Australia Heads For Dramatic Changes In The Migration System From 1 July 2023 Onwards

The review in the Migration policy is aimed at providing greater opportunities and easier pathways for immigrants from all over the world. The migration system will be revamped for Simplification of the rules related to the migration program.

One of the changes that hit the migrating population hard is the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) that determines the minimum market salary level under the standard Temporary Skilled Shortage (TSS) visa will increase from AUD53,900 to AUD70,000. This is the first increase in a decade. By the end of 2023, all temporary skilled workers on the TSS short term stream will also have a pathway to permanent residency. However, speculations are overwhelming the 491 applications who are seeking clarity in whether this change in income level will affect their application and the 191 visa applications to follow.

Clearly, Australia believes the current migration system is not positioned to attract a larger segment of skilled workers. Therefore, a better mechanism to define skills shortages, including the removal of, or broader consolidation of the current set of occupation lists will be in the offing.

To be more responsive to the rapid changes in the Australian labour market, simplification of the rules related to the migration program will be seen. A better mechanism to define skills shortages, including the removal of, or broader consolidation of the current set of occupation lists. The points test which recently overhauled in November 2019 will be further readjusted in terms of point system, as the current point system appears to be a poor indicator of success in the labour market.

Some of the positive changes that can be expected would broadening the eligibility for skilled permanent residence programs, including a possible increase to age limits. While the new point system will directly benefit the migrants, recalibrating the Point Test, perhaps taking away the leverage in terms of the points gained by the students to seek permanent residence in Australia. Also raise the bar for eligibility of students coming into Australia. from 1 July, student visa work restrictions will be re-introduced.

Along the lines of the simplified Canadian Migration System, a reduction in the number of visa subclasses to make the migration process simplified. A new three-tier system- Highly Skilled Workers earning High Income [lower processing time], Mid- Level Workers, Lower Wages Workers

Some of the other migration review outcomes could see the Business Investment Visa and Global Talent Visa could possibly be removed. Introduction of Parent Visa Lottery Scheme is also proposed as part of the major shake-up in migration to take the burden off the backlog of application.