Insights
This morning we again saw an exclusive update from industry heavyweight Iscah (shown below the feature image). It’s brief, but the main point is that the new points-based system reform is expected to officially take effect from March 2027! It will place greater weight on educational background, high-level skills and age The source of this information is Home Affairs Australia’s
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The FY26-27 permanent residency quota allocation has come with numerous adjustments. A couple of days ago we used the new quotas to work out the new waiting times for parent migration — see the details here: lodging your parent migration application one month later now means waiting an extra year… But the changes and adjustments are actually far greater for
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Breaking Down the Key New Rules Fast-Tracking ART Student Visa Appeals Today let’s talk about some ART updates. As you may know, each year after the federal Budget the Senate invites the heads of the various departments to attend hearings — to answer questions, report on their work and outline their plans for the future. The day before yesterday, the
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Australia’s Latest Visa Processing Update for May: The Overall Picture On 25 May, the Department updated its recent visa processing speeds. With the financial year about to enter its final month, this year differs from previous years: because the PR quota was confirmed relatively late, the Department did not push hard early in the financial year when the quota was
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Overview of Australia’s Skilled Migration Quota Adjustments Friday’s quota allocation landed like a bolt from the blue, reshuffling the skilled categories once again. Here’s a short piece on what I see as the impact. Subclass 186 — Employer-Sponsored Visa: Quota Changes and Processing Direction The quota has increased by 14,000+ to 58,000+, while the Subclass 186 backlog sits at 59,000
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Australian MINT Investment Migration for Offshore Applicants Newstars Education & Migration has officially become an authorised Panel Agent for the Northern Territory’s MINT programme, able to manage the entire application process on behalf of applicants. The Northern Territory MINT Programme: Detailed Overview and Positioning The MINT programme is a state-nominated skilled migration pathway, under which applicants ultimately lodge their migration
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This Week’s Key Migration News Major shake-up in the new financial year’s PR quota allocation — onshore prioritised over offshore: how to respond Subclass 189/190/491 grants stay fast, backlogs fall further State nomination quotas as at April — which states can still issue more? ACT releases the final invitation-round report of the financial year This week’s grants, invitations and skills-assessment
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Australia and New Zealand Migration for Commerce and Humanities Applicants Over 32: A Low-Cost Guide to Securing Residency Recently, a number of commerce and humanities applicants over 32 have been asking whether migration to Australia is still possible at this age — particularly those who have worked in China for more than ten years and have now hit a plateau
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Australia’s 2026-27 Migration Budget: A Full Breakdown of the Overall Quota The Department of Home Affairs has released its 2026-27 Budget, and there is plenty of migration news this year, so let’s go through it point by point. 1. The 2026-27 quota is confirmed at 185,000 — this refers to the PR grant quota 2. 132,240 places go to the
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Overview of the February 2026 Australian Subclass 189/190/491 FOI Data Another update on the Subclass 189/190/491 data! Through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request we have obtained the figures up to the end of February 2026 (see the feature image); the original data is shown in Figures 2-3. Key Changes in Grants and Backlogs Across the Three Main Visas —
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