Getting Australian Permanent Residency in 2023

Getting Australian Permanent Residency is expected to become easier in 2023 due to the following factors:

• Increased Migration Intake: The Australian Government has increased the annual permanent migration intake by 35000 seats from 160,000 to 195,000 places per year. Over 90 per cent of the new spots will go to skilled migrants, and over a quarter will be targeted for regional areas.

• Highest Priority on Skilled Migrants: The number of places in the Skilled Stream has gone up significantly from 79,600 to 142,400.

• Focus on Regional and State Sponsored visa: The regional category (subclass 491) is poised to get 34,000 permanent migrants and the state and territory nominated (subclass 190) category is poised to get 31,000 places

• Focus on Healthcare and Education: Visas for healthcare workers and teachers are now being assessed within days after the government altered the way it prioritises skilled visa applications.

• Relaxed State Nomination Criteria: Nearly all states have relaxed their occupation lists and other criteria to attract applicants based on their skill needs. For example - For NSW, previously published points scores and work experience guides for subclass 190 have been removed due to increased availability of the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) by the Department of Home Affairs

• Expansion of State Skilled Occupation Lists: With 11,570 places for subclass 190, 3,400 for subclass 491 and 170 business visa places, Victoria has expanded its eligible list of occupations to plug skill gaps in the state. All occupations on the relevant Department of Home Affairs occupation are now eligible, and applicants are no longer required to be using STEMM skills and working in a target sector to apply. Other states are expected to implement similar relaxations in standards.

• Unrestricted Student Work RIghts: The student visa work hours continue to be temporarily relaxed until 30 June 2023 to address labour shortages. This means all ongoing students, new student arrivals and secondary applicants can work more than 40 hours a fortnight in any sector.

• Faster Processing Times: Department of Home Affairs has cut down the waiting list to just 600,000 after inheriting a visa application backlog of more than 950,000 applications.

• Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement: As part of this agreement, the Australian Government has committed to extended work rights for Indian students, and to including India in its Working Holiday program by promising Work and Holiday visas (subclass 462) to 1,000 eligible Indian citizens between the age of 18 and 30 years for 12 months. The details are described further.

🚀 Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement 2022

India and Australia have signed the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement which comes into force on December 29, 2022. The implementation details of the changes announced in the agreement will be announced soon.

Key features of the agreement include:

• Extended Work Permit Duration: Indian students will be able to stay up to 18 months upon completion of a diploma or trade qualification, up to two years after completion of bachelor’s degree, three years after the master’s degree and up to four years after a doctoral degree.

• Incentives for Honours Students: Indian students graduating with First Class Honours bachelor’s degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sectors will be eligible for a total of three years stay on post-study visas, rather than the current two years.

• Access to Work and Holiday Visa: Australia to extend access to the Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa to up to 1,000 Indian citizens each year. The Work and Holiday Visa is currently available to applicants from 26 countries, including China and US.

• Mutual Recognition of Qualification and Procedures: Australia and India have also agreed to introduce a framework for mutual recognition of qualifications, licensing and registration procedures between professional services bodies, allowing professionals from both countries to be recognised seamlessly at their work destinations. Up until now, professionals have had to go through various approval processes and sit for tests to practise in each other’s countries. This framework is expected to be implemented in 2023.

Criteria for Work and Holiday Visa for Indian Citizens

Indian citizens between the age of 18 and 30 years will be able to apply for the Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visas if they meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Hold a valid Indian passport
• Offshore at the time of lodgement and grant of the visa
• Lodgement is through an online application
• Have a functional level of English proficiency
• Have successfully completed at least 2 years of post secondary study
• Meet health and character requirements as specified by Australian law
• Must not be accompanied by dependent children and
• Pay the visa application charge and have sufficient funds for the purposes of work and holiday in Australia, and to depart the country at the end of the duration of the visa

Overall 2022-23 Skilled Visa Allocation

⭐️ 5 Tips to Maximise your Chances of Getting Australian Permanent Residency

If you are planning to study in Australia as an international student and/or looking to apply for permanent residency in future, the following tips will help you maximise your chances

1. 👩🏻‍🎓 For Higher Education: Focus on studying Health, Nursing, Education, ICT and Engineering courses.
2. 🧰 For Vocational Education: Focus on studying Carpenter, Automotive Technician, Cook, Chef, Bricklayer and other similar trade courses.
3. 🏞️ Study and work in regional areas of Australia - You will become eligible for the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) and get extra 5 points for studying in a regional area.
4. 🌅 Western Australia (WA) is recommended as an overall best option for studying and living in Australia due to an excellent economic climate, plenty of job opportunities, good quality of life, proximity to Asia and Europe, and most importantly, ease of getting permanent residency under the subclass 491 and subclass 190 category, especially for WA graduates.
5. 🧾 Submit multiple Expressions of Interest (EOIs) when applying for a skilled visa because requirements and points cutoffs for the same occupation can vary across states and visa subclasses.

🙋🏻 Useful Resources

• Australia Immigration Points Calculator
• Latest 189, 190 and 491 visa processing timeframes
• Comprehensive database of recent state nomination and visa grants
• Skilled independent visa (subclass 189)
• Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)

👉 Are you looking for help with your Australian visa application?

Over the last 5 years, we have helped more than 2500 applicants obtain Australian permanent residency. We have extensive experience in dealing with a variety of clients for study, work and permanent Australian visas.

Call or Whatsapp SSA Migration Consultancy on 📞 +61 414 027 102 (AU) for a free consultation.

You can apply for all our services completely online.