.g. Subclass 186) – reducing hundreds of visa numbers by introducing “streams” under a certain subclass.
For example – with Employer Sponsored Migration, there were previously several different Subclasses of visa which had a different identification number depending on whether you were onshore, offshore, a graduate, on a labour agreement, etc.
The simplification process has meant that now there are only a few subclasses which have different entry pathways.
The Subclass 186 – Employer Sponsored Visa – now has three different entry pathways: Direct Entry, Temporary Residence Transition Stream and Labour Agreement. Common regulations, but different ways to get there.
Oh – and by the way, every stream has its own set of regulations too. This is designed to make the system simpler!
