The Australian government has announced a range of optimistic targets with regards to its migration systems. While these targets seem inspiring, it is important that we understand precisely how they will affect your immigration plans or visa application success.The budget for 2022-23 encourages skilled migration to help build a more prosperous future.
The Permanent Migration Program will have a cap of 160,000 slots in 2022-23.
Migration – Skill stream
The Morrison Government’s Migration Program will focus on skilled migration, with a return to a pre-pandemic composition of roughly two-thirds/one-third across the Skill and Family streams.
The Skill stream will increase to 109,900, more than 30,000 above 2021-22 planning levels.
Business Innovation and Investment (9,500 seats), Global Talent (8,448 places) and Distinguished Talent (300 places) are witnessing a minor decline in the allocations. Nevertheless, most streams of the Skilled Migration were happily increased, adding 10,000+ more for the Skilled Independent Visa, 8,800 for the State Nominated Visa, 13,800 more allocations for Regional Visa and 8,000 was added for Employer Visa.
Australia offers you a safe haven and more opportunities. These changes to the skilled migration program will help attract the best and brightest from all over the world, who will in turn contribute to our amazing country – Australia!
Migration – Family Stream
The Family Stream, which is part of the government’s migration program, will provide an estimated 50,000 places to support family reunions.
The Partner and Child visa categories are estimated to deliver 40,500 and 3,000 visas respectively (delivery of Partner and Child visas will be subject to demand and visa processing requirements); while 6,000 places will be available for Parent visas; and 500 places for Other Family visas.
Granting Partner visa on demand driven arrangements will enable the Department to meet forecasted demand for Partner visas in a given program year, optimising Australia’s migration program and assist in mitigating future growth in the Partner visa pipeline, while maintaining immigration integrity.
Working Holiday Makers
The Working Holiday Maker (WHM) arrangement plays a crucial role in supporting many regional economies across Australia. To support the visitor economy and assist businesses in regions heavily reliant on backpacker labour, the Government will increase Australia’s international visitor visa framework by around 11,000 additional WHM visas. Over the following three years, this approach is expected to enhance the underlying cash balance by $45 million. Australia has Working Holiday Maker (WHM) arrangements with 45 countries, of which 26 partner countries operate under annual “cap” arrangements.
The Morrison government has announced a one-time increase in the number of spots available to WHMs from countries where Australia has a Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa agreement.
To further encourage the arrival of WHMs to Australia, Working Holiday Maker (WHM) (subclasses 417 and 462) visa holders who arrive in Australia between 19 January and 19 April 2022 can claim for a reimbursement of the visa application fee (VAC). This is in addition to visa repayments for students (subclass 500) who arrive between January 19 and March 19, 2022.
Humanitarian Program
Australia’s humanitarian program is one of the most generous in the world. While many Australians are unaware of Australia’s commitment to refugees, the Government shutdown on refugees and will maintain the current humanitarian program at 13,750 places in order to respond flexibly to humanitarian crises overseas.
This will allow Australia to continue to facilitate the transition of Ukrainians onto a temporary humanitarian (subclass 786) visa, as well as cooperate with international partners to respond properly to global humanitarian concerns, such as Myanmar, as announced recently.
Under the Humanitarian program, an additional 16,500 slots will be available for Afghan nationals, which will be allocated evenly over the next four years. This takes the total number of places available to Afghans across Australia’s Humanitarian and Migration Programs to 31,500 over the next four program years.
If you haven’t already applied for an Australian visa, now is the time to do it as the government is simplifying everything and making it easier for skilled workers to migrate. If you are planning on applying in the future, make sure you know what these changes mean to you. Chances are that they should help you out, but it’s better to be informed than surprised.
Take advantage of those visa extension opportunities, so you can stay in the country long enough to find a better solution (like an employer sponsorship). And if you’re planning on moving to Australia on your own, but aren’t sure how to get there, contact us today for a free consultation with one of our experts.
