Australia announced its new Migration Planning Levels as part of the federal budget for 2023-24 on May 9. The 2023-24 Migration Program is designed to address the growing concerns about skill shortages, and aging demography and facilitate easier immigration of specialists that are difficult to find or develop in Australia.
The Program has the following composition:
- Skill stream (137,100 places) including Employer Sponsored, Skilled Independent, Regional, State/Territory Nominated, Business Innovation & Investment, Global Talent (Independent), and Distinguished Talent visa categories.
- Family stream (52,500 places) including 40,500 Partner visas and 3,000 Child visas categories.
- Special Eligibility stream (400 places).
The new financial year in Australia will begin on 1 July 2023 and end on 30 June 2024.
Increased Allocations Under Employer-Sponsored Category
The increase in places for employer-sponsored visas will more likely to benefit those already in Australia on temporary employer-sponsored visas. Australia has also announced an increase in the minimum salary for temporary employer-sponsored visas to around AUD70,000 after being left at around AUD53,000 for almost ten years.
It is encouraging to note that the Partner & Child visa categories will be managed on a demand-driven basis and are not capped. However, international student visa holders will face a capped fortnightly work hour limit of 48 hours starting from July 1, 2023, except for students working in the aged care sector.
Australia had previously announced an additional two years of post-study work rights to Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa holders with select degrees. This will become operational from 1 July 2023.
Introducing a New 3-Tier Skilled Migration
Australian Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil had earlier reviewed many flaws in the Australian immigration system, terming it “not fit for purpose”. Following this Australia is expected to introduce major changes in the next 3-6 months targeting more skilled immigrants.
All skilled visa applicants will be processed based on the following tiered system:
- Light touch – the first tier will be streamlined for high-earning workers.
- Mainstream – the second tier will be a mainstream skilled pathway focussing on middle-income earners.
- Essential – the third one will be for the essential industries, which will reorganize the country’s intake of low-earning migrants.
The new 3-tier skilled migration system will help reduce the number of visa subclasses and further simplify the migration process to Australia.
Australia is certainly planning to efficiently manage its immigration levels for better economic progress on par with major skilled immigration destinations like Canada. If you’re looking to plan your immigration anytime soon, consider visiting CanApprove for expert advice. Claim your free consultation here.