'Regional visas are greatly beneficial if you plan it right'

For on-shore students who have studied, worked part-time and lived in metro cities, there certainly is initial reluctance to migrate to regional cities. But there are benefits in moving to regional areas.

Regional Australia Source: Mega Pixels

To ease the overcrowding in metro cities, the federal government has recently introduced new visa categories and changed some visa rules. But how are the new applicants are coping with this change? SBS Punjabi spoke to Sukhjinder Singh, an immigration consultant in Sydney.

"For new skilled migrants and students, it doesn’t matter if they migrate to regional or metro cities; all they want is to migrate to Australia," says Mr Singh.

"However, for on-shore students who have studied, worked part-time and lived in metro cities, there certainly is an initial reluctance to migrate to regional cities. But there are benefits in moving to regional areas," he says.

In March 2019, the federal government announced cutting Australia's annual permanent intake to 160,000 but increased the number of visas reserved for regions of Australia to 25,000. 

Mr Singh says it has created an opportunity for international students.

"There are great chances of getting permanent residency for those who are willing to study and work for at least three years in the regional areas," he says.

Immigration consultant Sydney Source: Sukhjinder

"The feedback that we have received from those who have migrated to Tasmania recently is that there are fewer job opportunities as compared to cities like Sydney and Melbourne. But we are providing counselling to these people so that they are able to get over these initial difficulties."

"On the other hand, the new students and migrants who are applying off-shore, don’t care much whether they go to metro or regional cities. All they want is to migrate to Australia," said Mr Singh.

Most of the states have updated their sites with the required skills list that are most in-demand.

"For example, Northern Territory needs lots of truck drivers. It has entered a new agreement called DAMA which clearly shows the demand for truckies in the state," he said. 

The other occupations in demand in regional areas are Nursing, Hospitality, Engineering and Construction etc.

Mr Singh said the regional visa holders are allowed to move between different regions.

"Not many people know that they can move between the states but those cities must be under regional area category."

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