Candidates in the Express Entry pool for immigration to Canada with 440 or more Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points have been invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence in the July 12 Express Entry draw. A total of 3,202 candidates were invited this time around.

The CRS cut-off threshold has decreased by nine points since the previous draw, which took place on June 28.

Today’s draw is the second to have taken place since changes were made to the CRS last month. Following those changes, and as CICNews explained a couple of weeks ago, it was expected that the CRS threshold would go up temporarily to allow for the fact that some candidates in the pool, specifically those with a sibling in Canada and those with French ability, received a boost in their score last month. In addition, the longer-than-usual gap between draws last month would have also been a contributing factor to the threshold going up before the June 28 draw.

While the threshold has not decreased again to its historic low of 413 or beyond, candidates remaining in the pool may take heart that the threshold has indeed decreased on this occasion — even more so when it is also taken into account that there were slightly fewer Invitations to Apply (ITAs) issued this time around than previously.

Source: https://www.cicnews.com/2017/0... 

List of eligible skilled occupations

Only certain occupations are approved for use under Australia’s permanent and temporary skilled visa programmes.  As of 1 July 2017, these occupations are listed in legislative instruments for the relevant visa programme.

Separate instruments are available for the following visa programmes:

Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) – Direct Entry StreamSee: IMMI17/080 Specification of Occupations and Assessing Authorities—Subclass 186 Visa Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457)See: Subclass 457 Visa Legislative Instruments Training visa (subclass 407) - Nomination eligibility type 2 – Occupational training to enhance skills in an eligible occupationSee: IMMI17/071 Specification of Occupations—Subclass 407 Visa

A further instrument which relates to the following subclasses is also available:

Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190), Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189), Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489) and Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485).

Each of these instruments still contains two occupation lists:

the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL)the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL).

As of 1 July 2017, these lists have, however, been revised following a further review of the available occupations. The main changes to these lists are summarised below:

12 occupations have been completely removed from the lists;a number of occupations have been added to the lists for certain visa programmes;some additional occupations have moved between the STSOL to the MLTSSL;the caveats on some occupations have been revised;  caveats on occupations now apply to both the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) and the Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) – Direct Entry Stream.

The information below explains where to find eligible occupation information for particular visa programmes, and the impacts of recent changes.

Occupations available for General Skilled Migration visa programmes

If you are applying for any of the below:

Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) – Points-tested streamSkilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489) - Family nominatedTemporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) – Graduate Work Stream.

you will need to nominate an occupation from the MLTSSL of the relevant legislative instrument – see: IMMI 17/072 Specification of Occupations and Assessing Authorities. 

If you are applying for any of the below:

Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489)  - State or Territory nominated.

You will need to nominate an occupation from the same legislative instrument above. Additional occupations included in the STSOL will, however, also be available to you.

Note: the above instrument also restricts the use of certain occupations to certain subclasses listed above.

Occupations for employer sponsored visa programmes

Separate legislative instruments now exist outlining eligible occupations for the following sponsored visa programmes:

Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) – Direct Entry StreamSee: IMMI17/080  Specification of Occupations and Assessing Authorities—Subclass 186 VisaTemporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457)See: Subclass 457 Visa Legislative InstrumentsTraining visa (subclass 407) - Nomination eligibility type 2 – Occupational training to enhance skills in an eligible occupationSee: IMMI17/071 Specification of Occupations—Subclass 407 Visa

The occupations available for the subclass 186 and 457 programmes are the same. Consequently, for ease of reference, a single alphabetical list of these occupations is available.  See: Combined list of eligible skilled occupations.

Note: Different eligible occupation arrangements are in place for the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa (subclass 187) - Direct Entry Stream.

Removed occupations

On 1 July 2017, 12 occupations were removed entirely from the list of eligible skilled occupations. See: List of the removed occupations    

If your occupation has been removed from the list, you will be impacted if:

you apply for one of the following visa programmes on or after 1 July 2017:Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) – Direct Entry StreamSkilled Independent visa (subclass 189)Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)Training visa (subclass 407) - Nomination eligibility type 2 – Occupational training to enhance skills in an eligible occupation.Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457)Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485)Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489) your subclass 457 visa or nomination application is still being processed by the Department on 1 July 2017. In such cases, your application cannot be approved. Once your application has reached the assessment stage, you will be contacted by the Department and given the opportunity to withdraw your application in writing. Alternatively, you can request a withdrawal in writing at any time and request a refund of the application fee. If you do not withdraw your application, it will be refused.

This means that any applications already lodged before 1 July 2017 for the above visa subclasses (other than a 457 visa) will not be impacted (even if the occupation was removed on 1 July 2017).

If you already hold a subclass 457 visa, you will not be impacted by these removed occupations unless you apply for a further subclass 457 visa or are changing your occupation or employer.

Caveats on occupations

As of 1 July 2017, caveats apply to 67 occupations for the purposes of the following visa programmes only:

Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457)Employer Nominated Scheme visa (subclass 186) – Direct Entry Stream.

These caveats are designed to ensure that the above visa programmes are used to fill skilled positions that cannot be filled via the local labour market. If you are working in a highly skilled position, you are unlikely to be impacted by these arrangements. 
 For the specific wording of each caveat – see the relevant legislative instrument:

Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) – Direct Entry StreamSee: IMMI17/080  Specification of Occupations and Assessing Authorities—Subclass 186 VisaTemporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457)See: Subclass 457 Visa Legislative Instruments

A summary of Caveats on occupations  that apply to particular occupations is available.

The caveats apply to:

subclass 186 visa and nomination applications lodged on or after 1 July 2017subclass 457 visa and nomination applications which:are lodged on or after 1 July 2017were lodged before 1 July 2017 and have not yet been decided by the Department.

If your occupation is now subject to a caveat, an officer will assess whether the caveat applies in the particular circumstances of your nominated position.

If you have a pending application with the Department which was lodged before 1 July 2017 and you are certain you cannot meet the caveat requirements, you can request a withdrawal in writing at any time and request a refund of the application fee. If you do not withdraw your application and do not meet the caveat requirements, your application will be refused.

If you already hold a subclass 457 visa, you will not be impacted by these caveated occupations unless you apply for a further subclass 457 visa or are changing your occupation or employer.