Truth be told, Australia immigration rules and regulations are now getting tougher and tougher, making it difficult for people to make to the cut of those qualified to migrate to Australia from Singapore or anywhere else. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is set to revisit visa application programme at least twice each year to ensure that they are only bringing the most qualified migrants into the nation.
Despite the very dynamic changes, DHA is still set to improve its visa programmes, most especially the Skilled migration scheme, to also provide some avenues for migrants to would really want to penetrate the Australia labour market.
Below are some of the changes to expect for 2019:
New Parent Visa
Not only that this will deliver great social benefits to the community, this programme is also certainly one of the best avenues to help parents and grandparents reunite with their families who migrated across to Australia. This visa, however, has some conditions, limiting the sponsoring family to sponsor just one set of parents or in-laws to reunite with.
Opportunities for Low-Skilled Migrants
With the goal to help low-skilled migrants to be able to penetrate to the skilled migration programme, DHA has set an agreement to regional areas such as Northern Territory (NT) to provide job opportunities for these people. Just recently, the NT just opened 117 new jobs, offering also a permanent residency pathway for migrants who are willing to be situated in the regional area for a minimum of three years. To stop the overflowing intakes in major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, a visa type such as the new skilled migration scheme named NT Designated Area Migration Agreement (NT DAMA) has been implemented.
New Business Visa that Does Not Require Any Investment
For a period of three years, visa holders can live and stay with their family in Australia under subclass 480 (Temporary Activity). Also, unlike any other business visa, this subclass will not require any financial outlay and high English score, however, applicants would need to demonstrate an innovative business idea to be able to secure the visa.
Migration Intake Cut-Off
For the first time since 2007, migration intake for the previous financial year went down to 162,000 migrants despite remaining its cap in 192,000 intakes since 2011. With the election due in May 2019, we might be expecting an annual intake of 160,000, as indicated multiple times by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
These are only some of the migration changes to expect in 2019; not to mention that the new fiscal year is coming already in a few months’ time. Certainly, new regulations will be implemented and some application may be affected. To know if you are still eligible for an Australian PR or any type of visa, please call us at +65 6299 0245 to book a professional consultation appointment.