Table of Contents
- Faster Pathway to Permanent Residence for 482 Visa Workers
- Australia Increases Permanent Migration Program
- Government to crack down on Education Providers Visa Scams
- Australia resumes Tourist visas for Chinese Groups
- Victoria's State Nomination Program has Re-opened
- Filipinos to Join Australian Work and Holiday Visa Program
- Subclass 408 - Pandemic Visa is being Closed
- Faster Visa Processing Times Now!
- Massive Increase in Number of Migrants coming to Australia
- International Students can Extend their Stay in Australia
15 November 2023
Faster Pathway to Permanent Residence for 482 Visa Workers
The Government has announced that it intends to lift the cap on the number of 482 visa applications submitted in Australia, allowing for a larger number of applications. In addition, the Government stated that 482 Visa Applicants will now be eligible for a pathway to Permanent residence, regardless of whether their occupation is on the Short-term, Medium-term or Long-term Lists. Currently, only 482 visa Applicants who have Skilled occupations on the Medium-term or Long-term lists may apply for the ENS 186 visa, which is a route to Permanent residence. Therefore, this expansion to include Short-term occupations will now cover a wider range of occupations, encompassing roles, such as, cooks, chefs, hospitality, health and construction workers.
26 October 2023
Australia Increases Permanent Migration Program
In 2022/23, there has been a significant increase in Permanent residence applications, as well as Temporary Visas, and this had resulted in a backlog of permanent visa applications. In 2021/22. the number of Permanent visa applications increased by 63.5% from 185,030 to 302,434 in 2022/23. The largest source countries were from India then China, Nepal and Philippines. In addition, the Family stream grew by 27.3% in 22/23 compared to 21/22, with a substantial backlog of over 140,000 Parent visa applications. Finally, The Skill stream delivered a record high number of 142,344 applications, with a backlog of more than 184,000 in 2023 compared to 119,000 in 2022.
1 October 2023
Government to crack down on Education Providers Visa Scams
The Government's proposed changes are to restore integrity to the education and migration system, and include strengthening the 'fit and proper person test' for international education providers to avoid private college owners from also functioning as Education Agents.In addition, the Government will share data and statistcics about Education Agents performance, with private Colleges and Universities. Also, there will be a ban on paying Education Agents commissions for transferring students between higher education courses, so as to prevent unscrupulous Agents from enticing students to quit their University course and transfer to a low-fee course of questionable quality.
26 September 2023
Australia resumes Tourist visas for Chinese Groups
The Australian Government has re-commenced the processing of Visitor visas for Chinese Group Tours, for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic. Formerly, in 2019, Chinese Visitors were the biggest source of international tourists to Australia, totalling 1.4 million Visitors, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Minister for Trade and Tourism described the resumption of Chinese Tour Groups as a significant boost to the Australian Tourism industry. He said: "The resumption of Chinese group tour travel will provide another welcome boost for Australia's hard-working tourism operators."
19 September 2023
Victoria's State Nomination Program has Re-opened
The Victorian Government has just re-opened their State Nomination program for the Skilled Nominated, Subclass 190 Visa for Permanent residence, as well as the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional), Subclass 491 Visa, which will remain open until early 2024. Note that Victoria has re-opened Nomination for Onshore and Offshore applicants. The process of applying is that Applicants must initially complete a 'Registration of Interest' (ROI). Currently, there is no timeframe until an ROI is selected, due to large numbers of applications and the fact that the Program is extremely competitive. However, if an Applicant has a strong ROI, then they may receive an application for Victorian Visa Nomination, within 1 -2 months.