New Permanent Migration Figures Released

The Australian Minister for Immigration and Border Control, Peter Dutton, has announced that up to 190,000 permanent migration places will be available as part of Australia’s 2015-2016 Migration Programme.

The Migration Programme is the official process by which the Australian government agree how many visas are to be allocated for permanent migration to the country. This figure is decided as part of the Australian Budget and aims to ensure that the country is planning for the future economically by addressing Australia’s immediate and future skills shortages. Additionally, it is hoped that the programme will aid Australia socially, by allowing Migration Processes to accomodate the reunification of families.

The number of permanent migration places announced each year is broken down into different streams or ‘planning levels’. These can be roughly divided into the following categories: skilled migrants (any worker who has special skill, training, knowledge, and, usually acquired, ability in their work); family migrants (facilitating the reunion of immediate family members of Australian citizens, permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens); and special eligibility migrants (including former permanent residents who have maintained close business, cultural or personal ties with Australia).

This year there have been some changes to the way Child Visas are allocated and managed in order to better accommodate and improve inter-country adoption processes. Child category visas will now be managed separately and will exist outside of the Migration Programme.

Prospective Poms can check the detailed breakdown of places under each category by visiting http://migrationblog.border.gov.au/2015/07/09/australias-2015-16-migration-programme/