Australia Immigration CAP Hiked

Australia Immigration CAP Hiked

Are you waiting for an Australian visa, and looking to settle down in Australia? There’s some great news for you! The Australian government has recently announced changes in temporary skill shortage visas, which offer new and easier pathways to Australian PR.

1st July is the beginning of the new financial year in Australia, and this year it announced impactful changes for three types of visas which will offer easy pathways to temporary residents to apply for the Australia PR.

From 1 July 2022, there are some changes in the criteria for temporary skill shortage visas, temporary graduate visas, and working holiday maker visas. Skilled workers holding these visas will now find it easy to apply for Australian PR. The changes apply to those holding these 3 types of visas and seeking to migrate to the country, and also to immigrants in Australia looking for PR.

Here are the most pertinent changes:

Temporary Skill Shortage Visa

As per the new reforms, the government introduced an easy pathway for Australia PR or the temporary skill shortage (TSS) subclass 482 visa holders. Until 31 March 2022, there were over 52,000 candidates under subclass 482 and subclass 457 visas, which reduced their hopes of applying for Australian PR.

But from 1 July, these visa holders can apply for a Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) visa. Applying for a further visa will allow them to gain Australian PR, if their employers nominate them.

These persons can apply:

a) holder of a valid subclass 482 or 457 visas in the past two years,

b) resident in Australia between February 1, 2020, to December 14, 2021,

c) holders of subclass 457 visa holders can apply under STSOL – Short-term Skilled Occupation List.

485 Subclass Temporary Graduate Visa

The changes made to the 485 Subclass Temporary Graduate Visa apply to immigrants willing to migrate under this visa type.

For a Replacement visa, the candidate should be:

a) holder of a temporary graduate visa that has expired on or after 1 February 2020,

b) staying outside Australia between February 1, 2020, and December 15, 2021.

These policy changes were made to support candidates who have lost their approval status due to COVID restrictions. Official figures show that nearly 30,000 candidates hold these visas. Their visa time will now be extended based on the qualification and stream as per norms.

Details are given below:

Australia seeks to invite skilled people into the country, as they can give a solid boost to the economic growth which was severely affected due to the far-reaching effects of the pandemic.

Working Holiday Maker Visa

The Australian government has also increased the cap for the subclass 462 visa up to 30 percent for Australia, as per the new reforms announced on 1 July, 2022. Australia also signed a “Free Trade Agreement” on April 2, 2022 with India. Under this agreement, it is expected that tariffs will be eliminated on more than 85 per cent of Australian goods exports to India, and India will also get zero-duty access to Australia for several goods.

Want to know more? To explore your best options and increase your chances of making your overseas career dreams come true, do connect with the counsellors at MWT Global Consultancy!