The Department of Home Affairs recently released the 22-23 financial year migration visa outcome report. Beyond the headline grant data, it provides detailed summaries by category, occupation and region. Let us take a closer look.

Preliminary note:

All data below refers to visa grant data. Compared to invitation data, there is a certain time lag. Do not equate grant outcomes with invitation outcomes.For example, if an applicant was invited in FY 21-22 and lodged a visa application, then was granted in FY 22-23, their case is included in this FY 22-23 report

Most figures include both primary and secondary applicants, unless otherwise specified

A Year of Minor Reshuffling Among Migration Source Countries

India and Mainland China remained first and second by a wide margin. That said, India surged last financial year, widening the gap with China even further.The UK, previously a steady third, dropped to fifth, while the Philippines and Nepal each moved up one position.

A Year of Simultaneous Growth for Onshore and Offshore

The chart below shows that onshore-lodged skilled migration grants reached a 10-year high of 92,694, The previous peak was only around 75,000. Offshore grants were the highest since FY 2018-19, approaching 50,000.

This was supported by the Labor government raising the visa allocation cap to 195,000 and deploying additional processing staff.

Overall, since both sides surged together, the onshore-to-offshore ratio did not change significantly. However, among the three main categories, the Regional stream (primarily Subclass 491) was clearly the most realistic pathway for offshore applicants. Approximately 43% of grants went to offshore applicants, compared to less than 30% for Subclass 189 and 190. Subclass 186 employer-sponsored visas allocated 24% offshore.

Accounting, Software Engineers, Nursing –

Which Is the Hottest Migration Occupation?

*Only primary applicants’ nominated occupations counted

*Reminder: this is FY 2022-23 grant data, which lags behind invitation data

189Independent Skilled Migration – Nursing dominates, with the “big three” monopolising the top spots

The once-dominant accounting has dropped out of the top ten. Since invitations were issued last financial year, this year should improve

Accounting has been pushed towards 491

With competition so fierce on points, more accountants opted for the two-step PR pathway via Subclass 491 – at least securing their footing first, then settling into life and work.

190 – Programmers + Accountants + Civil Engineers combined barely match Nursing

Subclass 186 Employer-Sponsored – occupations were relatively evenly spread

Software and Applications Programmers edged into first with 1,548 grants. Second was Nursing, and third was Chefs with 1,103 grants. Accounting had 780 and ICT BAs also had 780

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The Backlog Across Three Main Categories – A Headache

189

49,109 new visa applications were lodged for the full year, with 32,100 grants (quota fully used) and a backlog of 28,625 at year-end

190

61,186 new visa applications were lodged, with 31,000 grants (quota fully used) and a backlog of 49,735 at year-end

491

48,147 new visa applications were lodged, with 26,707 grants (combined with Subclass 494, essentially using up the Regional quota) and a backlog of 47,614 at year-end

We obtained FOI data soon after the financial year ended, so we will not elaborate. Having seen the staggering lodgement and backlog figures over the past three years, we can now feel the various knock-on effects, such as reduced state nomination quotas, no updates on Subclass 189, and slower processing overall.

30% of Subclass 491 Went to South Australia?

The report also covers the breakdown by state for different categories. In brief:

–190 was not the top grant category in any state

–NSW, VIC and WA – the largest category was Subclass 186 Employer-Sponsored

–ACT, SA, TAS and NT relied most heavily on Subclass 491. Among them, SA‘s numbers were the most “extreme”

–QLD was the only state where Subclass 189 ranked first among all pathways

Among Regional (Subclass 491 + 494) grants, 8,600 chose South Australia as their intended settlement location, exceeding one quarter of the total. This exceeded NSW, QLD, WA and others. Moreover, 95% were Subclass 491 grant holders – 30% of Subclass 491 recipients chose to settle in SA, with other states only catching up somewhat thanks to Subclass 494.

How this was surveyed is unclear – it may come from the EOI’s “preferred location within Australia” field, or from settlement experience surveys.In any case, SA’s Subclass 491 quota was lower than NSW’s in both FY 2022-23 and 2021-22, making this result somewhat unexpected.

Skilled/Family Migration Grants Allocated to Each State

140,000 Parent Visas in the Backlog

The high number of skilled migration grants also drove increased parent migration lodgements, with nearly 10,000 new applications. The 8,500 grants (equal to the quota) look tiny against the 140,000 backlog

GTI – Top Three Fields

Last financial year fully used the 5,000-grant quota

1,345 were onshore applicants, and 3,655 were offshore. The most popular fields were Digitech(28.5%), Health Industries(18.6%), Financial Services and FinTech(16.7%)

Business Innovation and Investment Visas (Subclass 188)

Last financial year also fully used the 5,000 quota, with 5,061 new lodgements and the backlog decreasing from 26,000 to 23,000.Perhaps due to excessive Subclass 188 wait times (not even PR), the withdrawal rate reached 17% – notably higher than other categories.

Among the various streams, Subclass 188A had the highest number

Grant processing for both Subclass 188 and 888 has been extremely slow. NSW mentioned that its zero business migration quota this year was to clear the backlog. If Subclass 188 is constrained by quotas, we hope the Department will honour its promise to clear the Subclass 888 backlog quickly.

One wish above all – faster visa grants!

This report paints a vivid picture of what we experienced in FY 2022-23 – a truly historic year. Quotas, new lodgements, grants and backlogs all surged.

Many who received invitations last financial year had a relatively smooth – even lucky – experience. Yet this year, being stuck waiting for a grant has been a significant letdown. This is the broader environment at work – after all, an average of 434 people per day lodged Subclass 189/190/491 applications…

But we hold onto hope – hope that every individual receives their grant as soon as possible.

Recommended Reading

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