The explosive news kicking off this week was the Department of Education mandating that international students must return to campus, triggering a wave of reactions — rental demand surged and student visa applications spiked.
Every Friday, Newstars shares our internal grants and invitation data for popular visa categories. Reference for current visa processing times on the Department of Home Affairs website: Department Updates Visa Processing Times | 189/190/491 Faster or Slower? Employer Sponsorship Still Prioritised!
Newstars internal data this week: 30 January – 3 February 2023
It started with Victoria and Western Australia actively lowering their bar and taking the lead. Then the federal Subclass 189 issued round after round of invitations. December saw a record-breaking 35,000-invitation round. By late December, with NSW announcing the removal of all occupation pre-requirements, every state/territory nomination programme has since ramped up recruitment.
Admittedly, visa processing speeds have improved considerably, with the government periodically releasing its scorecards. But the vast majority of those millions of grants are temporary visas. For migration pathways, the feeling among most people from around August/September last year until now is that progress still isn’t sufficient — or that the speed improvements haven’t benefited most applicants.
Sydney and Melbourne have always been tough rental markets — expensive and in high demand. But now the housing crisis has spread to every corner of Australia: supply is critically low and rents are sky-high. Australian media reported the median weekly rent across major cities last December, with Canberra topping the list at AU$681 per week.
Since January last year, Australia lifted the 40-hours-per-fortnight work restriction, allowing international students to work full-time with no hours cap. However, from 30 June 2023, work hour limits for international students in Australia will be reinstated.
This rule has already taken effect, primarily affecting those who received a Subclass 189 invitation in December last year. Some applicants’ PY had expired under the old rule and assumed their invitation was forfeit. As they are still within the 60-day lodgement window following the invitation, they can still lodge their visa application — there is still time!
