Visa backlog ↔ money + staff
The 2022–23 federal budget, released this Tuesday, commitsan additional $576 million over four years to the Department of Home Affairs for visa processing.
Clearing the processing backlog has been one of the Labor government’s top priorities since it took office in May,having already announced an emergency injection of $36.1 million to boost resources.
For more on the 2022–23 federal budget, see:2022–23 Federal Budget | PR allocation still has surprises — Subclass 189 quota nearly doubles, and an extra 2,500 places for parent migration!
Over the past few months, the funding and new visa officers have been gradually coming online, and we are starting to see some positive shifts in visa processing.
Visa processing data (updated to end of August)Updated to the end of August— giving a clearer picture of some early changes this financial year.
*Includes primary and secondary applicants
*Subclass 189 includes all streams
Starting with the good news:Both the Subclass 190 and Subclass 491 backlogs are falling
Subclass 190: backlog stands at 19,155 as at the end of August,down 926 from July
Subclass 491: backlog stands at 26,022 as at the end of August,down 378 from July
At the very least, this confirms that monthly grants are now exceeding new lodgements… here’s hoping that continues.
For Subclass 189, the points-tested backlog had largely been cleared — most remaining cases are in the New Zealand Stream —but the revival of invitations this financial year has been adding to the backlog again.
Could faster and more Subclass 189 grants actually be an illusion?
Although the overall backlog reduction is partly due to fewer new lodgements, the visa officers’ efforts should not be discounted.
Subclass 190: 1,130 visas granted in July,1,650 in August— more.
Subclass 491: 1,130 visas granted in July, sorry — 901 visas granted in July,1,250 in August— even more.
Monthly Subclass 189 grants have also increased slightly — this includes the New Zealand Stream and others —but the numbers simply cannot compare with the two state-nominated categories,so when you hear that Subclass 189 is being granted quickly and in large numbers,it is mainly because the invited occupations are highly prioritised.
New lodgements reflect this financial year’s invitation trends
Recent surge in requests for further information across skilled migration categories
Before the official data is out, let us share what we have been observing on the ground.
Requests for further information for skilled visas have been coming in one after another — confirming that processing has finally reached these cases.Most are for police clearances and medical examinations, covering both onshore and offshore applicants.We have shared some of the grants; many more cases are in the middle of providing further information or waiting for a grant after completing it.
Subclass 489, 190, and 491 are all represented — mostly offshore cases for 190 and 491, which also means many of these are long-standing backlog cases.
We have also recently noticed a slight uptick in Subclass 887 requests for further information, reaching approximately those lodged up to September 2020.
We expect these migration visas to be processed faster once most onshore temporary visa holders are no longer required to undergo a medical examination.
190
Not much difference — a slight improvement
491
Similarly, some improvement. The data does not show clearance of cases lodged around two years ago,but there have been requests for further information on Subclass 491 cases lodged in 2020 — hopefully they are on the way to being granted.
482TSS
186
Essentially unchanged
Subclass 870 Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa
Sponsor eligibility assessments are speeding up,with many approved within 3–4 months— subsequent visa grants are generally fairly quick too.
Tens of thousands of cases in the backlog — every step forward is heavy and slow. But at least from the data and our on-the-ground observations, things are heading in a positive direction.
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Subclass 189 final invitations for accountants and IT! NSW Subclass 491 adds priority pathway!Click‘Original link’ — Migration Weekly — Video Edition
