Australian Visa Update 2022 – New Opportunities For Migrants

Since the occurrence of COVID-19, migration to Australia has declined sharply, and it’s due to the closing of borders and travel bans. This is something that could spring back in 2022.

According to the mid-year economic update provided by the Treasury, the overseas migration forecast is expected to be about 41,000 people in 2021–2022. It’s predicted that the figures will reach 180,000 people in 2022–2023, which is double the initial approximation.
Along with that, the migration programme in Australia will run from July 1st to June 30th of every financial year. However, the population is expected to remain stable at 235,000 people in 2024–2025.

Visa Holders Who Can Enter Australia

The Australian borders have already reopened to all the eligible international students and several skilled visa holders on December 15th, 2021, which is six months earlier than the prediction in the federal budget. Permanent residents and Australian citizens can also gain entry, and all their immediate family members are free to apply for an exemption to gain access to the country.

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Prospects For All Temporary Visa Holders

Numerous temporary visa holders left the country during COVID-19 because of a lack of welfare support and jobs. Those who remained in Australia during the pandemic might get the opportunity to receive permanent resident pathways.
The planning level of 2021–2022 was effectively maintained at 160,000 locations and then carried over the composition from the last year. This means there were:

• 3000 places for Children.
• 79,600 places for Skill Stream.
• 100 places for Special Eligibility.
• 77,300 places for the family.

It looked as if the Department of Home Affairs wanted to fill the 160, 00 with a few more people who are currently residing in Australia on a temporary visa. The DHA is trying to draw permanent migrants from among individuals in the country.

This is a massive change because DHA, or the Department of Home Affairs, is loosening up a bit and providing plenty of pathways. They are also offering many extensions for individuals who are already in Australia, busy achieving their migration dream.

The Australian Government has already introduced multiple visa variations throughout the entire COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, they are regularly revising all the visa settings that can greatly support the nation’s economic retrieval effectively.

Skilled Migrants From The Hospitality & Healthy To Get Permanent Residency

In November 2021, the Government of Australia announced the visa changes to retain all the highly capable migrants in various crucial sectors as part of their fiscal recovery. Under such changes, several migrants who have decided to work and live in the country will become entitled to a PR or permanent residency.

These changes will greatly benefit the existing Subclass 485 visa holders [Temporary Skill Shortage Visa] within the short-term stream, limited to a 2-year stay before.  On the other hand, the visa holders of now discontinued Subclass 457 [Temporary Work Skilled Visa] and those who don’t meet the age requirement will benefit greatly.

This is viewed as a special concession for all those highly experienced migrants. They decided to reside within Australia during the pandemic while constantly addressing all the acute shortages of the country.
Australia’s immigration department said that around 20,000 visa holders might benefit from all the changes, especially those employed in the hospitalities and healthcare sectors.

These changes will surely make a massive difference for all those individuals working and living in all the major cities and struggling to proceed further with permanent residency.

Massive number of restaurant managers and cooks would come up, work for businesses and restaurants across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. These people do have the power to contribute.
Honestly, finding workers in this particular field is extremely challenging. Due to such reasons, it’s been difficult for these people when they are needed so desperately but cannot proceed further because they do not have a pathway, which can provide them with a PR.
But now that various changes are taking place, migrants will get the opportunity to pursue the pathway of getting permanent residency easily.”

The department representative has said that the changes were already announced on November 25th, 2021. These changes will be applied progressively from December to July 1st 2022.

Skilled Migrants To Receive Permanent Residency

The Australian Immigration Agency, on the other hand have said that temporary migrants who got stranded offshored because of the COVID-19 pandemic have received the hardest hit. But the visa holders who are residing within the Australian waters are in an “excellent position”.
Under the new PR pathways, they pointed towards the Subclass 191 Skilled Regional Visa for all those who have worked, lived and studied within a designated regional location on an eligible visa.
To get Subclass 191, you first need to be on Subclass 494 Visa for 3 years. The visa will begin on 16th November 2022.

Hong Kong Nationals To Get Permanent Residency

There is some brilliant news for all Hong Kong citizens currently residing in Australia. They will be given entry to all the specialised and new pathways that will provide them with a permanent resident from March 2022.
The Australian government has already introduced two latest visa streams for Hong Kong nationals: Hong Kong Skilled Independent Stream [Subclass 189] and Hong Kong Regional Stream [Subclass 191]. These two visa streams were mainly introduced to strengthen the ties with Hong Kong.
The Immigration Minister had the following things to say regarding these visas:
“These two visas will offer a pathway to all the temporary skilled and graders from Hong Kong who are currently living in Australia. The visas have helped build close economic and family ties with Hong Kong, which has existed for a long time”.
It’s predicted that around 8,800 existing temporary students, skilled and graduate visa holders will become eligible for these two visa streams. It will be open on March 5th 2022.

Changes In The Subclass 189 New Zealand Visa

Back in 2021, the Government of Australia edited the NZ pathway to aid all the qualified temporary visa holders who are citizens of New Zealand to get a PR in Australia.
People from New Zealand living in Australia and is making a good amount of money will become eligible for a 189 visa, and it’s taken from a skilled migrant. The changes of the Subclass 189 Visa [New Zealand Stream of Skilled Independent] came into effect on July 1st 2021.

1. Here, the chances are the number of years will be reduced where an entitled applicant has to meet a particular income edge.
2. The Australian government has executed all actions to aid all the temporary visa holders who are on the way to get PR before the COVID-19 pandemic to uphold their aptness.
3. As of November 13th, 2021, all the citizens of NZ who are applying for the NZ stream for Skilled Independent or Subclass 189 visa will be qualified to claim an exclusion from meeting all the income needs of the 2021-2022 income year.
4. It will also aid all those individuals whose income of affected because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications will have the ability to an exemption either for the 2021-2022- or 2019-2020-income year, but not both of them together.

Section 48 Bar Removed For The Skilled Migration Visas

The skilled migrants residing in the nation are given a chance to apply onshore for the three adept migration subclasses, along with some changes in section 48 of the Migration Act. The Section 48 Bar is used towards all those applicants whose visa has been revoked or denied since their previous access into the country.

On November 13th, the Australian Immigration Minister agreed to temporarily include all three subclasses under the exempted visa list. These three subclasses are visa 190, 494 and 491 visa.
Apart from that, the mouthpiece of the DHA has said the changes would only be active during the present COVID-19 emergency. All the extra subclasses will be removed from the exempted visa list when the period ends.

MUST READ: S48 Barred Applicants Can Also Now Apply For A Skilled Visa Onshore

Temporary Graduate Visa Holders Will See New Visa Setting

All the temporary graduate visa holders stranded offshore and couldn’t travel back to Australia because of the pandemic can now apply for a replacement visa. But there is a small wait.

• In November, the Australian government announced that the concession would enable the former or current Subclass 485 visa holders [Temporary Graduate] whose visas will expire after or on February 1st 2020, to re-apply for a visa that will have the same duration from July 1st 2022.
• These visas have been provided to international graduated students who have the skills in occupations aimed at allowing these candidates to continue their work on Australian soil.
• There might be some additional modifications in the provisional graduate visa, which includes increasing the stay period for the Masters by the Coursework graduates from 2 years to 3 years and from 18 months to 24 months for the Graduate Work Visa Stream.
• The government has already announced that the changes will occur from December 1st, 2021, to July 1st, 2022. It will be presented on the department’s official website for other information. Applicants for the visa replacement can be conducted from July 1st, 2022.

For more information and expert guidance on such matters, you can visit the official website or can consult registered migration agent at ISA Migrations & Education Consultants. They will always be there to help.