Western Australia gives priority to State nomination applicants currently residing in WA

The Western Australian government has announced on 22 October 2021 changes to their State nomination ranking system for Skilled visas. Preference will be given to applicants currently residing in Western Australia. The following tables show the priority given applicants in descending order with those applicants currently residing in Western Australia on the top of the priority list.

General Stream
1. Currently residing in Western Australia
2. Currently residing in another Australian state or territory
3. Highest EOI points score
4. Oldest EOI submission date

For the Graduate stream, nomination is divided into 2 categories: Higher education graduates and VET graduates. For the Graduate stream nominations, it should be noted that up to 75% of the Graduate stream nominations will be made for higher education graduates and up to 25% will be made for VET graduates.

Graduate stream — Higher education graduates	Graduate stream — VET graduates
1. Currently residing in Western Australia	1. Currently residing in Western Australia
2. Currently residing in another Australian State or territory	2. Currently residing in another Australian State or territory
3. Completed a PhD or Masters qualification in Western Australia	3. Completed a VET qualification at Advanced Diploma level in Western Australia
4. Completed an Honours degree or other higher degree in Western Australia	4. Completed a VET qualification at Diploma level in Western Australia
5. Completed a Bachelor degree in Western Australia	5. Completed a VET qualification at Certificate IV level in Western Australia

To be eligible for Western Australia State Nomination, applicants must meet the requirements for the stream that they are applying to. The table below shows the various requirements for each of the 3 streams.

Category	General stream WASMOL Schedule 1	General stream WASMOL Schedule 2	Graduate stream
Meet Department of Home Affairs eligibility requirements for the intended visa subclass	Y	Y	Y
Nominated occupation is available on the relevant list	WA skilled migration occupation list (WASMOL) schedule 1	WA skilled migration occupation list (WASMOL) schedule 2	Graduate occupation list (GOL)
Currently reside in Australia	Y	Y	Y
Meet minimum English requirements for the nominated occupation	Y	Y	Y
Work experience	A least one year Australian or three years overseas work experience in nominated (or closely related) occupation	N	At least six months paid Australian work experience in nominated (or closely related) occupation. OR Full time employment contract in WA for a minimum of six months in the nominated (or closely related) occupation.
Contract of employment*	Full time employment contract in WA* for a minimum of 12 months in the nominated (or closely related) occupation.	Full time employment contract in WA* for a minimum of 12 months in the nominated (or closely related) occupation.	At least six months paid Australian work experience in nominated (or closely related) occupation. OR Full time employment contract in WA for a minimum of six months in the nominated (or closely related) occupation.
Have a Certificate III or above qualification from an accredited WA educational institution	N	N	Y
Meet the two years WA study requirement	N	N	Y
Demonstrate sufficient settlement funds	Only if you are not currently living in WA	Only if you are not currently living in WA	Only if you are not currently living in WA