South Australia offers 80 point state sponsorship option

South Australia (SA) has updated its State Nominated Occupation Lists for 1st July. As well as adding a wide range of ICT and trade occupations, SA has also offered a state sponsorship route for applicants with occupations which are not on the state list at time of application. As long as the applicant can get 80 visa points then SA will accept them under the High Points criteria, regardless of whether the occupation is currently on the list or not. As the minimum visa requirement is 60 points, the number of applicants who can score 80 points will obviously be low; however, if applicants have a high number of points already for age, qualifications and employment, then a high IELTS score of 8 would give them 20 points towards their visa, which may just allow them to reach the 80 point threshold.