Immigration

By January 24, 2023 0 Comments Read More →

The Australian government is reviewing its visa and immigration policies due to a growing shortage of workers

The Australian government has announced plans to review its visa and immigration policies in response to the growing labour shortage, particularly in rural areas. The government intends to switch the immigration program from a skills-based program to a demand-driven program, giving businesses a say in which job positions should be filled. However, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Clare O’Neil, has expressed concerns that such changes could disrupt the immigration system and lead to negative consequences. The country has been facing issues with an aging population and has relied on immigration for population growth since 2005-2006. The Covid-19 pandemic made the labour shortage worse with the stringent lockdowns that resulted in overseas students, backpackers, and tourists leaving the country. The government has stated that it expects to receive more than 235,000 immigrants between 2022 and 2023, following the reopening of the border to international travel in July 2022. The net inflow of immigration is forecast to reach 150,000 in 2021-2022, reaching the pre-pandemic trend of 235,000 from 2022 to 2023 and remaining at that level.

The revival of foreign migration patterns was greatly facilitated by the surge of international students, many of whom took online classes during the pandemic. The arrival of international students saw a significant increase in the quarter ending December 2021 and March 2022 as students who previously studied online and abroad took advantage of relaxed border restrictions.

The report states that by mid-October 2022, there will be 122,000 more foreign students in Australia compared to mid-December 2021.

Posted in: Government, Immigration
By February 3, 2022 0 Comments Read More →

International students would not be permitted to change their courses, as per latest visa update.

Starting from July of this year, new rules will go into effect that will prohibit international students with a SC 500 visa from changing their course of study or research topic without approval from the Minister. The Migration Act 1958 has been altered by the Australian government to modify the regulations for visa Subclass 500, which is a student visa. According to the statement released by the federal home minister, the legislation requires holders of Subclass 500 (Student) visas who are pursuing or plan to pursue higher education to obtain approval from the Minister before making any changes to their course of study or research topic. The Minister will only approve the change if they are satisfied that there is no unreasonable risk of the transfer of critical technology by the visa holder.

The new rules also permit the cancellation of a visa if the Minister determines that there is a risk of the undesired transfer of critical technology by the visa holder. According to the statement, the cancellation of visas will be discretionary for certain protection visas and related bridging visas but will be mandatory for all other types of visas.

The department has imposed new visa conditions, 8204A and 8204B, for student visa holders who are pursuing a higher education course or postgraduate research course and plan to change their course of study, thesis, or research topic.

The updated regulations grant the Minister the authority to refuse to authorize a change in a visa holder’s course of study, thesis, or research topic if it is deemed to be in the public interest. The visa holder may challenge the Minister’s decision. The new visa conditions 8204A and 8204B will only apply to student visas submitted after July 1, 2022, and will not impact previously submitted applications. These conditions will eventually be imposed on the specified visa subclasses at a later date as determined by the Minister through a notifiable instrument, following the implementation of provisions for the Student (subclass 500) visa.

  • Training (subclass 407)
  • Temporary Activity (subclass 408)
  • Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) (subclass 400)
  • Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482)
  • Temporary Graduate (subclass 485)
  • Recognised Skill Graduate (subclass 476)
  • Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494).
  • Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) (Subclass 191)
  • Global Talent Independent Program visas:
  • Employer Nomination Scheme (permanent)(subclass 186) visa
  • Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (permanent)(subclass 187) visa
  • Skilled Independent (permanent)(subclass 189) visa
  • Distinguished Talent (permanent)(subclass 858) visa.

Posted in: Immigration
By December 5, 2019 0 Comments Read More →

Fast-Track PR for highly skilled Tech-migrants

A new permanent migration scheme for highly skilled tech migrants will focus on 7 future-focused skills. These skills include cybersecurity, quantum computing, fintech and more.

The GTIP- global talent independent program is introduced by Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services, and Multicultural Affairs David Coleman, to attract the best brain around the world.

The program aims to lure up to 5000 high-income earners working “at the top of their field” to Australia between July 2019 and June 2020 with the offer of a “fast-tracked process to permanent residency”.

Only migrants working in one of seven “future-focused fields”, who are likely to earn more than $149,000 per year in Australia, are eligible for permanent residency under GTIP.

The fields are AgTech, space and advanced manufacturing, fintech, energy, and mining technology, MedTech, cybersecurity, and quantum information/advanced digital/data science and ICT.

Normal character, security and integrity checks are undertaken for any migration will also apply.

However, instead of waiting for migrants to apply, GTIP intends to actively seek out talent using ‘Global Talent Officers’ from the Department of Home Affairs.

These officers – which have already been deployed in Berlin, Washington DC, Singapore, Shanghai, Santiago, Dubai, and New Delhi, and will work across countries in their regions – will guide applicants through the application process.

The fast-tracked process would take “weeks, not months”. 

Coleman said the GTIP was deliberately targeting the “world’s most highly-skilled migrants” in order to best position Australia for competitiveness

“We want to position Australia at the forefront of major growth trends in the world economy. By enabling local businesses to access the world’s best talent, we will help to grow high growth industries in Australia,” he said.

“Over time, the Global Talent program has the potential to have a transformative impact on the Australian economy.”

While the program is focused on bringing in external talent, Home Affairs expects the scheme will also, by extension, create “opportunities for Australians by transferring skills, promoting innovation and creating job opportunities”.

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said local job creation, in addition to the 5000 GTIP placements, would “drive growth in the Australian technology industry”.

“For our domestic tech industry to grow, businesses need to be able to hire skilled Australian workers as well as access the capabilities of specialists from across the world,” she said.

“We can create high-paying local jobs by making Australia a global technology hub and the global talent program is a signal to tech companies that we’re open for business.”

Posted in: Immigration
By July 21, 2018 0 Comments Read More →

New “value test” may be added for migrants seeking Australia PR

Alan Tudge, citizenship minister in Turnbull government has raised his concern about PR visa grants. Too many PR visas are granted to people even before entering in Australia, he said. A new value test may be added for migrant seeking Australia PR.

Value test for migrants seeking Australia PR

New value test may be added for migrants seeking PR

 

Last year, Australia granted about 162000 visa which was lower than the annual cap of 190000 and lowest in the last 10 years. About half of the total were granted visa even before entering Australia and another half were granted within Australia based on temporary visas. This is less ideal and something needs to consider, Tudge said in his speech in London.

Approximately two-thirds of permanent residency visa are skilled visa while one-third are family visas.  Mr. Tudge concerned about the offshore applicants as no much details are known about them.

A new spoken English language test may be introduced for people seeking permanent residency in Australia.

Posted in: Immigration
By July 1, 2018 0 Comments Read More →

Step by step process for Skilled migrant visa Australia

Most of the countries follow, point test scheme for skill independent migration. Higher the point, better the chances to get visa earlier. Here is the step by step guide for the skilled migrant visa Australia.

 

Skilled migrant visa Australia

Skilled migrant visa Australia

 

Points are calculated on different parameter as below.
• Your Age ( Highest for age from 25-32)
• Experience in years ( Higher the number, higher the points )
• English Score ( Competent, Proficient or Expert )
• Education ( Points reduces from PhD-Masters-Bachelor)

 

Internal Review Report (IRR)

The first step in this process is to get yourself assessed. There are different migration agents, who do an assessment for you for free of cost or with nominal charges. All you need is your latest resume and some formal details about you. If your assessment is positive, congratulations, you can apply for migration visa.

 

English Competency

The second step in this process if the English exam. Different countries follow different rules for English exams. Most common exams are IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, and PTE. Please go to the country-specific immigration website and check which exam is required for that. These all exams test your English but exam patterns and types of question vary from one to another. IELTS is the most favored exam by most countries. There are two modules of it. IELTS general and IELTS academic. Academic is preferred by students. For migration IELTS general is preferred. Different countries demand different scores for these exams. Make sure you note down your target scores and plan as per.

 

Skill Assessment

The third step is skill assessment. After getting desired English score, the next step is to get a positive skill assessment. Skill assessment usually checks your work experience and projects you had undergone. Your academics and employment documents are verified. You may need to submit projects on which you worked with clearly stating your roles and responsibilities and duties. Make sure your immigration consultant help you to make this report. You need t to submit English result score with required result.

After a successful assessment, you are granted the letter of a positive outcome with all your details. This is the first time you make direct payment to the country you are migrating. After paying the required fees, it may take up to 3 months to get the output of your skill assessment. If you have got a positive outcome is the first step, there are rare chances of rejection in this case. You skill assessment comes with a validity period which may vary from country to country and usually of 2 years or more. If you don’t apply for a visa within this time frame, your assessment results may void and you need to get yourself assessed again.

 

Expression of Interest (EOI)

After getting a positive skill assessment, the next step is to apply for expression of interest (EOI). Once again, with all your documents and detail, skill assessment letter, and English results, you need to submit an application form to show your expression of interest. The date on which you submit your EOI application is crucial, as this will be the deciding factor for you to get an invitation to apply for the visa.

After submitting EOI, there is waiting time for you until you get an invite. The invitation is granted on basis of points. Waiting period depends on your total points and number of applicant ahead you with higher points for the same occupation. The invitation also affected by a number of total invitation to be granted per year for that country. Every year, occupation lists and number of invitations to be granted is updated and numbers may increase or decrease. In some cases, waiting time may as high as 1 to 2 years.

Visa Lodge

Once you get invited, it is time for you to lodge visa. This is the final step of your visa application. Once again, with all your documents, you need to fill application for a visa. You may need to undergo medical and get a police clearance certificate. Medical is only valid if done with affiliated immigration country. List of certified doctors/hospitals are available on immigration website and usually in metro cities only. Make sure you plan your travel as per if you live in rural or semi-urban areas.

Process for application of PCC varied for different countries. You may need to apply online or visit the nearest police station. You can now submit your visa lodge application with PCC and medical reports.

 

Final Stage

Once the application is submitted, you are assigned a case officer(CO) to look into your case. Each application in this stage is scrutinized case by case. You may need to provide some details requested by your CO assigned by immigration country. This may take up to 2 to 3 months. After the successful assessment, you are granted the visa. It is time for you to celebrate.

 

Summary

This is the basic process for the skilled migrant visa Australia. However, you may sit for the English exam before the internal review. You still need to keep yourself updated about latest points criteria.

 

 

Posted in: Immigration