What You Need to Know About Australian Immigration Policy 2013?

There have been some reforms in recent times in the immigration policy of Australia. A few points have been discussed at length because of the impact they will make. The Australian immigration policy 2013 has been changed with respect to 457s. 2012 saw the introduction of a process called ‘Skill-Select’ that would greatly influence the immigrations to the country this year. This process for visa applications will now determine the skilled professionals who are granted entry into the country. Skilled migrants, who have the requisite talent to find work in Australia, but aren’t sponsored by companies to work in the country, can benefit from this points based system, as long as they have the right skills to contribute to Australian economy.

The migration program offers 190,000 places this year, which represents a slight increase from the levels last year. This can be analyzed in multiple ways. The increase in number is also insightful when you consider that a large chunk of the increased number of slots has been presented to the skilled migrants. There has been a sharp spike as far as demand for skilled labor in the country is concerned. The increased number of slots will be able to counter the labor shortage in the country. About 16,000 places are being offered, under regional sponsored skilled migration segment.

A big chunk of the total number of slots, 129259 places, is being provided to the Skill Stream. This represents an increase by 3400, compared to the previous year. There has been a decent increase in the family stream with 60,185 slots up for grabs. The regional sponsored program takes care of those slots where the State is allowed to import skilled workmen from abroad to make up for the scarcity of labor from the country. This happens when the vacancies cannot be filled by the professionals available in the local pool.

This year, special efforts will also be taken, to engage the businesses to understand how to fill the vacancies by making use of the right schemes in the immigration program. The program has been simplified too, with six different visas, sponsored by employers replaced by just two categories. Apart from the regional sponsored migration scheme, there is the employer nomination scheme as well. A single list will make sponsored occupation a lot easier, consolidating the numbers from state, territory and employers.

Another interesting change in the immigration policy is in the criteria for selecting the migrants who are offered the visas. Language skills are important. Employers need to take a special look at the market rate salary in both, the employer nomination scheme (ENS) and the regional sponsored migration scheme (RSMS). There is also some emphasis on picking skilled professionals, who can actually contribute to Australia, by taking up permanent residence in the country at some point in the future. The leaders in the country admit that the skilled migrants can not only benefit the Australian economy by adding to the workforce numbers, but will also offset the ageing population problem.