By Latest News About Australia Immigration
- Latest News About Australia Immigration
Latest News About Australia Immigration: The Australian government recently released its latest Migration Strategy, which includes significant changes to various visa programs. In 11 December 2023, The Minister for Home Affairs has just released new rules and changes for immigration. These changes affect student and graduate visas, as well as employee-sponsored visas, Business and Investor visas, and Global Talent visas. While not all of these changes will be beneficial to everyone, we hope to provide you with a realistic summary to help you plan your life.
The main reason for this drastically changes in immigration is due to housing crises in Australia. One of the primary factors contributing to the housing crisis is population growth, driven by immigration and internal migration patterns. The influx of people into cities, particularly major urban centers, has intensified the demand for housing.
Latest News About Australia Immigration
Student Visas
The Migration Strategy outlines several recommendations for international students. Changes include:
- Increased funding for visa integrity.
- Introduction of a Genuine Student Test to replace Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE).
- Prevention of course swapping.
- Scrutiny of lower-quality education providers.
- Reduction of eligible courses for student visas, with an emphasis on retaining tertiary university courses.
- Increase in minimum English language requirements in early 2024.
- The required test score for a student visa will rise from IELTS (or equivalent) 5.5 to 6.0.
- For students in English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students (ELICOS) before their main course, the required test score will increase from IELTS 4.5 to 5.0.
- Students in university foundation or pathway programs with reputable English language training will require a test score of IELTS 5.5.
Temporary Graduate Visas
One of the significant changes affecting many individuals is related to the Graduate Visa. Modifications include:
- Reduction of age eligibility from 50 to 35 years.
- Shortening the length of stay.
- Prevention of graduates from transitioning back to student visas.
- Increase in English language proficiency requirements for a Temporary Graduate visa from IELTS 6.0 to 6.5.
- Elimination of post-study work rights extension, with eligibility limited to those who studied in a regional area.
- Renaming of Graduate Visa streams to ‘Post-Higher Education Work’ and ‘Post-Vocational Education Work’ for clarity.
- Abolishment of the ‘Replacement Stream’ of the Graduate Visa and the subclass 476 visa.
- Introduction of a 21-day service standard for processing times in the ‘Post-Higher Education Work Stream.’
- Modification of the work experience requirement for a Temporary Skills Shortage visa to provide more opportunities for Graduate Visa holders to transition to a skilled visa, offering faster pathways to permanent residency.
