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There is so much speculation and guesswork going around in the media about when Australia will open its borders.  This comes from various sources, all of whom have their own agenda and storyline to follow.  The Government and politicians walk a fine line when it comes to keeping Australians happy. Saving lives and protecting people from the pandemic has been their key strategy since the outbreak of Covid19. In an emergency response, Australia closed their borders, locking their citizens inside the country and keeping possible carriers of Covid19 out. That being said, the Australian Government have done an outstanding job thus far at protecting the country and have already started to broaden their horizons once again in regards to the Skilled Migration Program.

The majority of Australia’s population, and arguably economic growth, is driven by migration and a continued increase in what is termed Net Overseas Migration. This takes into account the increase in the size of Australia’s population each year due to migration and considers all arrivals and departures of people with visas that allow them to stay in Australia permanently.

Over the decades, migration program planning numbers have fluctuated according to the priorities and economic and political considerations of the government of the day. However, it is important to note that the Australian Government’s immigration policy focus has changed markedly since 1945, when attracting general migrants (primarily from the UK), to focussing on attracting economic migrants and temporary (predominantly skilled) migrants. Currently the planning figure for the Migration Program is 190,000 places (it has remained at this record high level since 2012–13), with skilled migrants comprising the majority.

Covid has stopped this suddenly and unexpectedly.  One thing is certain and that  is that Covid will eventually be dealt with and migration numbers to Australia will return to historical levels.  The only question is when?  Nobody can really answer that.  We can only speculate.      Our belief is that the skies must open within twelve months even if only on a limited scale.  Meanwhile the pressure to bring skills into Australia is building all the while.  The impact of this in the next 12 to 18 months will be an explosion of applicants as the restrictions ease.  So while all migration agents have capacity at this time, that will not be the case in a years’ time.  We encourage intending migrants to prepare for that explosion, get ahead in the que while you can.  The visa process takes at least nine months anyway regardless of Covid so there is much that can be done NOW to prepare for the day when the planes once again land down under! 

What is the latest on State Sponsored Skilled Migration?

These days every skilled migrant needs a state sponsorship to generate an Invitation to be able to lodge a 190 or 491 visa application.

In March 2020 with the onset of Covid-19 the states all reduced and then stopped their state sponsorship programs. In late February 2021 the states began sponsoring again. However, for now they are only sponsoring applicants who are on-shore in Australia.

We are carefully watching to see when the Australian Government will allow the states to begin sponsoring off-shore applicants.

Did you know! It would take around 29 years to visit one new Aussie beach every day (there are 10,685 of them!)

Are you ready to take the next step?

Complete our online visa assessment and we will provide free advice on your visa eligibility, visa options, and the next key steps.