Registered migration agents from the Newstars Education & Migration group attended the Migration Institute of Australia’s (MIA) 35th Annual Conference on 13 and 14 October, where the Minister for Immigration and other senior officials shared the latest developments and fielded questions from the floor.
Day one was packed with information.
Key highlights and upfront summary:
– In the near term, the Department of Home Affairs remains primarily focused on offshore applicants, including Subclass 189 invitations and visa processing, though it will also aim to balance the interests of onshore applicants.
– Work to address visa processing backlogs is ongoing, with consideration being given to allocating additional resources to Subclass 887 processing.
The centrepiece of the conference was the morning session, during which the Minister for Immigration and the senior director overseeing immigration programme management delivered speeches and took questions from attendees.
The Minister for Immigrationis primarily responsible for the broad direction of policy — listening to input from all sides and then setting policy — whereasthe senior director overseeing immigration programme managementis focused on implementation: they are less involved in policy decisions and are responsible for delivering outcomes.
Part One: The Minister for Immigration opened as the first speaker.
As expected, the Minister reaffirmed the current Labor Government’s commitment to migration and outlined numerous initiatives under way to repair the overall migration system, including a review of the migration programme and efforts to address the visa application backlog.
Visa backlog processing:Approximately 60 new staff have recently been added to assist with visa processing, with more to follow.From 1 June to now, the Department of Home Affairs has processed two million visas,of which 1.35 million were temporary visitor-type visas.The Minister expressed hope that overall visa processing would return to normal by early 2023.
In addition, the Minister for Immigration stated that clearing the visa backlog is a priority — not only because it affects hundreds of thousands of families, but also because the scale of the backlog makes it difficult for both the government and the public to gain a clear picture of where Australia’s migration system currently stands, let alone where it is heading.Accordingly, reducing the backlog to a manageable level will facilitate future reform of the migration system.
Temporary migration issues: The Minister reiterated the importance of temporary migrants being able to transition to permanent residency, noting their critical contribution to Australia and the unfairness of keeping them in temporary status for extended or indefinite periods.
Question and answer session with the Minister for Immigration — Kirk YAN raised questions regarding onshore and offshore Subclass 189 invitations and Subclass 887 applications.
Newstars MARA-registered migration agent and head of the Melbourne and Hobart offices, Kirk YAN, put questions to the Minister for Immigration on two key matters:
1. What is the rationale behind the Department’s differentiated treatment of onshore versus offshore applicants (referring to Subclass 189 invitations in the current financial year)? Onshore applicants have stayed in Australia through two years of the pandemic — some for two to three years — without leaving and with no desire to leave, yet the current invitation approach makes it very difficult for them to plan their future.
2. Regarding the Subclass 887 visa processing backlog: approximately 20,000 people have been waiting two to three years for their Subclass 887 to be granted, and more applicants continue to join the queue — what does the Department intend to do?
The Minister’s response was that it is not possible to resolve nine years’ worth of backlog in just four months.Given Australia’s acute skills shortages, the government does want to prioritise attracting people from overseas to fill gaps and to address the visa processing backlog. However, this does not mean onshore applicants are being ignored — the hope is that in the coming months the situation will gradually return to a manageable state, after which the issues facing onshore applicants can be addressed(including the Subclass 887 processing issues, which the Minister is fully aware of).
Video of Kirk’s question and the Minister’s response on the day.
Part Two: Paul Denman, Senior Director of the Immigration Programme Management Branch at the Department of Home Affairs — responsible for overseeing visa processing delivery.
Current status of visa backlog processing:
Paul is primarily responsible for managing the visa processing backlog — a challenge that is large, complex, and detail-intensive, requiring more time to resolve. He acknowledged the frustration felt by everyone waiting for their visas.
The visa processing team currently has approximately 2,300–2,500 staff. The response to recruitment has been strong,with around 500 additional staff arranged to date — 300 already on deck and 200 currently in training — and a further 200–300 are hoped to be added in the coming period.
In July, August, and September, the volume of applications finalised exceeded the volume of new applications lodged,meaning the overall backlog is being steadily reduced.The current focus remains on offshore applications, though onshore applicants are also being kept in mind to maintain balance (so they are not being entirely overlooked).
Furthermore, only applications that have entered active processing are counted within the Department’s published processing times. Since borders reopened, the volume of new employer-sponsored, working holiday, and student visa applications has increased substantially across the board.
There are currently 3.3 million temporary visa holders outside Australia and more than 2 million inside Australia(see chart below).
Subclass 887 visa processing issues:
Paul acknowledged this is a long-standing problem (he has been with the Department for 20 years). The Minister for Immigration also indicated he is very aware of what Subclass 887 applicants are seeking, though there are no specific arrangements to announce at this stage.
However, in a follow-up conversation after the session, our MARA-registered migration agents learned from Paul that the visa processing team is primarily responsible for delivering the outcomes of each financial year’s migration programme — that is, distributing the previously 160,000, and now 195,000, annual grant allocations.Because Subclass 887 is not counted within the migration programme quota (a migration quota place was already consumed when Subclass 489 was approved), it does not fall within the team’s key performance measures. Furthermore, as an implementation body, they are not in a position to decide which visa categories are prioritised and which are slowed — the backlog has reached its current state as a result of the previous government’s sustained neglect of Subclass 887.
Senior leadership across government, including those at the implementation level like Paul, are now very much aware that the Subclass 887 backlog has generated sustained and widespread concern, and there is consideration being given to allocating more resources. We look forward to some genuinely good news.
Subclass 189 invitations:
Across two rounds, 24,500 invitations have been issued — 12,500 to education- and health-related occupations, and 12,000 that are indeed strongly focused on offshore applicants, with some onshore applicants also invited.Subclass 189 invitations will continue to be issued,and the quota position should be more optimistic than we have assumed — the federal budget at the end of the month will provide greater clarity.
Paul indicated that the aim is for skilled migration to gradually return to the good times of the past — although this may not be fully achieved within a single financial year, there is genuine hope that it will be progressively realised over the next few years.
Because Subclass 189 is administered directly by the federal government, results can be seen relatively quickly; however, this does not mean state nomination has been overlooked.At September’s Jobs Summit, state governments each outlined their specific migration needs, and the federal government is willing to adjust based on that feedback.
Those requiring an assessment for Subclass 189 — whether offshore or onshore — are welcome to contact our customer service team below.
TSS employer-sponsored visas:
The programme has made a significant contribution to addressing Australia’s recent skills shortages.Processing times are generally two to three months.Among the most actively processed categories, health-related occupations can now be processed within two business days, and the education sector is also being given high priority.
Subclass 408 Pandemic Event stream:
This is a special stream established during the pandemic and, having been in operation for a considerable period, the government is aware that any decision about it will affect a great many people and that businesses are relying on holders of this visa to fill shortages.Accordingly, no hasty decision will be made, and advance notice will be given before any decision is reached.One attendee asked whether it might be discontinued from 1 July next year — similar to how student visa holders were permitted to work full-time — and Paul did not respond directly, indicating that the government’s decision would be awaited.
AAT:
The volume of applications remains very high — 50% of applications have now been waiting more than two years. On a positive note, the number of members hearing applications has increased significantly, and funding support is more substantial and better structured.
Processing is currently operating on a dual-track model: more straightforward applications such as Subclass 485 or student visa cases are still prioritised, while more complex technical applications face longer waits.
Other news:
On the day, representativesfrom Pearson PTEindicated that the score benchmarks will not change in the near term.
The current Labor Government does not believethe GTI programmeshould be prioritised, but nor will it move to close the programme quickly.
VETASSESSTen additional processing officers have been added to handle the surge in priority processing requests, and the daily allocation will increase to 25.
After listening to a full day of conference proceedings, and although much of what was discussed remains at the planning stage, compared with similar events in the past,the current government clearly has a much better grasp of the key issues most important to all parties. While an immediate resolution is unlikely, they are making genuine efforts and are willing to do so — the overall attitude is pragmatic and sincere.
A gradual recovery for skilled migration is a fairly optimistic and certain prospect — there should be more encouraging news ahead.
For the 2022–23 financial year, stay tuned to our group for upcoming Australian policy updates,where we will continue to provide updates onthe Federal Budgetand all the latest news. To join the group, add our customer service team below and note: new policies.
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