On the second day of the Summit, migration and visa announcements arrived!
[Migration Quota Update]
The Minister for Home Affairs personally announced thatthis financial year’s migration programme will increase from 160,000 to 195,000!
The Minister for Home Affairs also said the government expects toincrease the regional allocation by 9,000 to 34,000 (the original regional allocation for this financial year was 25,000),increase the State/Territory Nominated allocation by 11,000 to 31,000(the original figure for this financial year was 20,000), and confirmed thata further 5,000 places will be allocated to employer-sponsored migration.The government remains open to discussion and further input to determine the remaining breakdown and final figures.
Newstars’ Take on the Quota Increase
Does the PR Quota Increase Actually Help? Will State Nomination Quotas Rise?
The most direct benefit of a higher PR quota is faster visa grants.The current backlog across skilled migration categories runs into the tens of thousands. Once the quota is set,visas can only be granted once the quota is in place.If a category’s PR quota is exhausted by year-end, the Department of Home Affairs simply cannot grant further visas regardless of readiness,so a higher quota means more room and a stronger base — the rest comes down to processing speed.
State nomination quotas are inherently dynamic — invitations issued in this financial year are not necessarily granted within the same year。The Subclass 190/491 quota within the overall PR programme will indirectly affect state nomination quotas,although it is not a straight one-for-one relationship. It was the significant lift in the state-nominated component of the 22–23 PR quota that enabled the transitional state nomination quota increases we have seen, along with states broadening eligible occupations and lowering thresholds. The current transitional state nomination quotas are expected to be reviewed again in October — we will watch this space.
Where Will the Remaining 10,000 PR Places Go?
It is now broadly confirmed that state-nominated and regional Subclass 491 + 494 will receive 20,000 additional places, and employer-sponsored will receive 5,000 more, bringing the total increase to 35,000. Where the remaining 10,000 places might go — a brief analysis:
– Subclass 189 is likely next in line for attention.The Subclass 189 points-tested stream is one where the federal government directly selects applicants. The strong first-round invitation numbers this financial year have given some confidence. It is also worth remembering that a large share of the current 189 backlog is the NZ Stream — those applicants also need quota to receive their grants.
– Parent migration could hopefully see some allocation,while partner visa processing is currently fast and the backlog is at a manageable level — less urgency there. Parent migration is a very different story.
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[Visa Processing Update]
In addition, the Minister for Immigration announced the government willinvest $36.1 million to clear the visa processing backlog, including hiring an additional500 visa processing staff over the next nine months。
The Minister also provided an update on staffing: the number of new officers ready to start remains at 180, while those currently in traininghas grown from 140 (as reported in last weekend’s press release) to 190，and overtime staff numbers have increased from 150 to 200.
It is understood there are currently 900,000 visa applications awaiting processing — 571,000 in the temporary category and 150,000 in the skilled migration category.
Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt said that the chronically slow visa processing has cost them most of their international staff. At his institution, an Indian employee who received a job offer waited an average of 21 months before receiving their visa — whereas when he himself applied for an Australian visa, it took just four days.
[Graduate Work Visa Extended by 2 Years for Some International Students]
The Minister for Education confirmed that international graduates in fields on the skills shortage list will have their Subclass 485 Graduate Work visa extended by two years.The specific areas of skills shortage are yet to be fully defined, but a conservative estimate includes healthcare, nursing, teaching, and social work —these are the baseline.
[Migration Programme Reform]
The Minister for Immigration also indicated the government willraise the minimum salary requirement for work visas — the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), currently $53,900 — which will affect employer-sponsored visas and the Subclass 491. How much it will increase is the central point of contention,with figures ranging from $60,000 to $90,000 floated. Business groups have warned that a large increase will make it even harder for employers to fill critical roles, and unions and employers have yet to reach agreement.
Newstars Analysis
An adjustment to the $53,900 TSMIT threshold now seems inevitable. The consensus is that $60,000 is a reasonably balanced figure — some bodies have proposed $90,000, which Newstars considers unreasonably high.
How Might This Affect Subclass 491?
If the change does affect Subclass 491, any legislative amendment will include a clear cut-off date.
Newstars believes it would be most reasonable and practical to use the grant date of Subclass 482/491 visas as the cut-off point — similar to how the applicable regional area provisions work.By year-end, the first cohort of mainstream Subclass 491 holders will be lodging their Subclass 191 permanent residency applications. If the income threshold is raised and applicants are only informed of this immediately before lodging their PR application, three years of effort will have been wasted and a PR transition that was within reach will be pushed out further — that would be deeply unfair.
Furthermore,if the new income threshold is set too high, Subclass 491 will become even less attractive,given that the Subclass 190 quota has also risen significantly — making 491 even harder to justify by comparison. That said, although 491 was introduced by the previous government, the regional state nomination quota has also been boosted in this round of increases, and the 491 component of the transitional state nomination quota has grown considerably. Regional governments and employers alike are calling for more workers, so there is currently no sign the Labor government intends to abandon Subclass 491.
The income threshold increase is not welcome news,however the government is simultaneously considering shortening the waiting period for the two-step PR pathway for Subclass 491/482 holders,and the Minister for Immigration has explicitly said he will take on board community feedback, acknowledging that many people on this journey have been waiting far too long and are deeply frustrated.
The government should therefore take into account the impact on current visa holders and prospective applicants.
Beyond the minimum income threshold,the Albanese government will conduct a comprehensive review of the entire employer-sponsored migration programme.The Minister said: “There is very, very important work to be done there.”
Migration is not a complete answer to all of Australia’s challenges, but it is part of the answer. The current migration system is not meeting the country’s needs and must change。The Minister for Home Affairs confirmed the current government will undertake a major review of the entire migration programme. As Minister, her key priority is to proactively drive rapid and significant improvements — an effort that will be ongoing.
She described the current system as expensive and bureaucratic, one that makes people feel they must “wait forever” to get anything done. Temporary migration to Australia is relatively straightforward, but skilled and permanent migration still takes far too long.
Study & Migration Video Resources
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Previously Featured
Newstars Offices Across Australia — We’re Hiring!
Victoria State Nomination — Skilled and Investment Streams Lower Requirements!
Victoria First Invitation Round of the Financial Year — Accounting, Engineering, IT, Overseas and More Successful!
Victoria First Invitation Round of the Financial Year — Accounting, Engineering, IT, Overseas and More Successful!
Victoria First Invitation Round of the Financial Year — Accounting, Engineering, IT, Overseas and More Successful!
NSW Officials Say Occupation List May Be Released Within 2 Weeks — Shared List for 491?
NSW Officials Say Occupation List May Be Released Within 2 Weeks — Shared List for 491?
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Subclass 189 and Victoria Invitation Rounds! WA Lowers Requirements, SA Opens New Applications!Clickthe “Original Link” for the Migration Weekly — Video Edition
