Australia
Permanent migration increased by 2% in the 2015-16 Immigration programme to 209 500 visas, mainly driven by an increase of 28% in the Humanitarian Programme intake. This comprised 189 800 places under the Migration Programme (including 3 500 Child visas), 0.4% above its 2014-15 level, 17 600 under the Humanitarian Programme and 2 200 visas granted to New Zealand citizens.
More than two thirds of the Migration Programme concerns visas granted through the Skill stream (128 550 visas) and almost one third involved Family stream visas (60 900 visas). The remaining 308 visas (0.2%) were granted under the Special Eligibility visa category.
In 2015-16, the Skill stream delivered 128 550 places, representing a slight increase of 776 places from the previous year. Points Tested Skilled Migration and Employer Sponsored visas accounted for 56.7% and 37.5% of the Skill stream, respectively. The remaining places were for Business Innovation and Investment visas (5.6%) and for Distinguished Talent visas (0.2%).
For the fifth year in a row, India was the top source country for the Migration Programme, with 39 771 places (a 21.4% share) – up 14% on the previous year. China followed with 28 460 places and the United Kingdom with 18 758 places. Close to 20 000 New Zealand citizens entered Australia as permanent settlers under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, a decrease of 12.4% on the previous year.
In 2015-16, 17 555 visas were granted under the Humanitarian Programme – 15 552 under the offshore resettlement component and 2 003 under the onshore component. The top five countries of birth for people granted offshore visas in 2015-16 were Iraq, Syria, Myanmar, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In response to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the Government announced in September 2015 that it would make an extra 12 000 places available in Australia’s Humanitarian Programme for refugees who had been displaced by conflicts there, with almost 10 900 of the additional 12 000 places granted between 1 July 2015 and 3 February 2017.
Demand for the Temporary Work Skilled visa (Subclass 457) declined to 85 611 in 2015-16, down on the previous year by 11%. For the fourth year in a row, India was the top nationality with 22 959, followed by the United Kingdom (12 821) and China (5 616).
Student visa grants reached their highest level in 2015-16 since the 2008-09 peak year, standing at 310 845, up by 3.8% on the previous year. Chinese are by far the top nationality with 70 465 visas granted (an increase of 7.2% over the previous year), and exceed – albeit slightly – the number of student visas granted to OECD nationals as a whole (70 140). India is the second source country with 29 591 visas granted (up by 0.1%) then Brazil with 15 461 (up by 18.6%).
For 2015-16, 214 583 Working Holiday Maker visas were granted, a decrease of 5.4% on the 226 812 granted the previous year. This marked the third year in a row where a fall was recorded and was down 16.9% on the peak of 258 248 grants in 2012-13.
A record 4.8 million Visitor visas were granted in 2015-16 to applicants from outside Australia, an increase of 11.4% over 2014-15. China was the top nationality (798 217 visas granted), followed by the United Kingdom (584 544) and the United States (464 978).
In 2016, acting on recommendations of the Independent Review into integrity in the Subclass 457 Visa Programme, the Government implemented a number of review recommendations with further recommendations of the review anticipated to be implemented by 2017.
In September 2016, a new Entrepreneur visa stream was established for those with innovative ideas and AUD 200 000 in financial backing from a third party.
From 1 July 2016, major reforms to the Student visa programme came into effect, designed to support sustainable growth in the international student education sector through simplification of the visa process and a more targeted approach to immigration integrity. The reforms reduced the number of Student visa subclasses from eight to two. Under the new simplified single immigration risk framework for international students, the requirements for documentation attesting financial and English language capacity vary according to the education provider and the student’s country of citizenship.
In view of the tremendous increase in the number of visitors from China, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection is implementing the Visitor visa initiatives announced by the Government in June 2015, as part of the “Our North, Our Future: White Paper on Developing Northern Australia”. The measures will see a trial of a ten year validity Visitor visa for Chinese nationals. Applicants who choose this service will be entitled to visit Australia for up to a three-month stay on each entry. The visa commenced on 12 December 2016.