On September 2, Australian Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil announced at the Australian Employment and Skills Summit that the government will increase the immigration quota for the new fiscal year from 2022 to 2023 from 160,000 to 195,000. The increase is 10%. The highest total in years.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was a “consensus” that more permanent immigration was needed to address labour shortages, pointing to one of Labor’s top priorities being to move away from the focus on short-term immigration and towards permanent, citizenship and nation-building.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said the government would spend $36.1 million to clear the visa backlog.
The Australian government will invest $36.1 million in visa processing to increase staff capacity by 500 over the next nine months, in addition to clearing the backlog, which will help deliver a permanent migration plan.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “There is a need to increase immigration intake and we also have a consensus that Australia needs to move in a more permanent direction, not just about numbers, but about the makeup of Australia’s immigration system. Introducing more More migrants instead of relying on casual workers, and doing so makes us more vulnerable to the point that when the borders are closed, we are suddenly over-reliant on casual workers, which means we don’t have the skills this country needs.”
The immigration quota in remote areas has increased significantly
The regional immigration quota will increase from 9,000 to 34,000, and the number of state and territory sponsored visas will increase from 11,000 to 31,000. Among them, an additional 4,700 medical-related professional immigration cooperation, 6,100 infrastructure-related professional immigration quotas, 6,800 technology-related professional immigration quotas, and an additional 5,000 quotas will be allocated to enterprises for permanent visa holders. Provide employer-sponsored immigration.
485 visa for international students extended again
The 485 work visa for international students has also ushered in good news. The Minister of Education announced that international graduates whose majors are in areas of skills shortages will have a two-year work visa added to the original duration. The specific major has not yet been announced, but the global new crown Judging from the trend of the epidemic, medical, nursing, social work and teaching professions have greater opportunities.
Currently, international students with a bachelor’s degree can stay in Australia for 2 years after graduation, master’s students can stay for 3 years, and doctoral students can stay for 4 years. Education Minister Jason Clare said he wanted to see more international students stay in Australia after graduation, not just study in Australia and work in retail or hospitality.
“Where we are facing a skills shortage, which is currently chronic throughout the economy, it makes sense to encourage international students to stay a little longer.”
The working hours policy for international students is relaxed again
In addition, the policy that international students can work more than 40 hours per fortnight will continue to be extended until June 30, 2023.
At present, the visa processing time has been continuously accelerated, the temporary skilled visa has been shortened from 53 days to 42 days, and the student visa has been shortened from 40 days to 31 days.
Overall, Australia’s future immigration trends and policies will be favorable.
