Great News
Immigration South Australia announced its interim list of occupations for nomination, for migration applications this week. To be precise, the Australian migration programme consists of a segment called State/Territory sponsored migration.

The State sponsored migration is somewhat different to the Independent scheme. It works in a different formula, where a candidate qualifies with a lower pass mark.

Currently, the pass mark for the State/Territory migration is 100. The applicant must score 90 marks and 10 marks are given by the Territory.

Obtaining sponsorship
State has its own lists of occupations that are in demand in the State. Often, these occupations can limit to a few industries that are in boom in the State.

Apart from the occupation being on the list, the States specify other requirements such as English skills, work experience, and any specialty in the field.

These set criteria can limit applications and provide limited access to sponsorships. Some States charge a fee to process the nomination whereas the State of South Australia currently accepts applications without charging a fee. Lodging an application for nomination by no means guarantees approval. In recent months, the approval process has become a complex one and I have seen an increasing amount of refusals.

Relevance of a nomination
State nominations are crucial in the process of migration. The reasons are two fold; it's far more quicker in processing and will qualify with a lower threshold of points. States are very keen to attract highly skilled migrants with proficient English levels and skilled professionals with extensive work experience.
In July 2010, State Migration Plan was announced by the Department of Immigration.

Nevertheless, we did not see the Plans in concrete due to Federal elections in Australia. Now that the new Minister for Immigration is appointed we are rest assured the plans will be released by the end of the year, which will open up floodgates for potential skilled migrants. South Australia being a favourite among the applicants, now has released an interim list of occupations until the plans are approved by the Minister for Immigration. Therefore, applicants having the occupations in this list will be able to make applications to South Australia at this moment, and Immigration SA has confirmed it will continue to process applications lodged before that has the occupations in the current list.

As the SMP receives the 2nd level of processing priority, the visa applications are bound to be processed quicker than it used be for independent migration.

Introducing South Australia
It is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories. South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland states and the Northern Territory. With over 1.6 million people, the state comprises less than 8% of the Australian population. Today, the state is known as a state of festivals and of fine wine.
The state's economy centres on the agricultural, manufacturing and mining industries and has an increasingly significant finance sector as well.

South Australian economy
The manufacturing industry plays a very important role in South Australia's economy, generating 15% of the state's Gross State Product (GSP) and playing a large part in exports.

The manufacturing industry consists of automotive (44% of total Australian production, 2006) and component manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, defence technology (2.1% of GSP, 2002-2003) and electronic systems (3.0% of GSP in 2006). South Australia's economy relies on exports more than any other state in Australia. Production of South Australian food and drink (including agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, fisheries and manufacturing) is a $10 billion industry.

South Australia possesses the world's single largest known deposit of uranium, at the Olympic Dam mine. Olympic Dam contains 40% of the world's known uranium reserves.
The Olympic Dam mine is also the world's fourth largest remaining copper deposit, and the world's fifth largest gold deposit.

Why migrate to South Australia?
Gross State Product up by 27.8%, employment up by19.5% (132,200 persons) in August 2010. Business investment up by 42.8% June quarter 2010, exports were 21.0% up despite the recent global financial crisis, most indicators of South Australian economic activity continue to show strength.
Unemployment is at a low rate - 5.3% in August 2010, population growth is at the highest annual rate since 1975, housing construction in the June quarter 2010 was 27.3% higher than a year earlier.
Business investment reached $10.8 billion in the year to the June quarter 2010.

Adelaide is the second least costly city to set up and do business in Australia. Major projects worth $71.5 billion are either under way or in the pipeline. The State has huge mining potential - ranked 15th most prospective location in the world and South Australia has world-class renewable energy assets, which has and will create new employment opportunities.

In 2010, Adelaide remained the most affordable city in Australia and one of the most affordable cities in the Asia Pacific region. Most of all, South Australia has continued to be popular among migrants for offering services such as settlement for new arrivals.

Working with South Australian government for many years, I admire the efficient nomination procedure that has provided opportunity to thousands of migrants.

Sources http://www.southaustralia.biz/library/SA_Eco_Perf_Report_3.pdf, Wikipedia, Immigration SA