Migration Strategy Incoming Changes 2023_2024

Ozdrims · December 2023

Let’s discuss here the current looming immigration changes to be announced by AU from tomorrow onwards

📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣📣
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Cerberus13 · December 2023

I'm not updated. What are the major changes?

Ozdrims · December 2023

Tomorrow’s announcement will confirm the migration strategy to fix a broken system - we will follow closely the changes by tomorrow’s announcement.

Small Migration Intake ,new PR pathways for highly skilled migrants and temporary visa holders, crackdown measures with regards to student visas applications e.g. tougher rules , migration points system changes etc. which at the moment are tentative and needs more detailed info.

Should be a lengthy discussion.
This is especially for prospective students ,skilled migrants and onshore applicants.

Ozdrims · December 2023

Ozdrims · December 2023

Labor’s migration strategy to focus on national-building people power
Minister for Home Affairs Clare O'Neil claims the federal government’s migration strategy will fix a broken visa system.

The Albanese government will create a new “skills in demand” visa and raise English-language requirements for all international students, to restore border control and suppress the temporary migration boom that has put cities under tremendous strain, led to worker exploitation and left hundreds of thousands of young foreigners in limbo.

To be launched on Monday, Labor’s Migration Strategy will seek to cut the overall intake, restore the social licence of the failing visa system, for which community support has slumped amid a world-leading post-pandemic population boom, and reframe migration to its historic, nation-building role.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the nation could not sustain the migrant inflow of recent years, with almost 900,000 students, temporary workers and permanent settlers arriving in two years.

Ms O’Neil claimed the government’s policy tightening will now lead to a cumulative 185,000 fewer migrants over the budget’s four-year time frame.

The blueprint is built on five principles, with an emphasis on the skills Australia needs most to boost productivity and permanency to encourage social cohesion and cultural vibrancy, in line with the wide-ranging review led by former top civil servant Martin Parkinson.

Ms O’Neil said the road map “is a commitment to getting our system back on track and to returning migration levels back to normal and using that reduction in migration levels to move to the system we need for Australia’s future”.

“Australia’s migration system is not the nation building engine it once was,” she said.

“It often fails to identify and attract those people who are best placed to help build the skills base of Australia’s workforce, boost exports and raise living standards.”

The road map is built on eight drivers, including the delivery of existing visa and integrity reforms, new policy commitments over the coming 12 months, and longer-term changes to be developed in partnership with second-tier governments, businesses and unions.

Ms O’Neill vowed to abolish visa settings that drive long-term temporary stays (known as ‘permanent temporariness’), including through shortening graduate visas and ending settings that allow graduates to prolong their stay in Australia when they have fewer prospects of becoming permanent residents.

The Home Affairs Minister flagged an enhanced “points system” for permanent migrants, as well as updated occupation lists to better target the short-term needs of employers.

“The benefits of getting the points system for permanency right is massive,” she said.

The new strategy aims to simplify a complex system, which customarily deters the most talented young people, while expediting approval for the most desirable temporary workers to drive innovation and job creation.

These specialists must be paid at least $135,000 a year, placing them in the top 10 per cent of earners, and can be in any occupation, except trades workers, machinery operators and drivers, and labourers.

As well, the strategy aspires to properly allocate working holiday makers to regions and to implement better long-term population planning with the states, although the details of how this will occur are a work in progress.

At the end of October there were 2.3 million people in Australia on temporary visas with work rights. In 2000, the number of temporary migrants was around 700,000.

The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, to be released on Wednesday, will show net overseas migration peaking at 510,000 in the year to June, compared with the budget estimate of 401,700.

For the current financial year, the migrant inflow is projected to be 375,000, a one-fifth blowout on Treasury’s May forecast of 316,000.

Of this year’s estimated inflow, 190,000 places will be in the permanent program, with over 70 per cent designated for the skilled stream.

Writing for The Australian online, Ms O’Neil said the “first problem we have to solve is to get migration levels back to sustainable, normal levels”.

“Numbers were always going to surge post-pandemic, but we cannot sustain the levels of migration we have seen in recent years,” she writes.

“There is too much pressure on housing and infrastructure.

“Our migration program only works with community support and to retain that, we must make a significant correction.”

The new four-year skills in demand visa, with full mobility and clear pathways to permanent residence, will replace the complex single-employer-sponsored Temporary Skill Shortage visa that business and unions agree is not fit for purpose.

The visa will be backed by three pathways, adopting the Parkinson Review’s model of a risk-based approach to regulation, including specialist, core skills and a lower paid tiers, with legislated indexation of wage thresholds to maintain integrity.

“A key feature of this visa is an alternative approach to mobility, with new visa settings, streamlined applications and consideration of trailing employer fees that remove many onerous conditions that tie a migrant to a single employer,” the strategy said.

“These features will help design out elements that contribute to worker exploitation and reduce barriers to job switching in the labour market, which will lead to a more productive workforce.”

The government argues this new model allows for worker mobility across industries, which better reflects the nature of how skills are used, and how they will be increasingly used, in the labour market.

For example, the most common occupation in the current Temporary Skill Shortage visa is a software engineer; like most occupations, a software engineer’s skills can be used across industries, such as in manufacturing, transport and logistics or financial services.

The strategy says the specialist stream, with the aim for a median turnaround of seven days of visa processing, will help Australia attract highly skilled engineering managers who develop electrolysers to help with our transition to a net-zero economy, cyber specialists who assist banks to respond to cyber-attacks and software engineers who help Australia embrace the artificial intelligence transformation.

The core skills stream must be paid at least $70,000 and will reflect current needs identified by Jobs and Skills Australia, such as a Registered Nurse who is helping a regional hospital’s emergency department deal with acute workforce shortages or a Secondary School Teacher helping teach science in our public schools.

The strategy says more work is needed to develop how best to regulate migration for lower paid workers with essential skills.

Early next year, the government will consult with state and territory governments, unions, businesses and migrant workers to determine limits.

As well, the strategy hopes to streamline labour market testing to reduce complexity,

create a best practice service level agreement for processing times and establish a modernised accreditation pathway to better compete for talent.

Chief executive of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia Melinda Cilento said “for too long, our migration system has lacked a cohesive and long-term strategic direction”.

“Instead, we’ve had a revolving door of changes that caused uncertainty, unpredictability and confusion for anyone using or relying on the system – migrants, employers and the broader community alike,” Ms Cilento said.

“We must get the right skills in the right places, and the focus on this, as well as simplifying the system and more transparency, is the right way to go.”

(Source: The Australian newspaper)

casssie · December 2023

inhale.... exhale..... 🤞

Ozdrims · December 2023

‘Non-genuine’ foreign students to be weeded out

A year after the Albanese government declared some international students could stay for an additional two years after graduation, Labor has backflipped on the promise as part of efforts to trim the number of temporary migrants in Australia.

New measures aimed at weeding out non-genuine students who use the study visa system to access the jobs market will include higher English-language proficiency requirements and more scrutiny of applicants with greater priority given to those who enrol in high-quality, high-fee universities and colleges.

International students will undergo far more scrutiny when applying for a visa to study in Australia.

The reforms from Labor’s migration review, released on Sunday, come after other changes announced in the past couple of months aimed at curbing exploitative and corrupt behaviours by some agents, colleges and employers. It has been predicted that up to 200 private vocational colleges could go broke as a result of those changes, with many more undoubtedly at risk due to the additional measures.

However, it was only last September that Education Minister Jason Clare announced that some international students would be given an additional two years to stay and work in Australia after finishing their degree – as a means of increasing the number who go on to become permanent residents.

The policy reversal appears to be because over 50 per cent of graduate visa holders are in low-skill jobs that would not be considered an asset when applying for residency.

There is also evidence that thousands of graduate visa holders reapply for another study visa once their time is up to lengthen their stay in Australia, known as visa-hopping.

However, those in high-demand skill areas, such as engineering, can apply for a new ‘skills in demand’ visa or permanent skilled visa under the changes.

The migration review says at least some of the extraordinary growth in international students has been propelled by “non-genuine students and unscrupulous education providers” who have subverted and exploited loopholes in the visa system.

A genuine student test will be introduced that will consider “the circumstances of the applicant, such as their academic or career progression and the usefulness of the intended study to their future career prospects”.

Additional scrutiny will be applied to all visa applicants, particularly those applying to providers and universities deemed high-risk by the Department of Home Affairs.

The tougher rules for foreign students, and the ending of special COVID visas that was announced in August, will drive migration back down to “normal” pre-COVID levels.

Course switching to stay
The number of students switching to lower-level, cheaper courses to prolong their stay has proliferated over the past year. There are now 150,000 international students on a second or third visa, the review says, with the vocational sector the hub of most nefarious activity.

Six of the 10 most popular vocational courses for international students are diplomas in business, leadership and management – courses with deliver little practical skills and are in low-demand among employers.

Experts say this has led to a spike in new colleges that have been approved or are waiting to be so in just the last year. They say a number of these and existing colleges, which have become known as ‘ghost schools’ have few teaching facilities and exist merely to channel student visa holders into the workforce.

“It is incumbent upon the government to provide these migrants with clarity about their future. International students and graduates make up the largest share of ‘permanently temporary’ migrants with 108,000 having lived in Australia for five years or more,” the review reads.

(Source: FInancial Review newspaper)

Ozdrims · December 2023

Migration review to fast track visa processing for the regions

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil. The government will move to fast track visa processing times for migrants moving to regional Australia and has pledged to work closely with the states and territories to ensure population is better targeted over the long term as part of a major shake-up to the migration system.

The Albanese government will move to fast track visa processing times for migrants moving to regional Australia as it pledged to work closely with the states and territories to ensure population is better targeted over the long term as part of a major shake-up to Australia’s migration system.

The changes – set to be unveiled on Monday as part of Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s response to the migration review – are designed to meet critical workforce needs in regional Australia and help supercharge regional communities.

However, Labor has ignored calls to limit the use of the working holiday maker program despite concern the scheme is a key driver of exploitation with visa holders previously subject to underpayment, sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns.

The government has instead pledged to conduct a further review of the program and broader migration settings to ensure it “can better meet regional needs while not adding to worker exploitation”.

Sky News host James Macpherson says Albanese is looking to "crack down" on migration to focus on bringing in skilled workers. “Labor is looking to seize back control of the narrative on migration,” Mr Macpherson said. “After the detainee debacle of last month. “They now say Australia needs to crack down More
It comes after an interim migration system review led by former public service chief Martin Parkinson recommended that Labor end the ability for travellers to extend the visa beyond 12 months if the worker has spent 88 days employed in regional Australia.

The review said the primary focus of the visa should be for “cultural exchange” noting the visa plays an important role in some of Australia’s international relationships.

Farming groups have been fiercely opposed to any restrictions being placed on the visa because backpackers had become a critical part of the nation’s food system, while unions have been calling for the scheme to be abolished to protect workers from exploitation.

The government’s response more broadly underscored the need for a co-ordinated approach to workforce needs in the regions with regional Australia’s population forecast to grow by 0.8 per cent per year to 2031-31 compared to 1.2 per cent for capital cities.

It noted 2016 census data which indicated only about 14 per cent of migrants live outside capital cities compared to 34 per cent of the general population despite the range of existing place based policies.

The government also deepened its commitment to increasing skilled migration to help meet labour shortages in regional Australia.

“Migration can play a powerful role in revitalising regional communities and meeting critical workforce needs in regional Australia,” it said. “Regional migration works for migrants and for long-term regional development when supported by the policy levers that make migration successful, such as government planning, infrastructure investment and economic opportunities.”

The Albanese government has also committed to plan the nation’s migration intake over a longer-term horizon with better collaboration with states and territories to ensure it is best targeted to the areas which need it.

Labor will extend its planning period beyond 12 months in a bid to plan most effectively in the national interest and fill critical skills shortages such as in the technology and care economy.

“The existing short term planning approach for the permanent migration program does not effectively target migrants with the skills we need to meet current and emerging national challenges,” the response said. “This is especially important for regional Australia where the challenges that Australia faces as a nation are often experienced more acutely.”

Committee for Economic Development of Australia chief executive Melinda Cilento said Labor’s commitment to long-term migration planning with the states provided a “welcome and critical missing ingredient”.

“This will enable better long-term planning and investment in housing and infrastructure and should send clear signals about the scale and composition of our migration program,” she said.

“As current debates show, this is crucial to maintaining community confidence in and support for our migration system.”

(Source: financial Review newspaper)

Ozdrims · December 2023

High-paid workers fast tracked as migration boom fades

(1/2)

Labor has resisted political pressure to slash Australia’s immigration intake, and instead tightened the screws on foreign students in a bid to drive migration back down to “normal” pre-COVID levels.

The government also promised business a visa system that will grant approvals in seven days to highly paid overseas staff as it shifts the system in favour of skilled workers in areas with genuine shortages, and away from low-skilled work and students.

The immigration program will remain demand driven, but should be significantly easier for most employers to navigate.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the blueprint, to be announced Monday, was part of the government’s commitment to “returning migration levels back to normal”.

The plan comes amid growing public concern about the record-high rate of arrivals, which Treasury estimates hit 510,000 in 2022-23. While the government says that surge was a one-off, as students and holidaymakers return after being locked out, Treasury has been surprised by the speed at which the temporary program has bounced back.

The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook on Wednesday will forecast net overseas migration to fall to 375,000 people this financial year and 250,000 in 2024-25.

Actions taken by the government since the May budget will mean that 185,000 fewer net overseas arrivals will arrive over the next four years than would have otherwise been the case, according to analysis by the Home Affairs Department.

This includes putting an end to the COVID-era pandemic event visa in September, which had granted 120,000 people unlimited work rights for 12 months.

“For all Australians, it means a better-planned migration system, aiming to strengthen the community you live in and to improve your living standards,” Ms O’Neil said.

But the migration strategy shows the government has largely spared the temporary skilled worker system as it seeks to put a lid on overseas arrivals. The program will remain demand driven, and should be significantly easier for most employers to navigate after the implementation of the strategy.

In a grand bargain between unions and business, the plan will increase the protections offered to the lowest-paid migrants, while making it significantly easier for employers to hire middle-to-high paid skilled foreigners, amid a global race for talent.

As part of the overhaul, the Albanese government will late next year create a new visa stream for employers to bring in migrants earning more than $135,000 in an application process that will take just seven days end-to-end.

All temporary skilled workers will be able to switch employers from late next year and have a pathway to stay in Australia permanently as part of the shake-up.

Three-tier visa scheme
The strategy’s signature action is the creation of a three-tiered temporary skilled migration program that will offer drastically faster processing times for employers to help Australia compete in the global race for talent.

The system will be underpinned by a new uncapped “skills in demand” visa with three separate pathways depending on the salary a migrant will earn in Australia.

At the top end is a “specialist skills pathway” for employers bringing in foreign workers earning at least $135,000, whose visas will be approved in a median time of just seven days.

“These migrants are prime candidates to choose other countries if we do not provide competitive visa offerings and better compete in the global race for talent,” the strategy said.

But as foreshadowed by The Australian Financial Review, highly paid tradies, machinery operators, drivers and labourers will be excluded from the fast-track pathway amid pressure from the union movement.

Sources consulted in the overhaul had warned the carve out would have an outsized impact on the mining industry, making it harder to bring in jobs like machinery installers who come to Australia temporarily to train local workers.

Instead, skilled tradespeople would need to apply through the new “core skills” visa stream, where a data-driven occupation list administered by Jobs and Skills Australia will assess whether their skills were in demand.

The core pathway applies to migrants who will earn between $70,000 and $135,000, and will make up the bulk of Australia’s temporary skilled migration intake.

A major question mark remains over the operation of the bottom-tier of the system, which will encompass workers earning less than $70,000.

The strategy says more work will be done next year on developing the so-called “essential skills” pathway, which the government is leaning toward limiting to low-paid jobs in the worker starved aged and disability care industries.

The pathway will contain heavy union-oversight, be sector-specific, and places will be capped.

Salary thresholds indexed
The salary thresholds for each of the three pathways will be indexed annually to average weekly ordinary time earnings.

Unlike the current temporary migration system, migrants will be able to switch employers to reduce the risk of worker exploitation.

To make mobility palatable to bosses, the government will explore a model whereby fees paid by employers, like the $7200 Skilling Australians Fund levy, are incurred in small chunks at regular intervals rather than upfront.

To facilitate job-switching and greater oversight of employers, the government will develop a public register of businesses that are approved to sponsor temporary migrants.

The register will include the name of approved employers, how many temporary skilled workers they employ, and what occupations they work in.

Labour market testing will also be overhauled. Employers will no longer be required to advertise positions to locals on the government-run Workforce Australia website before applying to bring in a foreign worker.

Tighter rules for students
The strategy marks a continuation of the Albanese government’s moves to tighten access to international student visas, which have largely underpinned the surge in migration over the past year.

The government has backflipped on an earlier promise to allow international students to stay in Australia for an additional two years after graduation.

The policy reversal appears to be because over 50 per cent of graduate visa holders are in low-skill jobs that would not be considered an asset when applying for residency.

The strategy also includes new measures aimed at curtailing visa-hopping by students and weeding out non-genuine students who use the student visa system to access the jobs.

A genuine student test will be introduced that will take into account “the circumstances of the applicant, such as their academic or career progression and the usefulness of the intended study to their future career prospects”.

The migration review says at least some of the stratospheric growth in international students, who account for around 60 per cent of all temporary migrants, has been propelled by “non-genuine students and unscrupulous education providers” who have subverted and exploited loopholes in the visa system.

The reforms come in the wake of other changes announced in the past couple of months aimed at curbing exploitative and corrupt behaviours by some agents, colleges and employers. It has been predicted that up to 200 private vocational colleges could go broke as a result of those changes, with many more undoubtedly at risk due to the additional measures.

(Source: Financial review newspaper)

Ozdrims · December 2023

High-paid workers fast tracked as migration boom fades

(2/2)

Points overhaul
The strategy commits to reforming the points test, which is used by self-nominated temporary migrants to apply for permanent residence.

After the migration review found the current points test rewarded people for attributes that had little bearing on the economic dividend they would provide to Australia, the strategy flags a reformed version that would clearly reward skill over perseverance.

International student graduates working in skilled jobs would have more opportunity to become permanent under the revamped test, while those graduates not working in skilled jobs would find it tougher.

The government will also consider a new “talent and innovation” visa to lure in migrants who can make an outsized contribution to Australia

“This could create a single, streamlined pathway to attract relatively small numbers of highly talented migrants to Australia, such as high performing entrepreneurs, major investors and global researchers,” the strategy said.

It would effectively replace the much-criticised global talent program and business innovation and investment program (BIIP), which were both designed to attract entrepreneurs but had fundamental structural shortcomings.

Research by the Grattan Institute estimated the average BIIP recipient cost taxpayers $120,000 over their lifetime in Australia, since applicants were mostly older migrants who were less likely to work and pay taxes.

The Coalition, led by shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan, has sought to capitalise on community concern over rapid rates of migration, accusing Labor of losing control of the program.

In a nod to those concerns, the strategy also commits to planning migration over the longer-term and coordinating with states and territories on infrastructure and housing.

Describing the current migration system as broken, Ms O’Neil said the government will reduce the number of visas from 100 to 80, with further consolidation likely among programs that are no longer receiving applications or are duplicative.

(Source: Financial review newspaper)

Ozdrims · December 2023

Backpackers spared from migration overhaul

Labor has ignored a recommendation to limit the popular working holiday visa to one year, and instead promised to explore how to lure foreign workers to the regions.

The federal government’s migration strategy, released on Monday, designated processing applications for migrants headed to regional Australia as a top priority to address the shortage of workers in the bush.

Farmers have warned against changes which could compromise critical workforce supply. Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

The strategy notes that the existing approach to getting foreign workers to live in regional Australia has had limited success. Just 14 per cent of migrants live in regional Australia, compared to 34 per cent of the population as a whole.

As foreshadowed by The Australian Financial Review, the government has delayed acting on a recommendation to end the option for foreign workers to extend their stay by spending time working in the regions, amid concerns about the effect this would have on the agriculture sector.

Currently, working holidaymakers can extend to a second or third year in Australia if they go to a regional or rural area for 88 days to perform specified work, including jobs in the construction, mining, fishing, and farming sectors.

“In considering any changes to the working holidaymaker program, the government will analyse the importance of the program in meeting labour shortages in regional Australia, especially in horticulture,” the migration strategy says.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has committed to publishing a wider evaluation of regional migration settings and the working holidaymaker visa in early 2024, including a detailed consultation into the 88-day work requirement.

Exploitation and underpayment
Former top public servant Martin Parkinson, whose sweeping review into the migration system underpinned Labor’s strategy, said the primary focus of the working holiday visa program was “cultural exchange” – not employment.

Advocates for limiting the working holiday program to one year argue the requirement to work in the regions left workers open to exploitation. A survey by the Migrant Justice Institute found that almost half of all working holidaymakers reported being paid well below the minimum wage.

But the National Farmers’ Federation has warned that any changes to the scheme risked exacerbating a labour shortage if there were no alternative pathways.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 22 per cent of working holidaymakers extended their visa into a second year by meeting the 88-day requirement.

Despite leaving the visa unchanged, Labor is still likely to overhaul the working holiday program.

Labor’s National Conference in August approved changes to the party platform supporting a review of the 88-day rule. Ms O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles backed the amendment, which said Labor would review the visa conditions “in the context of significant workplace exploitation and regional labour markets”.

The migration strategy notes that visa holders are regularly subject to exploitation during their 88-day regional stays, while underpayment is also rife.

“Visa holders have been subject to an increased dependency on employers, underpayment and non-payment of wages, sexual harassment and workplace health and safety problems,” it says.

One option for Labor would be to allow visa holders to extend for a second or third year without any work requirements, the same conditions British passport holders will enjoy under the new Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement.

(Source: Financial review newspaper)

Ozdrims · December 2023

MidnightPanda12 · December 2023

In a nutshell, what they are planning to do are:

crackdown on “FAKE” international students with intention of visa hopping or enrolling in ghosts schools.
fast track skills migration for high income employer sponsored jobs.
avoid exploitation for low income trade workers.
new points system to reward skills versus current points system who favors being on shore.

I guess the 189/190/491 will have some revisions based on the point system, but until those points system are not revealed, the current system is still in place?? What I’m afraid of is the review of the SOL, which could lead to certain occupations being removed. They didn’t mention it here though, but they are already planning on revamping the list.

SV holders are being targeted on this revamp.

I’m so curious if the high income earners will all be just employer sponsored.

MLBS · December 2023

@MidnightPanda12 said:
In a nutshell, what they are planning to do are:

crackdown on “FAKE” international students with intention of visa hopping or enrolling in ghosts schools.

fast track skills migration for high income employer sponsored jobs.

avoid exploitation for low income trade workers.

new points system to reward skills versus current points system who favors being on shore.

I guess the 189/190/491 will have some revisions based on the point system, but until those points system are not revealed, the current system is still in place?? What I’m afraid of is the review of the SOL, which could lead to certain occupations being removed. They didn’t mention it here though, but they are already planning on revamping the list.

SV holders are being targeted on this revamp.

I’m so curious if the high income earners will all be just employer sponsored.

Pinaka lugi dito yung mga SV na lumipat pa sa regional just to get extra pts. May balita din ata na yung pinangakong extended duration ng gradvisa na pinang entice nila para sa nag SV post covid is di din ata gagawin due to these changes. Basically wala nang advantage ang SV moving forward, talagang gusto nila bawasan ang tao na pupunta dito

MidnightPanda12 · December 2023

@MLBS said:

@MidnightPanda12 said:
In a nutshell, what they are planning to do are:

crackdown on “FAKE” international students with intention of visa hopping or enrolling in ghosts schools.

fast track skills migration for high income employer sponsored jobs.

avoid exploitation for low income trade workers.

new points system to reward skills versus current points system who favors being on shore.

I guess the 189/190/491 will have some revisions based on the point system, but until those points system are not revealed, the current system is still in place?? What I’m afraid of is the review of the SOL, which could lead to certain occupations being removed. They didn’t mention it here though, but they are already planning on revamping the list.

SV holders are being targeted on this revamp.

I’m so curious if the high income earners will all be just employer sponsored.

Pinaka lugi dito yung mga SV na lumipat pa sa regional just to get extra pts. May balita din ata na yung pinangakong extended duration ng gradvisa na pinang entice nila para sa nag SV post covid is di din ata gagawin due to these changes. Basically wala nang advantage ang SV moving forward, talagang gusto nila bawasan ang tao na pupunta dito

Yeah, I read about that too.

Critics are not too keen about the changes though, they are still asking for more reductions. I think it can hurt the low paying job markets that runs on part time workers. SV applicants on certain countries have already been reduced such as from South Asia (India/ Pakistan/ Bangladesh etc.).

For PR seekers, I think it is safe to assume that changes will come next year? As they are just saying that they will be introducing a new visa with three tiers:

Highly Skilled High Income Earner - AUD 135,000 earners
Medium Earner (TSMIT) - AUD 70,000-135,000
Low Earner - AUD <70,000

The regulations are not yet unveiled regarding these new changes. The abolishment of “ONE employer” only for the employer sponsored visa is also great, but it will have negative impact on the number of employers willing to recruit skilled workers this way. Since before, they have a secured 2 year cheap labor, now, they can be used as a backdoor for someone to enter the country, since the sponsored skilled worker can change jobs/ employer. This would of course protect the migrant, but it might affect intake of employer sponsored visa (these are all just speculations on my side). Control and regulations on the government’s part is crucial in the success of this policy.

rurumeme · December 2023

goods po ba to sa 482 visa holders or walang effect?

MidnightPanda12 · December 2023

Immi website just did a press release on migration changes. FYI

mathilde9 · December 2023

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-strategy

Cerberus13 · December 2023

Anong effect sa current holders ng 491 pursuing 191 in the future?

casssie · December 2023

when they said "higher english language requirements" what does that mean? higher than superior pa?

Ozdrims · December 2023

@casssie said:
when they said "higher english language requirements" what does that mean? higher than superior pa?

From SBS news:

Language tests for students

Getting a student visa will mean an applicant needs better English.

Someone applying for a graduate visa will need to score 6.5 on the International English Language Tests System (up from 6.0), and someone applying for a student visa will need to score 6.0 (up from 5.5).

The strategy says this will have multiple benefits: improving the quality of their education experience, and boosting the reputation of the education sector.

0406072202 · December 2023

Good evening po everyone. I would like to ask about my visa po sana, currently my husband is the main applicant and he has just finished his studies. We are confused, should we apply for a graduate visa or should I study for a masters? Which do you think is better po ma’am?

Please po. By the way, cookery po natapos ng asawa ko.

Thank you po. Have a good night.

Ozdrims · December 2023

@Cerberus13 said:
Anong effect sa current holders ng 491 pursuing 191 in the future?

Sa ngayon there is no major impact on the skilled migration visa subclasses. Major impact of the overhaul for the time being is on Student visas and post-study visas.

mathilde9 · December 2023

From ACS newsletter:

Grabe po yung 7days. 🥹✨

casssie · December 2023

@mathilde9 said:
From ACS newsletter:

Grabe po yung 7days. 🥹✨

cries in 11 weeks bago nareceive result 😭

but this is a good thing, right?

MLBS · December 2023

@mathilde9 said:
From ACS newsletter:

Grabe po yung 7days. 🥹✨

Hopefully ifollow up talaga nila this time. I remember dati nung sinisimulan nila ipush ang 491/494 sinasabi din nila na priority processing sya at iggrant agad. Ngayon may nababasa ako sa FB na 1.5 yrs na naghihintay ng grant for 491, though sa 191 naman mabilis talaga once nalinaw na yung income requirement nung June.

Complex · December 2023

Maganda nga yan 7 days processing pero kailangan at least 135k annually ang sahod.

https://ia.acs.org.au/content/ia/article/2023/govt-promises-7-day-skilled-visa-turnaround-.html?ref=newsletter&deliveryName=DM20171

mathilde9 · December 2023

@Complex said:
Maganda nga yan 7 days processing pero kailangan at least 135k annually ang sahod.
https://ia.acs.org.au/content/ia/article/2023/govt-promises-7-day-skilled-visa-turnaround-.html?ref=newsletter&deliveryName=DM20171

Ayos nga tong 135k annually haha. Bane level. May mga IT nga na umaabot sa ganyan pero juskoo. Nag invest din sa skills/experience mga ganyan for sure.

Did the conversion and comparison sa Singapore, kaya (ng iba) eh. 😅

QQ pala: may basis ba ang age sa Aus sa pag-offer nila ng salary?

maes · December 2023

@mathilde9 said:

@Complex said:
Maganda nga yan 7 days processing pero kailangan at least 135k annually ang sahod.
https://ia.acs.org.au/content/ia/article/2023/govt-promises-7-day-skilled-visa-turnaround-.html?ref=newsletter&deliveryName=DM20171

Ayos nga tong 135k annually haha. Bane level. May mga IT nga na umaabot sa ganyan pero juskoo. Nag invest din sa skills/experience mga ganyan for sure.

Did the conversion and comparison sa Singapore, kaya (ng iba) eh. 😅

QQ pala: may basis ba ang age sa Aus sa pag-offer nila ng salary?