The Department of Home Affairs has released the 20-21 financial year Migration Program Report, the grant and application backlog data is here!
Before we look at the data, let’s first clarify the relationship between invitations and grants
This report mainly covers the migration visas (including PR visas, or two-step provisional-PR visas such as Subclass 491) grant data for the whole financial year, covering the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
The relationship between invitations and grants
For example:
Student A received formal NSW Subclass 190 nomination on 25 June 2020, lodged the visa application on 30 June 2020, and the visa was granted on 30 July 2020 — this grant would be counted in the 20-21 financial year.There is a time lag between invitation and grant, so it’s not necessarily the case that an invitation issued in a given financial year is granted in that same financial year, and it can’t be taken entirely as equivalent to that financial year’s invitation numbers.
By the same logic, for two-step visas like Subclass 491, the visa is counted against the PR quota once the Subclass 491 grant happens, and a later transition to Subclass 191 is not counted again.
Most of the data below includes both primary and secondary applicants (unless otherwise stated) — for example, if a GTI applicant is invited and brings a spouse and two children, they will take up 4 places in the GTI visa quota.
20-21 financial year new trends
Over-issued!
In total, 160,052 visas were granted, against a quota of 160,000 — a slight over-issue, though not by much. That’s at least a big improvement on the previous years’ “corner-cutting”. Because of how the quota split worked out, the actual skilled and family visa numbers ended up split roughly 5:5.
The onshore share of grants keeps rising
Given that many applicants are currently stuck offshore, it’s worth looking closely at the onshore/offshore data — although the chart below reflects whether the applicant was onshore or offshore at the time of lodgement, given the border closures, most applicants over the past year or so have had to wait until the grant to enter Australia, so it also reflects the onshore/offshore split of grants.
Starting from the 19-20 financial year, when the pandemic began, the onshore share rose from 57% to 69%, and then last financial year it kept rising, up to 71%.
New migrants are already relocating
The number granted in the 18-19 financial year is similar to 20-21, and it was in November 2019 that Australia launched its ambitious regional migration plan. Comparing where grantees planned to settle across these years, the most popular states, NSW and Victoria, both declined, while Queensland, WA, Tasmania and the ACT all increased — though the effect still isn’t very pronounced.
Nursing takes centre stage
Registered nurses have long been one of the most popular occupations across the whole skilled migration category, consistently ranking near the top — though clearly ICT, accounting and civil engineering, which have dominated for years, aren’t easily displaced either.With the pandemic now in the mix, and a combination of factors at play, registered nurses have overtaken ANZSCO 2613 and accounting to take the top spot, opening up a clear gap over second place.
Of course, you can also see just how tough it is for accounting — the pool of potential applicants is far larger than this result suggests.
Registered nurses generally go through Subclass 190 or 491 state nomination; ANZSCO 2613 relies mostly on employer sponsorship, with a fair number on 190 as well; accounting applicants try every pathway, but just 202 grants under Subclass 189 tell you that route is largely closed.
China overtakes India as the top migration source country for the first time in years
In the 20-21 financial year, the number of new migrants from mainland China surpassed India for the first time in many years — as recently as 19-20, the gap between the two was still more than 7,000.The reason China leapt ahead in a single year is the sharp increase in family visa grants, while India’s strongest category, employer sponsorship within skilled migration, has now been affected by the adjustment in proportions. In contrast, family visa grants to mainland Chinese applicants broke through 10,000 for the first time in years.
Right, let’s look at each category
Actual grants versus planning levels by category
Employer sponsorship, state nomination and Subclass 189 — all in high demand — were pushed to their limits. GTI actually had plenty of applicants too, but invitations were deliberately held back, and grants only reached 64% of the quota.
Subclass 190 State Nomination
The 10 occupation groups with the most grants in the 20-21 financial year
Across the full financial year, 14,268 visas were granted, 15,904 new applications were lodged, and as at 30 June 2021 there were 14,588 applications on hand.Both new lodgements and grants were down compared with 19-20; as one falls the other follows, so the Subclass 190 backlog has essentially stayed steady.
Regional — Subclass 491 State Nomination / Subclass 494 Employer Sponsorship
For Subclass 491, South Australia drew the most grantees planning to settle there, with Queensland, SA and Tasmania fairly evenly matched; for Subclass 494, WA and Queensland dominate
The 10 occupation groups with the most grants in the 20-21 financial year
Across the full financial year, Subclass 491 recorded 10,675 grants and 16,364 new lodgements, with 18,070 applications on hand as at 30 June 2021, which clearly shows demand (invitations) for Subclass 491 has picked up, but visa processing speed is falling well short. The Subclass 491 backlog has now overtaken both 190 and 189…
Subclass 189 Skilled Independent
Across the full financial year, 7,213 visas were granted and 8,529 new applications were lodged, with 12,240 applications on hand as at 30 June 2021 — the backlog has essentially held steady.But look at that new-lodgement number — without invitations there’s no lodging, and Subclass 189’s glory days are over for now.
Employer Sponsorship
The top 10 occupation groups for employer-sponsored grants
Across the full financial year, 23,503 visas were granted and 24,997 new applications were lodged, with 14,379 applications on hand as at 30 June 2021, the backlog is slightly higher than 19-20, but still a big improvement on the financial years before that
Global Talent Independent Program (GTI)
Across the full financial year, 9,584 visas were granted, 9,582 new applications were lodged, and 2,236 applications remained on hand as at 30 June 2021.
For GTI, the longest wait is at the invitation stage — once invited, visa processing is generally smooth and quick.Looking at the fields grantees belong to below should be a more useful guide for those still waiting on an invitation:
Now, briefly, on family migration
Partner visa grants nearly double
Within this 79620total number of grants, partner visas accounted for 72376(compared with the previous financial year’s 37118figure, close to double).
Parent visas granted: 4500(up 4399from 100the previous financial year’s figure, with the quota fully used up), and other family visas granted: 496.
The parent visa backlog is frighteningly large
On the backlog of applications not yet processed, the partner visa figure fell from 2020at the end of the 96361financial year down to 72376, a drop of close to 25%.
The parent visa backlog (including both queued and paid applications), however, rose from 108659to 114359, an increase of 5700, up 5.3%.
The backlog for other family visas stayed largely in line with the previous financial year’s figure of 8700.
A brief analysis
As for the specific breakdown of the parent visa backlogbreakdown, the Department did not include this in its official report. We’ve already gone to request the latest figures from the Department, and will share them with everyone as soon as we have them. This financial year’s family visa planning level is the same as last year’s, so the number of grants is expected to be similar. We hope that once the pandemic passes next year, parent migration in particular — which has been cut so heavily — can recover somewhat.
END
Last financial year, hit hardest by the pandemic, was probably the most turbulent and fragmented year yet — the PR quota for skilled migration was cut sharply, and Subclass 189 suffered the most, while processing was also affected by working-from-home arrangements and a range of shifting processing priorities that kept changing with circumstances — altogether fairly chaotic and confusing.
One of the clearest impressions: as planned, a large share of the quota flowed to partner visas, and they really have come out the biggest winners. But outside of what was planned: under the banner of GTI’s high profile, the extra allocations still ended up going to the same old popular occupations. This financial year’s planning levels remain set up the same way — we genuinely hope the government thinks this through more clearly and realistically.
The second clearest impression: it always feels like every pathway is hard, yet someone is always getting invited, always getting granted. Whether onshore or offshore, you only find a way forward by actually moving — sitting and waiting will never make you one of those few thousand, or few tens of thousands, who get granted.
Assessments and planning — get started today!
Today happens to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, so once again, happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone — may your visas be granted soon, may you be reunited with loved ones soon, may border crossings return to normal soon, whether you’re in Australia or overseas — and may your future reunions never again require such a long, hard journey.
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