Australia Budget 2022-23: Skilled, Parent and Study Visa Updates

Labour Government's first Federal Budget includes announcements about a significant increase in parent and skilled visas, relaxed work restrictions for international students, funding to resolve visa processing times, and more opportunities for high-skilled migrants to gain pathways to permanent residency.

Key Updates

• Permanent migration program intake will expand by 35000 seats from 160,000 to 195,000 places

  • Over 90 per cent of new places will go to skilled migrants, and over a quarter will be targeted for regional areas.

• Parent visa intake to increase from 4500 to 8500 places

• Unrestricted work rights for international students to continue until 30 June 2023, allowing more than 40 hours of work per fortnight

• Partner visas (and children) to be demand driven and have no ceiling

• Additional funding of $476 million over 4 years to address visa backlog, expedite visa processing and promote opportunities for high skilled migrants

• Significant focus on Skilled Nominated Visa (subclass 190) and Skilled Work Regional Visa (subclass 491)

• 500 places for other family visas and 100 places for special eligibility visas.

• A Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) to allow up to 3,000 people to migrate annually from the Pacific and Timor-Leste to Australia.

Skilled visa allocation for 2022-23:

The Albanese Government plans to provide clear pathways to permanent residency as per the new federal budget for 2022-23, with a strong focus on skilled migration to ease current workforce shortages.

Are you looking for help with your Australian visa application?

Contact SSA Migration Consultancy on 📞 +61-414-027-102 (AU) for a free consultation.