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JOBS IN DEMAND BOOSTED

MORE professional and trades jobs have been added to the Department of Immigration's vital Migration Occupations in Demand List. If your occupation is on this list and you are offered a job in Australia or if you apply to emigrate while working at one of these occupations then you can earn more points towards the pass mark.

Main winners from the new list are doctors with a wide range of medical practitioners added to the list.

There are now 13 different medical practitioners on the list, plus a range of nurses and other health professionals.

This move to attract overseas doctors to Australia follows the Federal Government's promise to reduce the strain on GPs, many of whom have left their area or the profession because of the number of hours they had to work, and the number of patients they had to treat.

Under current regulations your profession or trade has to be on the list when your application is assessed, not when it is lodged.

If your occupation is on the list when your application is assessed but you do not have a job offer then you will be awarded an extra 15 points towards the vital pass mark.

However, if your occupation is on the list at that time and you have been offered a job by a company in Australia which has employed at least 10 people in full time positions during the previous two years then you will be awarded 20 points.

As a further bonus if your occupation is on the Occupations in Demand list then your migration application is priority processed, which can save you many months of worry.

At the current time unemployment is at its lowest level for many years and there is a big demand for skilled tradesmen in all areas of industry across Australia, from the major capital cities to regional cities and towns. In an effort to attract migrants to these regional areas the Department of Immigration has introduced a special SIR visa which helps encourage migrants to settle outside major populations areas, such as most capital cities and parts of New South Wales.