The Australian Government is taking significant steps to end 'visa hopping' as part of its comprehensive Migration Strategy. This initiative aims to close loopholes that have allowed students and other temporary visa holders to extend their stay in Australia indefinitely.

GSM Visa Points Test Revamp

The federal government has announced plans to revise the points-based assessment for skilled migrants, which determines eligibility for entry into Australia, following a decision to reduce overall immigration levels.

This year's Permanent Migration Program is set at 185,000 places, with a notable shift in focus from the Subclass 189 visa to the Subclass 190 and Subclass 491 visas, indicating a strategic pivot to state and regional sponsorships.

• Biggest updates from the 2024 Federal Budget

• Working Holiday Visa lottery

• 482 visa employment requirement changes

The points test system for potential migrants seeking skilled visas to Australia is scheduled to undergo its first significant update in over ten years as part of a broader reform of the country's immigration system.

Currently, CSOL is still under review and a scoring system guide will decide on the occupations that shall be included or excluded from the list. To give you a clear picture of the current draft, we sorted out the occupations that will surely be on the list, occupations that will be off the list, and occupations under consultation.

For this year's allocation, the Department of Home Affairs has reserved 30,375 positions for the Skilled Independent Visa (Subclass 189). As of December 18, 2023, 8,300 invitations have been granted for the 189 visas. Furthermore, 79 invitations were extended for the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 491) under the Family-sponsored stream. Consistent with recent patterns, the Department has also invited applicants from the health and education sectors this round.

The state of Victoria’s Skills Plan categorizes demand into 13 industry clusters, which collectively anticipate requiring approximately 373,000 additional workers over the next three years.

As Australia strives for growth and development, it is now grappling with a shortage spanning critical industries. At the forefront of this issue is the urgent need to address the shortfall, a task that requires efforts and strategic interventions among Australian employers.

The Australian Government unveiled a new permanent residency visa program, available to citizens from select Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste.

As part of Australia’s alterations to the application process and evaluation criteria for the Student (subclass 500) Visa, the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement will be replaced by the Genuine Student (GS) requirement.

ACS is the professional association for tech professionals in Australia. It is entrusted with the responsibility of evaluating potential migrants with ICT backgrounds to verify their eligibility for employment in Australia according to the required standards.

As the Skills in Demand Visa will be replacing the current TSS 482 visa, many people might ask, will this new visa program be better than the current 482 visa?

In recent years, Australia has been grappling with a persistent skills shortage across various industries, posing significant challenges to economic growth and development. To address this pressing issue, there has been a growing call to lower the cost of higher education, thereby ensuring accessibility and affordability for all Australians.

The 482 visa is a Temporary Visa program that grants skilled migrants entry into Australia and engage in their designated occupation under an approved sponsor for a duration of up to four years. Over the past few months, this visa program has undergone numerous changes that certainly affects the application process.

Australia's new migration strategy notably impacted student visa and temporary visa holders. However, some of these changes exempt international students and skilled migrants from India, creating more opportunities for Indian nationals.