There will be more places for skilled visas, places for partner visas have been reduced, the budget says, “partner visa granting arrangements will move to a more demand-driven basis going forward.”

Some 10,000 places were moved to the skilled stream from the partner visa allocation, plus another 20,000 places on top of that, totalling 109,900 places.

As unemployment in Australia dips below 4%, more room for skilled visas is evident in this budget, Australian businesses are sorely missing the working holidaymaker and student visa workforce of 3-4 years ago.

The skilled stream will count for a whopping 70% of all visas issued, the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189), Employer-Sponsored visa (subclass 186) and the State and Territory Nominated visa (Subclass 491 and 190) are all skilled visas.

There was a small increase of Parent visa places of 1,500 places up to 6,000.

The government announced the fiscal plans for its humanitarian program as well, outlining further spending to assist visa holders from Afghanistan and Ukraine, $9.2 million will be allocated to youth transition services and $1 million will be available over 5 years from 2022-23 to offer grants to organisations who advance Australia’s human rights priorities.

Places will increase for working holiday-makers who will be allocated another 11,000 of them and visa holders who arrive in Australia between the 9th of January 2022 and the 19th of April 2022 will be eligible for a refunded Visa Application Charge.

The future is looking bright in Australia, with unemployment at record lows, jobs are everywhere and this budget shows the government’s plans to increase the number of skilled visa places in stark reality.

The time to make the call is now, get your application in early and don’t miss out on a wonderful future in a beautiful country!

The Australian economy badly needs more skilled workers to grow, now is the time to make the secure, safe decision and start planning your Australian migration.

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About 50% of Department of Immigration funding will be devoted to skilled visa places with the subclass 188, subclass 124 and subclass 858 visas being the main focus of budget spending.

The migration program will maintain 2020-21 levels of 160,000 visa places in total for the next financial year with a continued focus on onshore family visa applications being approved as well as the shift in focus for skilled visas.

Net overseas migration is expected to fall from 154,000 in 2019-20 to around -72,000 persons by the end of 2020-21 before gradually increasing to 201,000 persons in 2023-24.

The Global Talent visa Program will receive over $550 million in funding with the ATO providing fast-track tax advice to foreign investors and individual tax residency rules will be simplified.

The number of Family visas will be capped at 77,300 places for 2021-22.

As was previously announced the Adult Migrant English Program which helps new migrants to acquire english language skills will be given a shake-up. 

The 510 hour cap on education under the program will be scrapped in favour of allowing migrants to study until they have reached a ‘vocational’ level of english.

For information on visas, citizenship and migration to Australia, call +61 (08) 9221 4888 or book an appointment using the following link – https://easymigrate.as.me/schedule.php.

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Summary by Cyrus Mistry (Founding Partner – Easymigrate AMCS):

The Australian Federal Budget for 2020-2021 was announced today – 6th October 2020.

With increased places available, I expect the processing-time for Partner Visas will reduce from the current 24-30 months waiting periods. The places allotted for Global Talent visas has been tripled from 5,000 to 15,000 so we expect to see more activity within this program stream.
The bad news is that the Australian Government expects the net overseas migration numbers fall from the current 154,000 persons by almost 45% – down to about 83,000 in this financial year 2020-21. The good news is that net overseas migration is expected to bounce back to about 201,000 persons in another two years (2023-24).
 

• Previous Program Planning level (2019-20) was set at 160,000 places
• Current Program Planning level (2020-21) will stay the same at 160,000 places however the Family Stream will benefit by increasing the places from 47,700 to 77,300 for 2020-2021 only.
• In 2019-20 the net overseas migration was 154,000 persons.
• In 2020-21 the net overseas migration is expected to reduce by about 71,000 (net 83,000), increasing to around 201,000 by 2023-24 (further two years)
• Employer Sponsored, Global Talent, Business Innovation and Investment program visas will be prioritised.
• Onshore visa applicants will be prioritised.
• Partner Visa applicants will be prioritised especially where the sponsor lives in a “designated regional area”
• Temp Skilled Workers, Visitors, Working Holidaymakers: subsequent visa application fees may be “waived” in future – where they were affected by travel restrictions.

Subclass 189 New Zealand Pathway: Eligibility requirement is that applicants need to show fours years of taxable income above the TSMIT threshold in the last five years. This may be reduced to three years including the most recent year.
 
Business, Investment and Innovation Program: Focus will be given to higher value investors. Places will be increased to 13,500. The Government has announced a “Taskforce” that will focus on attracting “exceptional talent” and international businesses to Australia. This initiative is likely to increase local employment opportunities and assist in a post-COVID recovery.
 
Global Talent Independent (GTI) Program: This pathway will receive the best allocation yet. Placed will be TRIPLED to 15,000 places.
 
Family Stream Program: 72,300 places out of a total of 77,300 places will go towards “Partner Visas”, remaining 5,000 places will go to other visas within the Family stream. Sponsorship provisions and obligations will be strengthened. Partner visa applicants may be required to show English-language skills. This may give better social and economic participation outcomes.
 
Humanitarian Stream: The ceiling will e set at 13,750 places. Quota division between onshore and offshore applicants will be kept flexible, keeping COVID restrictions in mind.
 
Unauthorised Maritime Arrivals: Additional funding will be provided to continue processing the backlog of applicants who arrived between August 2012 and January 2014.
 
Federal Law Circuit Court: A$35.7 million will provide additional resources to the FCC. This will enable the backlog of pending cases relating to immigration matters.
 
The full Federal Budget papers can be accessed on the Budget.gov.au site.

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New Australian Budget 2019 – how it affects AUSTRALIAN MIGRATION.

Following information has come from MIA.

1. Dept of Home Affairs fees will go up by approx. 5.4% on 1 July 2019.
2. There is no change announced for “Second VAC” fees e.g. 2nd VAC for Contributory Parent Visa $43,600, etc.
3. General Skilled Migration planning levels reduced from 190,000 to 160,000 for the next four years
4. From Nov 2019 for Points-tested General skilled migration: Extra points will be granted if the spouse has good “English” language test results.
5. Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visas will be introduced from 1 November 2019. They will replace the current RSMS (Subclass 187) and Skilled Regional (Subclass 489). These two visas will be discontinued.
6. For Subclass 485 Graduates studying at REGIONAL universities (Bachelors or Post-Grad level) – An additional 12-month second post-study work visa for international graduates providing a total of three years, if they continued to live in the regional area for first two years. Commences in 2021.
7. Destination Australia Program – Scholarships for international and domestic students to study in regional Australia for higher education or vocational education qualifications
8. Trade Recognition Australia (TRA) fees are likely to go up – Fees for skills assessments related to migration, employment and licensing will be collected by TRA and be fully recovered.
9. Annual cap for WHV (Subclass 462) for Indonesian citizens will be increased from 2,500 to 5,000 over the six years to 2014/25

If you would like to find out more about Australian visas our migration agents will be happy to check your eligibility. If you would like advice from our team of Registered Migration Agents, book in for a consultation now.

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