Australia to have big changes in its immigration policy and visa in 2021. The last year has been bad as far as immigration targets are concerned.
A slight change has been made to the immigration quota. Priority will be given to empöoyer-based, global talent, and business visas. Skilled visa nomination programs are also set to open.
The Morrison (Australian prime minister) government announced the new immigration quota ( for the 2020-21 migration program) in the budget of 2020. The program is set annually, with the total places available capped at a ceiling of 160,000 for 2020-21. More quota has been announced for family stream visas from 47,732 to 77,300. The government has also announced that it will give priority to innovators, investors, and job creators. The Department of Home Affairs has issued the final allocations to states and territories for the opening of the skills nomination visa program early in 2021.
“Those who are going to grow Australian businesses, create Australian jobs, and supercharge our economic recovery – will be the target of our skilled visas,” said the then Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge. He also added priority within the skilled stream will be given to Global Talent, the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) and Employer-Sponsored visas.
Highlights of 2020-2021 immigration program
The Australian government has planned:
- Significant increases in family visa locations from 47,732 to 77,300, including 72,300 partner visas (then mainly beaches)
- English language required for partner visa applicants and additional sponsorship responsibilities
- Focus on the cost of the Scale Select Free Visa Program on Special, New Global Talent (GT) and Business Investment and Innovation Program (BIIP)
- Visa application fee waivers and refunds for people with temporary visas and those infected with the Coronavirus epidemic
- Second TGV option for those international students who have lived and acquired a degree in regional Australia.
- Foreign farmers with an age of maximum 50 and an IELTS score of 5 will be able to apply for a farmworker visa through the sponsor’s nomination which will give them a 4 years visa.
- Togher rules have been introduced (mostly implemented from July 2021) for business visa categories by reducing these from 9 to only 4
Skilled Visa Streams
(a) Employer-Sponsored
The employer-sponsored program remains unchanged in this budget, However; the industry expects the government to announce a review of the list of skilled tradesmen in the near future in response to the significant economic impact of the epidemic.
(b) Trade investment and innovation
The government has made changes to improve the quality of investment and applicants so that they can focus on high-value investments and business owners of scale and business. The Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) visa application fees will increase by 11.3%.
(c) Global talent
The government has tripled the number of places available for the migration year ending June 2021 In the Global Talent Independent (GTI) program. The government is working to build the success of the Global Talent Independent (GTI) program through a new ‘complete government’ Global Business and Talent Attraction Task Force. Which will integrate existing government programs to create incentives for doing business in Australia. The task force focuses on businesses with a focus on more than 250M businesses and HK-based businesses.
Partner Visa Stream
77,300 quota has been earmarked for the Family Program, including 72,300 partner visas. The processing times for Anchor Partner Visa is currently estimated at 27 months (with a backlog of about 90,000 cases). From now on, additional requirements are required for visa applicants to become proficient in English. The government has announced that it will give priority to onshore partner visa applications for regional residents, possibly as part of a more general move on regional concessions in the immigration program (about 4,000 candidates will benefit from this). Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge revealed new details of the English language requirements, announced in October’s Federal Budget, for people applying for partner visas. “This will apply to prospective partner visa applications, from about the middle of next year,” Mr. Tudge said. These new requirements abide by the applicant and a sponsor to have met functional level English or 500 hours of English language classes. According to immigration minister Alan Tudge, Importantly, this will allow a foreign national who is a partner of an Australian citizen to progress their visa, without having to leave the country. The temporary visa concession will apply to the following Family visa subclasses:
- Partner (subclass 309) visa
- Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa
- Child (subclass 101) visa
- Adoption (subclass 102) visa
- Dependent Child (subclass 445) visa
Farmworker visa through (TSS) subclass 482
According to a new horticulture labor agreement, the sector will be commencing from 1st January 2020 (last year has been tough due to Covid-19 so this stream is likely to properly work from this year) submitting applications. Skilled and semi-skilled migrants will be able to apply for the visa where no other Australian for the same sector is available. Interested applicants will be able to apply for the visa through temporary skills shortage (TSS) subclass 482. The path also allows you to apply for permanent residency after completing some important requirements. You can apply for a visa from outside Australia or from inside. If you apply from outside, you only apply when you have been nominated by a sponsor and then you will apply online through immi account. You can also apply for this visa if you are in Australia and hold a substantive visa or a bridging visa (A, B, or C). You get 4 years of work visa for this stream that can also lead you a path to PR. The visa allows you to work for an employer in Australia for one of the 31 eligible occupations. You can also study in Australia (without receiving funds from the government) and can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want. There is no visa sticker is stamped on your passport. Instead, it is digitally linked to your passport and you may, later on, check it through VEVO.
Eligible occupations
There is a total of 31 occupations for which you can apply for this visa program.
- Section Supervisor
- Production Horticulture Supervisor
- Production Horticulturist
- Machinery Manager
- Machinery Supervisor
- Cold Storage Manager
- Quality Assurance Manager
- Biosecurity Officer
- Facility Plant Manager
- Facility Supervisor
- Maintenance Electrician
- Fitter and Welder
- Agriculture Technician Mechanic
- Senior Nurseryperson
- Nurseryperson
- Nursery Supervisor
- Truck Driver
- Mobile Plant Operator
- Fork Lift Driver
- Irrigationist
- Irrigationist Assistant
- Horticulture Section Manager
- Irrigation Designer/ Manager
- Agronomist
- Entomologist
- Horticulture Grower
- Protected Cropping Grower
- Horticulture Research &
- Development Officer
- Mechanical Engineer
- Horticulture Farm Manager
Extra benefits for international students in regional areas
In 2021, some international students will benefit more as compared with others. The post-study work stream Temporary Graduate visa (TGV) holders (Subclass 485) who have lived and acquired their degree from regional Australia will be able to get a second TGV. Post-study visa arrangements will be extended for international graduates who graduated from a regional educational institution and lived in a regional area on their first (TGV) -DHA. Further information about temporary graduate visa can be found here.
Tougher requirements for business visa
Togher rules have been introduced (mostly implemented from July 2021) for business visa categories by reducing these from 9 to only 4 alongside with more requirements of business assets. Some categories will have fewer thresholds to show. Premium Investor, Significant Business History, and Venture Capital Entrepreneur visas will be closed to new applications from 1 July 2021. The new four business visa categories are:
- Business Innovation
- Entrepreneur
- Investor
- Significant Investor
(a) More asset requirements
Business Innovation visa holders will now be required to hold business assets of $1.25 million, up from $800,000, and need to have an annual turnover of $750,000 up from $500,000.
(b) Less threshold for Entrepreneur visa
The $200,000 funding threshold currently required for Entrepreneur visa applicants will be scrapped from next year.
Immigration Quota Details
(a) Skilled Immigration Quota
This is designed to improve the productive capacity of the economy and fill skill shortages in the labor market, including those in regional Australia. The majority of the places in the program are in the Skill stream (79,600 places in 2020-21, 50.7 percent of the program).
(b) Family immigration Stream Quota
This stream predominately made up of Partner visas, enabling Australians to reunite with family members from overseas and provide them with pathways to citizenship (77,300 places in 2020-21, 49.2 percent of the program).
(c) Special Eligibility Stream Quota
This covers visas for those in special circumstances. This can include permanent residents returning to Australia after a period away and is the smallest stream (100 places in 2020-21). Whereas at least 3,000 Child places will be available in 2020-21.
Category-wise immigrants quota of Australian Migration Year 2020-2021
| Stream and Category | Quota |
| Skill stream | |
| Employer-Sponsored | 22,000 |
| Skilled Independent | 6,500 |
| Regional | 11,200 |
| State/Territory Nominated | 11,200 |
| Business Innovation & Investment program | 13,500 |
| Global Talent | 15,000 |
| Distinguished Talent | 200 |
| Skill Total | 79,600 |
| Family Stream | |
| Partner | 72,300 |
| Parent | 4,500 |
| Other Family | 500 |
| Family Total | 77,300 |
| Special Eligibility | 100 |
| Child (estimate; not subject to a ceiling) | 3,000 |
| Total | 160,000 |
Other important Visa, PR, and Immigration Programs of Australia