Recent reports suggest that international migrants are helping to provide stability to the regional Australian communities they settle in.
The Employer Nominated Scheme (ENS), the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) and the State Sponsored Skilled Migration visas aim to attract young, skilled, English speaking migrants to areas of Australia where they are most needed.
Migration agents Rohit Mohan and Ranbir Singh from Lakshya Migrations told SBS Punjabi that new arrivals are skilled, younger and have the potential to build families and work in these rural communities for prosperity.
“With the current visa changes that were introduced after 18th March 2018, we’re already seeing an increase in the number of applications in State-Sponsored Skilled Migration visa streams,” said Mr Mohan.
“The applicants on 457 visas shouldn’t be disheartened as there are other options available now in various employer-sponsored visa categories.
Ranbir Singh told SBS Punjabi that the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa category 482 is now replacing the controversial 457 visa.
“For this category, one must have two years full-time work experience. There are two categories, one with a 4-year visa and the other with 2 years.
"The applicants must be mindful that the conditions have now become stringent. There're recent changes to training benchmark requirements and the labour market testing is also getting tougher now," Ranbir Singh said.
“For permanent residency, one would need to wait for three years, which is applicable for medium and long-term lists."
Ranbir also provided some suggestions to the 457 visa holders who are struggling either because their employer has either closed the business or has terminated their employment resulting in a notice of cancellation of the visa.
“You still have chances provided you’ve gained work experience that may help open the doors of general skilled migration option,” he said.
Rohit Mohan said that migration to regional areas is becoming a matter of choice for many prospective applicants.
“These visas enable states to address labour shortages by bringing in genuinely skilled workers where they cannot source an appropriately skilled Australian," he said.
“ENS and RSMS are now available for those applicants who have three year full time work experience. The only difference is that SOL list for of RSMS visa occupations is wider than ENS.
“I believe there will be changes to TSS or RSMS visas as there is already pressure from industry bodies regarding the shortage of skilled professionals.
“They have already started raising concerns about labour shortages that would affect the businesses due to recent changes. So we don't expect to see any rigorous changes this year.
Ranbir Singh suggested that newly arrived international students who want to call Australia home should improve their English language skills and should also try to gain experience in their respective fields.
“With the recent immigration cuts, we can already see the competition among the applicants who seek invitations to apply for skilled visas," he said.
“The international students need to focus more on improving their total points so as to compete with the off-shore applicants."
“They should be mindful that the annual number of 200,000 applicants decided by the government for general skilled migrants not only consists of main applicants but also the secondary applicants including spouse and their kids.
“Eventually, it'll get harder to cross the line for permanent residency. They've more chances if they aim for regional areas where states such as Tasmania and the ACT are keen to take applications under 489 or 190 visa categories.
“The prospective applicants who are not getting invites and their 485 visa are about to expire may think of moving to states offering state sponsorship."
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