Australia Increases Skilled Migrant Opportunities
There is some great news for people seriously thinking about migrating to Australia as The Federal Government announced the 2011-2012 budget last night. Now is the time to act, as there are further policy changes planned for 2012.
The most significant changes to the migration program are the increases in migrant places: Skilled (+12,000) and Family (+4000) Streams, bringing the Program total to about 185,000 annual entrants, which is great news for Skilled Migrants.
The majority of the increase is allocated to the Skill Stream to help meet the expected increase in demand for skilled migrants given strong employment growth. They have also recognised the importance in the Family Visa Stream (in particular Partner and Child) to meet a growing demand.
The employer-sponsored visa categories provide employers with the ability to attract workers, whose skills they require to maintain and grow their business, directly from the UK and this process has been made easier.
The changes include:
- 6000 additional places added to the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS);
- Fast-tracked, uncapped and "demand-driven" Subclass 457 grants for regional areas, including a new processing centre in Brisbane and 10 day processing time targets;
- Enterprise Migration Agreements (EMAs) for large, regional area employers; and
- Regional Migration Agreements "targeted at high growth regional areas where local labour is in short supply".
For anyone determined about migrating to Australia now is the perfect time to act. Contact us on 01244 321414 to speak to one of our consultants today.