Australia's New Immigration Rules Will Benefit Indians In Getting Fast-track Permanent Residence

11 Jul 2011

The new immigration programme of Australian government, first phase of which kicked off on July 1, is largely a move away from the earlier migration occupations in demand list to the introduction of a new skilled occupation list. The new list will be more in tune with the economic ground realities in Australia and focus on highly skilled immigrants. It will be developed by an independent body - Skills Australia - and will address specific needs of regional labour markets.

"The age limit for unsponsored applicants is being raised from 45 to 50, if they have the required qualifications and experience," Peter Speldewinde, assistant secretary, labour market branch, Australian department of immigration and citizenship, said. Another change that is being welcomed in India is that the Australian government will now recognise degrees from reputed colleges and universities outside Australia and overseas work experience will also be recognised.

Higher education in Australia too is likely to become more attractive for Indian students. With the new points test and later the new skilled occupations list in place, applications of Indian students who apply for permanent residence would now be assessed on a wider perspective than just the qualification gained during their study in Australia.

Self-assessment Rules

The new skilled occupation list, which will become operational from July 1, 2012, is being seen as more generic and simplified than the earlier one, in industry circles. In a system that is already being followed by the New Zealand immigration authorities, Australia will introduce an online self-assessment followed by an expression of interest by the applicants.

The information will go into a centralised registry system from which the applicants will be invited as and when the requirement comes up for their skill sets. These new immigration rules are expected to improve the skills pool in the country.

Australia has pegged its net overseas migration numbers at about 180,000 over the next few years. About two-thirds of the number will be for skilled migrants. The skill stream intake is pegged at 125,850 with 16,000 places allocated to the regional sponsored migration scheme.