As Australia continues its post-pandemic recovery, the country faces a serious shortage of both workers and skills — something many of you will already be aware of. Job advertisement numbers are currently at a 13-year high.
As borders gradually reopen, PRs and citizens who gave birth overseas — or soon-to-be PRs still awaiting their visa grant — may be planning to bring their child back to Australia. How do you apply for the child’s entry visa?
Over the past week or two, the news has been dominated by border reopening announcements and the new Subclass 485 visa. But what about those still waiting for their visa to be granted? What about onshore applicants holding bridging visas who have been waiting endlessly? Or those offshore waiting for their PR or near-PR visa to be granted before they can re-enter? Entering the new financial year, the rate of visa grants has once again left many feeling resigned. Today we bring you some new data — while granted visas remain few and far between, at least we’re no longer completely in the dark. Our focus is on the four most popular skilled migration visa subclasses for international students: 190/491/189/489.
After Australia announced last week that it would reopen borders to student visa holders and other groups from 1 December, many people began planning their visa applications for Australia. Although the reopening has been delayed to 15 December due to the emergence of a new variant, it is still just around the corner. The Australian Government’s position is that this is not a long-term control measure — just a pause button to allow authorities more time to assess the situation — and an earlier reopening before 15 December has not been ruled out.
Last week’s major good news, beyond the border reopening, included the Subclass 485 visa — three-year postgraduate Subclass 485 visas are already being granted, yet the new replacement visa that Subclass 485 holders stranded overseas can apply for won’t be available until 1 July 2022. The first happened so swiftly, while the second has dragged on so long — it’s genuinely puzzling.
